Kunji Lal Dubey (18 March 1896 – 2 June 1970) was an

Indian independence activist The Indian independence movement consisted of efforts by individuals and organizations from a wide spectrum of society to obtain political independence from the British, French and Portuguese rule through the use of a many methods. This is a l ...

, lawyer, educationist and politician from

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

. He was the first vice chancellor of

Rani Durgavati University Rani Durgavati Vishwavidyalaya (Rani Durgavati University), also known as University of Jabalpur, is a government university in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India. It was named after the queen Rani Durgavati. History The university was constituted ...

and the chancellor of

Nagpur University Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University (RTMNU), formerly Nagpur University, is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Nagpur, Maharashtra. It is one of India's oldest universities, as well as th ...

. He served as the first speaker of

Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly The Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha or the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly is the unicameral state legislature of Madhya Pradesh state in India. The seat of the Vidhan Sabha is at Bhopal, the capital of the state. It is housed in the ''Vidha ...

in 1956, as the Finance Minister of the State in 1967 and was the president of the ''Inter University Board of India, Burma and Ceylon''. The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour, the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

, in 1964, for his contributions to the society.

India Post India Post is a government-operated postal system in India, part of the Department of Post under the Ministry of Communications. Generally known as the Post Office, it is the most widely distributed postal system in the world. Warren Hastings ha ...

issued a commemorative stamp on Dubey in 1996.

Biography

Dubey was born on 18 March 1896 at

Amgaon Amgaon is a town located in Gondia district of Nagpur Division in the state of Maharashtra, India.Amgoan has total 17,897 Urban population which rank 3rd in Gondia District after Gondia and Tirora. Location Amgaon is a town in Gondia district ...

, a village in the Narsinghpur district in

Berar Province Berar Province, also known as the Hyderabad Assigned Districts, was a province in British India, ruled by the Nizam of Hyderabad. After 1853, it was administered by the British, although the Nizam retained formal sovereignty over the provin ...

. After primary education at the village school in Kareli, he did his middle school studies at Narasinghpur and high school education at

Akola Akola () is a municipal corporation and the third largest city in Vidarbha after Nagpur and Amravati and tenth largest city in Maharashtra. is located about east of the state capital, Mumbai, and west of the second capital, Nagpur. A ...

. Joining Robertson College, Jabalpur in 1914, he graduated in 1918. He moved to

Allahabad Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administrat ...

for a degree course in law and graduated in law with first class in 1920. It was during this time, that he came under the influence of Indian freedom activists such as

Madan Mohan Malaviya Madan Mohan Malaviya ( (25 December 1861 — 12 November 1946) was an Indian scholar, educational reformer and politician notable for his role in the Indian independence movement. He was president of the Indian National Congress four times and ...

and

Narasimha Chintaman Kelkar Narasimha Chintaman Kelkar (N. C. Kelkar), popularly known as Sahityasamrat Tatyasaheb Kelkar (24 August 1872 – 14 October 1947), was a lawyer from Miraj as well as a dramatist, novelist, short story writer, poet, biographer, critic, historia ...

and entered the mainstream freedom movement. In 1934, he was elected as the president of the ''Inter-University Board of India, Burma and Ceylon'' and also held the post of the president of its legislative assembly. The following year, he joined '' Hitkarini Law College'', Jabalpur as a professor. Aligning himself with the activities of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

, he became a member of

All India Congress Committee The All India Congress Committee (AICC) is the presidium or the central decision-making assembly of the Indian National Congress. It is composed of members elected from state-level Pradesh Congress Committees and can have as many as a thousan ...

(AICC) in 1937 and two years later, when the Tripuri Session of the AICC was convened in 1939, he was the secretary of the reception committee. In 1941, he was selected for the

Satyagraha Satyagraha ( sa, सत्याग्रह; ''satya'': "truth", ''āgraha'': "insistence" or "holding firmly to"), or "holding firmly to truth",' or "truth force", is a particular form of nonviolent resistance or civil resistance. Someone w ...

