Jagjivan Ram facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jagjivan Ram
Ram on a 1991 stamp of India
4th Deputy Prime Minister of India
In office 24 January 1979 – 28 July 1979 Serving with Charan Singh
Prime Minister	Morarji Desai
Preceded by	Morarji Desai
Succeeded by	Yashwantrao Chavan
Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha
In office 29 July 1979 – 22 August 1979
Preceded by	Yashwantrao Chavan
Succeeded by	Vacant
Minister of Defence
In office 24 March 1977 – 28 July 1979
Prime Minister	Morarji Desai
Preceded by	Bansi Lal
Succeeded by	Chidambaram Subramaniam
In office 27 June 1970 – 10 October 1974
Prime Minister	Indira Gandhi
Preceded by	Sardar Swaran Singh
Succeeded by	Sardar Swaran Singh
Member of Constituent Assembly of India
In office 9 December 1946 – 24 January 1950
Personal details
Born	(1908-04-05)5 April 1908 Chandwa, Bhojpur, Bihar, British India
Died	6 July 1986(1986-07-06) (aged 78) India
Political party	Indian National Congress-Jagjivan (1981–1986)
Other political affiliations	Indian National Congress (Before 1977) Congress for Democracy (1977) Janata Party (1977–1981)
Spouse	Indrani Devi ​ ​ (m. 1935; died 1986)​
Children	Suresh Kumar Meira Kumar
Alma mater	Banaras Hindu University University of Calcutta

Jagjivan Ram (born April 5, 1908 – died July 6, 1986) was a very important Indian leader. People often called him Babuji. He was an activist for India's freedom and a politician from the state of Bihar.

He helped start the All India Depressed Classes League in 1935. This group worked to make sure everyone was treated equally, especially those who faced unfair treatment. In 1937, he was elected to the Bihar Legislative Assembly. After that, he worked to help farmers and workers in the countryside.

In 1946, Jagjivan Ram became the youngest minister in Jawaharlal Nehru's first government. He was the Labour Minister and helped create many policies to support workers. He was also part of the group that wrote India's Constitution. He made sure that fairness and equal treatment for all were included in the country's main laws.

For the next 30 years, he served as a minister in many different roles. He was a member of the Indian National Congress party. A very important role he held was Defence Minister of India during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. This war led to the creation of Bangladesh. He also played a big part in the Green Revolution in India. This was a time when India greatly improved its farming methods. He helped modernize Indian agriculture, especially during a food crisis in 1974.

Jagjivan Ram supported Prime Minister Indira Gandhi during a tough period called the Emergency (1975–77). However, he later left the Congress party in 1977 and joined a group called the Janata Party. He then served as the Deputy Prime Minister of India from 1977 to 1979. In 1981, he started his own political party, Congress (J). When he passed away, he was the last living minister from India's first government. He served as a minister for over 30 years, which is the longest time for any Indian federal minister.

Jagjivan Ram's Early Life and School Days

Jagjivan Ram was born in a village called Chandwa, near Arrah in Bihar. He belonged to a community that faced a lot of social discrimination at the time. He had an older brother and three sisters. His father, Sobhi Ram, used to be in the British Indian Army. Later, he became a farmer and a religious leader in his village.

Jagjivan started school in 1914. When his father passed away too soon, Jagjivan and his mother, Vasanti Devi, faced tough times. In 1920, he joined Aggrawal Middle School in Arrah, where he learned English for the first time. He then went to Arrah Town School in 1922. Here, he experienced unfair treatment because of his background.

A famous story from his school days shows his strong spirit. There were two water pots in the school, one for Hindus and one for Muslims. Jagjivan drank water from the Hindu pot. Because he was from a community that faced discrimination, the school principal put a third pot just for people like him. Jagjivan broke this third pot twice to protest. Finally, the principal decided to remove the third pot.

In 1925, a big moment happened when Pt. Madan Mohan Malviya visited his school. He was very impressed by Jagjivan's welcome speech. He invited Jagjivan to study at Banaras Hindu University.

College Education and Activism

Jagjivan Ram finished high school with excellent grades and joined Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in 1927. He received a scholarship there. While at BHU, he organized students from discriminated communities to protest against unfair social practices. He faced challenges, like being denied meals in his hostel and haircuts by local barbers. A barber from his own community had to come to cut his hair.

Because of these difficulties, Jagjivan left BHU and continued his studies at University of Calcutta. In 2007, BHU honored him by setting up a special study center to research caste discrimination and poverty.

In 1931, he earned his science degree from the University of Calcutta. There, he continued to organize meetings to highlight issues of discrimination. He also joined the movement against unfair treatment that Mahatma Gandhi had started.

Jagjivan Ram's Early Political Career

Subhas Chandra Bose noticed Jagjivan Ram in Kolkata in 1928. Jagjivan had organized a large rally for workers, with about 50,000 people attending. When a big earthquake hit Nepal and Bihar in 1934, he actively helped with relief efforts, and his work was highly praised.

When new rules allowed discriminated communities to have representatives in government in 1935, both Indian freedom fighters and British supporters wanted Jagjivan Ram's help. This was because he knew a lot about the social and economic problems in Bihar. He was chosen to be part of the Bihar Council.

He decided to join the freedom fighters and became a member of the Congress party. They valued him as a strong voice for the communities facing discrimination. In 1937, he was elected to the Bihar assembly. However, he resigned because of a disagreement about irrigation taxes.

Fighting for Equality and Freedom

In 1935, Jagjivan Ram helped create the All-India Depressed Classes League. This group worked hard to achieve equality for those who faced discrimination. He also became deeply involved with the Indian National Congress. In the same year, he proposed a resolution at a big Hindu meeting, asking for temples and water wells to be open to everyone, including those who were discriminated against.

