Ramnath Goenka (22 April 1904 – 5 October 1991) was an Indian newspaper publisher. He bought the majority stake of ''

The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932 by P. Varadarajulu Naidu. It is headquartered in Noida, owned by the ''Indian Express Group''. It was later taken over by Ramnath Goenka. In 1999, eight y ...

'' in 1930s. He created the

Indian Express Group Indian Express Limited (IEL) is an Indian news media publishing company. It publishes several widely circulated dailies, including ''The Indian Express'' and ''The Financial Express'' in English, the '' Loksatta'' in Marathi and the ''Jansatta ...

with various English and regional language publications.''A doyen of Indian Journalism, Shri Goenka's greatest passion was the print media. He with the permission of his Capitalists partner Raja Mohan Prasad for whom he worked as a working partner on a salary of rs 100 per month from 1926 to 1936 acquired these properties and media empire from the partnership firm and gave a declaration of trust DTD 1-09-1936 making Raja Mohan Prasad as the beneficiary of this entire empire and he being a nominal trustee launched the Indian Express in 1932 which he did not fulfill. The Prasad family finally filed a suit for ownership in 1982 of the empire and properties and all investments along with undisputed marked 445 exhibits including current legal heirs admittance in sworn affidavit stating source of funds from partnership firm and Raja Mohan prasad. https://parliamentofindia.nic.in/ls/lsdeb/ls10/ses2/02201191.htm In 2000, ''

India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media, Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' laun ...

'' magazine, named him amongst their list of ''"100 People Who Shaped India"''. The Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards, named after Ramnath Goenka, are one of the awards in India in the field of journalism.

Early life

Ramnath Goenka was born on 22 April 1904 in Darbhanga

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

, to Basantlal Goenka.

Career

Worked as a managing partner on a salary of 100 rs per month from 1926 to 1936 under partner Raja Mohan Prasad in the partnership firms Murli Prasad mohan Prasad from 1926 to 1931 and then Chunnilal murliprasad from 1931 onwards who were Consignee sales agent (Dubashish agents) for British trading company importing gold, silver and cotton in India. Simultaneously he took up job as chief salesman of the British trading company from 1931 to 1936 on a salary of Rs. 800 per month out of which 500 belonged to the partnership firm. This empire along with properties was acquired for the Trust of Raja Mohan Prasad and is held in trust by the current legal heirs. During the Emergency Period of India, Ramnath Goenka was one of the few businessmen and journalists that opposed Indira Gandhi government.

Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha

1971 Indian general election General elections were held in India between 1 and 10 March 1971 to elect members of the 5th Lok Sabha, fifth Lok Sabha. They were the fifth general elections since independence in 1947. The 27 Indian states and union territories were represent ...

, Goenka was elected as the

Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha A Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha ( abbreviated: MP) is the representative of a legislative constituency in the Lok Sabha; the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of parliament of Lok Sabha are chosen by direct elections ...

from Vidisha Lok Sabha constituency as a candidate of

Bharatiya Jana Sangh The Akhil Bharatiya Jana Sangh ( BJS or JS, short name: Jan Sangh) was a Hindutva political party active in India. It was established on 21 October 1951 in Delhi by three founding members: Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, Balraj Madhok and Deendayal ...

Death

Goenka died in Mumbai on 5 October 1991. In 1997 the heirs of Ramnath Goenka made a division of the Indian Express Group into two separated operations. The northern segment was put under the control of Viveck Goenka, whereas the southern one went to the family branch of Manoj Sonthalia.

References

External links