Sanat Mehta (18 or 19 April 1925 – 19 August 2022) was an Indian politician and social activist from

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

, India. He was associated with

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

. He served as labour and finance minister of the state. Mehta was elected to

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

from

Surendranagar Surendranagar is Municipal Corporation in Surendranagar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Climate Surendranagar Dudhrej, in common with most of Gujarat, has a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen ''BSh'') with three seasons. The hot season l ...

in 1996.

Life

Sanat Mehta was born on 18/19 April 1925 in Jesar village of Bhavnagar district in

. His father was a teacher. He studied at

Samaldas College Samaldas Arts College or Samaldas College is a college in Bhavnagar, Gujarat, India. It was founded in 1885 by Takhtsinhji, the Maharaja of Bhavnagar State in memory of his Diwan (minister) Samaldas Paramananddas Mehta. It is one of the oldest ...

Bhavnagar Bhavnagar is a city and the headquarters of Bhavnagar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. It was founded in 1723 by Bhavsinhji Gohil. It was the capital of Bhavnagar State, which was a princely state before it was merged into the Dominion ...

where he led Bhavnagar Students Union in 1941. He participated in Quit India Movement in 1942 and was jailed. After independence, he was influenced by socialism and joined movements led by

Ram Manohar Lohia Ram Manohar Lohia ( 23 March 1910 – 12 October 1967) was an Indian political activist of the Indian independence movement and a socialist politician. As a nationalist, he worked actively to protest against colonialism, raising awareness of th ...

and

Jayprakash Narayan Jayaprakash Narayan Srivastava (; 11 October 1902 – 8 October 1979), also known as JP and ''Lok Nayak'' (Hindi for "People's leader"), was an Indian politician, theorist and Indian independence activist, independence activist. He is mai ...

. In 1958, he entered electoral politics and was elected as Councillor of

Vadodara Municipal Corporation Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) established in July 1950 under the Bombay Provincial Corporation Act, 1949, is responsible for the civic infrastructure and administration of the city of Vadodara. Vadodara Municipal Corporation has been f ...

. He was later elected to

Gujarat Legislative Assembly The Gujarat Legislative Assembly or Gujarat Vidhan Sabha is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Gujarat, in the state capital Gandhinagar. Presently, 182 members of the Legislative Assembly are directly elected from single-member ...

and served as a cabinet minister of labour from 1972 to 1974. He also served as the cabinet minister of finance from 1980 to 1985. He later served as a chairman of Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd in early 1990s. He was instrumental in establishing

Alang Alang is a census town in Bhavnagar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Because it is home to the Alang Ship Breaking Yard, Alang beaches are considered the world's largest ship graveyard. Demographics As of the 2001 Indian census, Al ...

Ship breaking yard. He was elected to

from

constituency in 1996. He quit politics in 1999 and joined various social activities. He was associated with corporates on their boards and non-government organizations. He worked for farmers, tribals, saltpan workers and marginalized section of society. He advocated farmers' rights. He was associated with several social organisations such as Shramik Vikas Santhan which works for saltpan workers and Bharatiya Kishan Sangh which works for farmers. He established Gramin Vikas Bank in Gujarat modelled after

Grameen Bank Grameen Bank () is a microfinance, specialized community development bank founded in Bangladesh. It provides small loans (known as microcredit or "grameencredit") to the impoverished without requiring collateral. Grameen Bank is a statutory ...

of Bangladesh. He returned to politics in 2001 when he joined the

Nationalist Congress Party The Nationalist Congress Party is one of the List of political parties in India#State parties, state parties in India and is one of the major political parties in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Maharashtra with a recognised state party statu ...

. He supported the agitation led by Kanu Kalsaria against the cement plant of

Nirma Nirma is a conglomerate based in Ahmedabad, India, involved in the manufacture of various products, including detergents, soaps, cement, cosmetics, salt, soda ash, linear alkyl benzene, and injectables. It was founded in 1969 by Karsanbhai P ...

and against the nuclear power plant near Mithi Virdi near Mahuva in 2011. He died on 19 August 2015 at

Vadodara Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is a city situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district. The city is named for its abundance of banyan ...

due to cardiac arrest. He was cremated at Manjalpur crematorium, Vadodara.

Personal life

Mehta was married to Aruna, a teacher. He had a son Sheetal and a daughter Shyamali.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehta, Sanat 1925 births 2015 deaths Lok Sabha members from Gujarat India MPs 1996–1997 People from Bhavnagar district People from Vadodara Nationalist Congress Party politicians from Gujarat Indian National Congress politicians from Gujarat