Lala Achint Ram (19 August 1898 – 1961) was an Indian freedom fighter, Gandhian and a member 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 ...

party. He was one of the first three members of

Servants of the People Society Servants of the People Society (SOPS) (Hindi ( ISO) : Lōka Sēvaka Maṇḍala ) is a non-profit social service organization founded by Lala Lajpat Rai, a prominent leader in the Indian Independence movement, in 1921 in Lahore. The society is d ...

, established by

Lala Lajpat Rai Lala Lajpat Rai (28 January 1865 - 17 November 1928) was an Indian author, freedom fighter, and politician. He played a vital role in the Indian Independence movement. He was popularly known as Punjab Kesari. He was one of the three members of ...

in Lahore in 1921. During the

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...

, he was imprisoned for extended periods, including 1930–32, 1939, 1940 and 1942–45 for his participation 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 ...

. Post-partition, he shifted to Delhi, and also remained a member of the

Constituent Assembly of India The Constituent Assembly of India was elected to frame the Constitution of India. It was elected by the 'Provincial Assembly'. Following India's independence from the British rule in 1947, its members served as the nation's first Parliament as ...

. He won his 1st Lok Sabha elections from the

Hissar (Lok Sabha constituency) Hisar Lok Sabha constituency (formerly Hissar) is one of the 10 Lok Sabha (parliamentary) constituencies in Haryana state in Northern India. This constituency covers the entire Hisar district and parts of Jind and Bhiwani districts. Voter com ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

in 1952 and the second time in 1957 from

Patiala (Lok Sabha constituency) Patiala Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 13 Lok Sabha (parliamentary) constituencies in Punjab state in northern India. Assembly segments This constituency comprises nine Vidhan Sabha (legislative assembly) segments. These are: Members ...

. Through the 1950s, along with his

wife A wife (plural, : wives) is a female in a marital relationship. A woman who has separated from her partner continues to be a wife until the marriage is legally Dissolution (law), dissolved with a divorce judgement. On the death of her partner, ...

, he was active in ''

Bhoodan movement The Bhoodan movement (Land Gift movement), also known as the Bloodless Revolution, was a voluntary land reform movement in India. It was initiated by Gandhian Vinoba Bhave in 1951 at Pochampally village, Pochampally The Bhoodan movement attempted ...

'' of

Vinoba Bhave Vinayak Narahari, also known as Vinoba Bhave (; 11 September 1895 – 15 November 1982), was an Indian advocate of nonviolence and human rights. Often called ''Acharya'' (Sanskrit teacher), he is best known for the Bhoodan Movement. He is cons ...

Early life and background

Achint Ram was born in August 1898 in Kot Mohammad Khan village in Khadur Sahib

tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...

Tarn Taran district Tarn Taran district is one of the districts in the Majha region of Punjab, India. The main cities are Tarn Taran Sahib, Bhikhiwind, Khadur Sahib and Patti. The City of Tarn Taran is a holy place for Sikhs. Tarn Taran district was formed in 2 ...

of Punjab, 50 km from Amritsar. He was educated at government high schools in Amritsar and Shimla. For pursuing higher education he went to DAV College in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

(now in Pakistan). In 1921, he was one of the first three members of

founded by Lala Lajpat Rai. He married

Satyavati Devi Satyavati Devi (26 January 1906 — 21 October 1945) was a participant in Indian independence movement. She was considered to be the Joan of Arc of India. Family She was the granddaughter of Swami Shraddhanand, and the daughter of advocate Dha ...

in 1925. Also a freedom fighter herself, she was arrested on 26 August 1942, along with her three young children. She continued her protests inside the prison as well, and organised protests for better living conditions inside the prison. Even after independence, the family stayed back at Lajpat Bhawan in Lahore, where she cooked meals for hundreds of displaced refugees, before shifting themselves to Delhi in 1948. At the time of her death on 26 October 2010 at the age of 105, she was India's oldest surviving freedom fighter. The couple had two daughters, Nirmala and Subhadra, and son Krishan Kant. Daughter Subhadra Khosla, at age 13, was the youngest freedom fighter to be jailed during independence movement. Krishna Kant remained

Vice President of India The vice president of India (IAST: ) is the deputy to the head of state of the Republic of India, i.e. the president of India. The office of vice president is the second-highest constitutional office after the president and ranks second in the ...

from August 1997 till his death on 27 July 2002. He was also member of

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

, from 1966 to 1977, followed by

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...

from 1977 to 1980.