In the early 1940s, he was put in jail twice for actively participating in the Satyagraha and the Quit India Movement. These were peaceful protests against British rule. He was also one of the main leaders who spoke out against India joining World War II. For this, he was imprisoned in 1940.

Role in India's Constitution

In the Constituent Assembly of India, the group that wrote India's laws, Jagjivan Ram strongly argued for the rights of discriminated communities. He pushed for special opportunities in elected government bodies and public jobs to help these groups catch up. This is known as affirmative action.

Jagjivan Ram's Long Parliamentary Journey

In 1946, Jagjivan Ram became the youngest minister in Jawaharlal Nehru's first government. He served as the Labour Minister. He is remembered for setting up many important policies to help workers in India.

He was part of an important Indian group that went to the International Labour Organization (ILO) conference in Geneva in 1947. A few days later, he was elected President of the ILO. He remained Labour Minister until 1952. He was also a member of the group that wrote India's constitution.

Later, he held many other important government jobs in Nehru's team:

• Communications (1952–56)
• Transport and Railways (1956–62)
• Transport and Communications (1962–63)

Key Roles in Indira Gandhi's Government

In Indira Gandhi's government, he served as:

• Minister for Labour, Employment, and Rehabilitation (1966–67)
• Union Minister for Food and Agriculture (1967–70)

He is best known for successfully leading the Green Revolution in India during his time as Agriculture Minister. This revolution greatly increased food production in India.

When the Indian National Congress party split in 1969, Jagjivan Ram joined the part led by Indira Gandhi. He became the president of that group. He then served as the Defence Minister of India from 1970 to 1974, making him a very powerful figure in the government. It was during this time that the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 happened, which led to Bangladesh becoming an independent country.

He was also the Minister for Agriculture and Irrigation from 1974 to 1977. Although he was loyal to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi during the Indian Emergency, he later resigned from the government in 1977. He formed a new party called the Congress for Democracy and joined a group of parties called the Janata coalition.

A few days before the 1977 elections, Jagjivan Ram gave a speech at a big rally in Delhi. The national TV channel, Doordarshan, tried to stop people from going to the rally by showing a popular movie called Bobby. But many people still came to the rally. The next day, a newspaper headline read, "Babu beats Bobby," showing how popular he was.

He became the Deputy Prime Minister of India when Morarji Desai was Prime Minister, from 1977 to 1979. He was given the defense job again. His last government position was as Deputy Prime Minister in the Janata Party government.

When the Janata Party split, there was an early election in 1980. Jagjivan Ram was the Janata Party's candidate for Prime Minister. However, the party only won 31 out of 542 seats. Feeling disappointed, he joined another group of the Congress party. In 1981, he started his own party, the Congress (J).

Jagjivan Ram was a member of Parliament from the very first election in 1952 until his death in 1986. This means he was a parliamentarian for over forty years! He was elected from the Sasaram area in Bihar. His continuous service in Parliament from 1936 to 1986 is a world record.

Important Roles Jagjivan Ram Held

In Politics and Government

Left to right: Indian Defense Minister Jagjivan Ram, Indian Minister of Commerce Mohan Dharia, U.S. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, and Indian Minister of External Affairs Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

• Member of the Central Legislature for over 30 years in a row.
• He holds the record for being the longest-serving cabinet minister in India.
• Union Minister of Labour, 1946–1952.
• Union Minister for Communications, 1952–1956.
• Union Minister for Transport and Railways, 1956–1962.
• Union Minister for Transport and Communications, 1962–1963.
• Union Minister for Labour, Employment and Rehabilitation, 1966–1967.
• Union Minister for Food and Agriculture, 1967–1970.
• Union Minister of Defence, 1970–1974 and 1977–1979.
• Union Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation, 1974–1977.
• President of Indian National Congress.
• Founding Member of the Congress for Democracy party (which worked with the Janata Party), 1977.
• Deputy Prime Minister of India, January 24, 1979 – July 28, 1979.
• Founder of Congress (J).

Other Positions

• He was the President of the Bharat Scouts and Guides from September 1976 to April 1983.

Jagjivan Ram's Family Life

In 1933, his first wife passed away. In June 1935, he married Indrani Devi. She was the daughter of Dr. Birbal, a well-known social worker. They had two children. One of their children, Meira Kumar, became a Member of Parliament five times. She won from his old election area, Sasaram, in 2004 and 2009. In 2009, she became the first woman Speaker of the Lok Sabha, a very important role in India's Parliament.

Remembering Jagjivan Ram

The place where Jagjivan Ram was cremated is now a memorial called Thanmai. His birthday is celebrated as Thanmai (Equality Day) in India. His 100th birthday was celebrated across the nation in 2008. Many people have asked for him to be given the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award, after his death.

Andhra University gave him an honorary doctorate degree in 1973. In 2009, on his 101st birthday, a statue of him was unveiled at the university.

To spread his ideas, the 'Babu Jagjivan Ram National Foundation' was set up in Delhi by the Ministry of Social Justice, Govt. of India.

The training center for officers of the Railway Protection Force is named after Jagjivan Ram.

The first electric train engine built in India was named after him. It was recently restored by the Eastern Railway.

In 2015, the Babu Jagjeevan Ram English Medium Secondary School was started in Pune. This school honors Babuji's belief in education and opportunities for everyone. It was the first public school in Pune to offer education beyond the 7th grade.

There is also a hospital named after him, Jagjivan Ram Hospital, in Mumbai.