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

, but was detained by the police and sentenced to six months in jail, only to be released in 1942. On his release, he participated in the

Quit India movement The Quit India Movement, also known as the August Kranti Movement, was a movement launched at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8th August 1942, during World War II, demanding an end to British rule in ...

and was jailed again, this time for a period of two years. In 1946, he contested the first Assembly elections from

Jabalpur Jabalpur is a city situated on the banks of Narmada River in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. According to the 2011 census, it is the third-largest urban agglomeration in Madhya Pradesh and the country's 38th-largest urban agglomeration. J ...

and was elected unopposed to become the Chief Parliamentary Secretary of the cabinet. He successfully contested the first Assembly election of the newly formed state of

and became the first speaker of the house, but the tenure was short (1956–57). He continued to hold the post of the speaker for two more terms, from 1957 to 1962 and from 1962 to 1967. In 1946, the year of his election to the state assembly, he was appointed as the chancellor of

, a post he held for three consecutive terms. During his tenure, he established seats for the departments of

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

and

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

. He was involved in arranging the translation of 42 English texts to Hindi which were published in 1934 and prepared another 75 such texts which helped the students to learn science subjects in local languages. He was also associated with ''Madhya Pradesh Sahitya Sammelan'' and served as its president for one term. After the passing of Jabalpur University bill, the state government established

in 1956 with Dubey as its founder vice chancellor. He was elected from the Jabalpur constituency again 1967 and held the portfolio of Finance in the

Dwarka Prasad Mishra Dwarka Prasad Mishra (1901–1988) was an Indian politician, writer and journalist. He was a member of the Indian National Congress and served as the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh for two terms during the 1960s. An Indian freedom fighter an ...

ministry during its second term from March 1967 to July 1967. Kunji Lal Dubey, who served as the President of the Madhya Pradesh Olympic Association,

Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association The Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA), headquartered at Indore, India, is the governing body of cricket in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the Madhya Pradesh cricket team. The board was formed in 1940 as the Holkar Cricket Associati ...

and ''All India Ayurved Parishad'', besides being a founder member of the Madhya Pradesh Lalit Kala Akademi, was married to Lalitabai and the couple had three sons and three daughters. He died on 2 June 1970, at the age of 74.

Awards and honours

The Government of India awarded the civilian honour of the

to Dubey in 1964. He received the degree of ''Doctor of Law'' (

honoris causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

) from

Jabalpur University Rani Durgavati Vishwavidyalaya (Rani Durgavati University), also known as University of Jabalpur, is a government university in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India. It was named after the queen Rani Durgavati. History The university was constituted ...

in 1965, followed by DLitt from

Vikram University Vikram University is located in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, India. The university was named after the ruler Vikramaditya. It was established in 1957. It was evaluated by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council and was awarded B++ grade ...

in 1967.

honoured him with a commemorative postage stamp in 1996. A Law school in Bhopal, ''Pandit Kunjilal Dubey Rashtriya Sansadiya Vidyapeeth'', has been named after Dubey and the local school in his native village,

, bears the name, ''Kunjilal Dubey Vidyalaya'', after him. ''Pandit Kunjilal Dubey Memorial Lecture Series'', is an annual oration, instituted by

, in memory of its founder vice chancellor. The University has also named its auditorium after him as ''Pandit Kunjilal Dubey Auditorium''.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Dubey, Kunji Lal Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in public affairs 1896 births 1970 deaths People from Narsinghpur district Speakers of the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly Indian independence activists from Madhya Pradesh 20th-century Indian lawyers 20th-century Indian educational theorists State cabinet ministers of Madhya Pradesh Indian National Congress politicians from Madhya Pradesh Heads of universities and colleges in India Rani Durgavati University Jabalpur Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University Madhya Pradesh MLAs 1952–1957 Madhya Pradesh MLAs 1957–1962 Madhya Pradesh MLAs 1962–1967