Participation in freedom struggle

Lala Achint Ram joined the Congress party in his youth and took active part in its movements. He was imprisoned by the British government for his participation in the freedom movements from 1930–32, 1939, 1940, and 1942–45. He had been the member of

Congress Working Committee The Congress Working Committee (CWC) is the executive committee of the Indian National Congress. It was formed in December 1920 at Nagpur session of INC which was headed by C. Vijayaraghavachariar. It typically consists of fifteen members electe ...

and

Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (or Punjab PCC), formerly known as the Punjab Provincial Congress Committee in colonial India, is the affiliate of the Indian National Congress in the state of Punjab. On 9 April 2022, Amrinder Singh Raja Warr ...

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 ...

. He was also the president of Punjab Provincial Election Tribunal and National Industrial High School for a period of two years. He had also been the vice-president of All India Postmen and Lower Grade Staff Union, secretary of the Servants of the People Society and member of the provisional parliament of India from 1950–52. He had been the member of the

which drafted the constitution of India from 1946 to 1950.

Post-independence

Post partition, the head office of the Servants of the People Society was shifted to Lala Achint Ram's house at 2-Telegraph Lane, New Delhi till 1960, when the new building Lajpat Bhawan, at

Lajpat Nagar Lajpat Nagar is a residential and commercial neighborhood in the South East Delhi district of Delhi. It was named in honor of Lala Lajpat Rai and is today most known for the Lajpat Nagar Central Market. This area is not to be confused with the ...

, Delhi was inaugurated. He contested the first general election and won from Hissar with 66266 votes. He was elected in

1957 Indian general election General elections were held in India between 24 February and 9 June 1957, the second elections to the Lok Sabha after independence. They were held five years after the 1951–52 elections in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution o ...

to the

2nd Lok Sabha The Second Lok Sabha (5 April 1957 – 31 March 1962) was elected after the 1957 Indian general election. The 2nd Lok Sabha lasted its full tenure of five years till 1962. 15 sitting members from Rajya Sabha were elected to 2nd Lok Sabha after ...

from

with 124,380 votes. He had donated his ancestral house to Kot Mohammad

village panchayat Gram Panchayat () is a basic village-governing institute in Indian villages. It is a democratic structure at the grass-roots level in India. It is a political institute, acting as cabinet of the village. The Gram Sabha work as the general bo ...

to run a '' Balwadi'' (play school for children) and stitching and sewing centre for girls in the village. He and I. K. Gujral's father Avatar Narain Gujral were close associates during the freedom movement. In the 1950s he took active part in

's ''

'' along with his wife. In 1953, he undertook a ''

padayatra A padayatra ( sa, पादयात्रा, pādayātrā, journey by foot, translit-std=ISO) is a journey undertaken by politicians or prominent citizens to interact more closely with different parts of society, educate about issues concerning ...

'', to

Sirsa, Haryana Sirsa is a city and a municipal council in Sirsa district in the westernmost region of the Indian state of Haryana, bordering Punjab and Rajasthan. It is located in Thar desert. It is located 250 kilometres north-west of New Delhi and 260 kilome ...

, along with Satya Bala, daughter of Lala Jai Dev Tayal of Hisar to encourage people to donate land to landless labourers. An auditorium named after him was built in

Chandigarh Chandigarh () is a planned city in India. Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which al ...

. The foundation stone of the auditorium was laid by then

President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Murmu ...

V. V. Giri Varahagiri Venkata Giri (; 10 August 1894 — 24 June 1980) was an Indian politician and activist from Berhampur in Odisha who served as the 4th president of India from 24 August 1969 to 24 August 1974. He also 3rd vice president of India from ...

on 26 June 1974.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ram, Lala Achint 1898 births Punjabi Hindus Indian National Congress politicians from Punjab, India India MPs 1952–1957 Punjabi people India MPs 1957–1962 People from Punjab, India Indian independence activists from Punjab (British India) Lok Sabha members from Punjab, India Prisoners and detainees of British India 1961 deaths Members of the Constituent Assembly of India People from Ludhiana district Politicians from Amritsar