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Sir Ardeshir Dalal, KCIE (24 April 1884 – 8 October 1949) was an Indian
Parsi The Parsis or Parsees () are a Zoroastrian ethnic group in the Indian subcontinent. They are descended from Persian refugees who migrated to the Indian subcontinent during and after the Arab-Islamic conquest of Iran in the 7th century, w ...
civil servant, and later, a businessman associated with the
Tata Group The Tata Group () is an Indian multinational conglomerate group of companies headquartered in Mumbai. Established in 1868, it is India's largest business conglomerate, with products and services in over 160 countries, and operations in 100 c ...
. He was knighted in 1946, and was a vocal opponent of the
partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...
.


Biography

Dalal was born on 24 April 1884 in
Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...
to Rustomjee Dalal, who worked as share-broker. He studied at Elphinstone College in Mumbai, and In 1905 he applied for J. N. Tata Scholarship for higher studies. He received the scholarship, and studied at St. John's College Cambridge. Following this, he qualified by examination to enter the Indian Civil Service, joining in 1908.


Career

Dalal was initially appointed as a
district collector The district magistrate, also known as the district collector or deputy commissioner, is a career civil servant who serves as the executive head of a district's administration in India. The specific name depends on the state or union territo ...
, and served in several districts, eventually serving as deputy secretary to the government of the State of Bombay, and serving as a member of the Provincial Legislative Council in 1923. In 1928, he became the first Indian to serve as Municipal Commissioner of Bombay, serving in that role for three years.Sir Adershir Dalal
He was the founder of IIT'S. He joined Tata Group as a Director of
Tata Steel Tata Steel Limited is an Indian multinational steel-making company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, with its primary operations based in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand. It is a subsidiary of the Tata Group. Formerly known as Tata Iron and Steel ...
in 1931 and served Tata group till 1941 and again from 1945 his death in 1949. He was knighted in 1939. He was one of the signatories to the
Bombay Plan The Bombay Plan is the name commonly given to a World War II-era set of Import substitution industrialization-based proposals for the development of the post-independence economy of India. The plan, published in 1944/1945 by eight leading Indian in ...
formulated in 1944. In June 1944, he resigned from Tatas as the Viceroy,
Lord Wavell Field Marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Archibald Percival Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell, (5 May 1883 – 24 May 1950) was a senior officer of the British Army. He served in the Second Boer War, the Bazar Valley Campaign and the First World Wa ...
, invited him to join the
Viceroy's Executive Council The Viceroy's Executive Council, formerly known as Council of Four and officially known as the Council of the Governor-General of India (since 1858), was an advisory body and cabinet of the Governor-General of India, also known as Viceroy. It exis ...
as Member-in-Charge of Planning and Development. His contributions as one of the architects of the Government of India's post
war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...
economic plan formulated in 1945 have been noted. He was knighted again as a KCIE in 1946 died on 8 October 1949. A hospital-cum-nursing college in
Jamshedpur Jamshedpur (; ), also known as Tatanagar, is a major industrial city in eastern India. It is the List of cities in Jharkhand by population, largest city in the state of Jharkhand. With a population of 629,658 in the city limits and 1.3 million ...
has been named after him as ''Ardeshir Dalal Memorial Hospital''.


Opposition to Division of India

Before the creation of Pakistan, Dalal suggested that for the next 10 years, some "experimental" measures should be taken to address the concerns of the India's Muslim community rather than moving ahead with the creation of Pakistan and if the Muslim populace won't be satisficed with them then it should be "free to seek and work out its own destiny in its own way". He suggested that India should adopt a federal constitution with a
parliamentary democracy A parliamentary system, or parliamentary democracy, is a form of government where the head of government (chief executive) derives their democratic legitimacy from their ability to command the support ("confidence") of a majority of the legisl ...
. He proposed giving 33.25% representation to the Muslims in the legislature and central executive, and reserving some representation for the Scheduled castes and
Sikhs Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Sikh'' ...
. He suggested that the citizens be guaranteed civil, personal, and religious freedom by the incorporation of a fundamental rights charter in India's constitution. He also suggested that the Indian constitution should be under the guardianship of India's federal court and 2 out of its 5 judges should be Muslims. He was of the view that the creation of Pakistan "in attempting to solve one problem, will create many more". He viewed India as not only a geographical but also a cultural and a spiritual entity. In the words of Dalal, Dalal believed that the creation of Pakistan would impede this unity and it should be "considered only if no other alternative is possible". Highlighting the primary cause of Muslims' objection to live in a united India under a central government, Dalal wrote,


Notes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dalal, Ardeshir 1884 births 1949 deaths Parsi people from Mumbai Members of the Central Legislative Assembly of India Tata Steel people Knights Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire Knights Bachelor Indian knights Indian Civil Service (British India) officers Businesspeople from Mumbai Members of the Council of the Governor General of India Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge