Panjabrao Shamrao Deshmukh (27 December 1898 – 10 April 1965), also known as Bhausaheb Deshmukh was a social activist and a leader to farmers in India. He was the Minister of Agriculture in the first cabinet of

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

in 1952.

Early life

He was born into

Maratha The Marathi people ( Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as ...

family at Papal in

Amravati Amravati (pronunciation ( help·info)) is the second largest city in the Vidarbha region and ninth largest city in Maharashtra, India. It is administrative headquarters of Amravati district and Amravati division which includes Akola, Buld ...

district of Maharashtra on 27 December 1898, his family practised agriculture. His father's name is Shamrao and mother's name is Radhabai. His original surname was Kadam. After completing his primary education in his hometown, he was sent to Songaon and then to Karanja Lad. At Karanja Lad, he reached ninth grade, before he was admitted into Hind High School, Amravati, and

Fergusson College Fergusson College is an autonomous public-private college offering various courses in the streams of arts and science in the city of Pune, India. It was founded in 1885 by the Deccan Education Society. Professor Vaman Shivram Apte was its fir ...

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

. At that time, higher education was not available in India. Many students traveled to England for further education. He wanted to be a barrister from

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

. Despite intense poverty at home, he managed to obtain enough money to travel. He then went to the

and gained a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

, a barrister degree in 1921 and a

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

honours in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

. He finished his

with the subject ''Origin and Development of Religion in Vedic Literature''.

Social activities

He studied under Satya Shodhak Samaj of

Mahatma Phule Jyotirao Govindrao Phule, also known as Mahatma Jyotiba Phule (11 April 1827 – 28 November 1890) was an Indian social activist, thinker, anti-caste social reformer and writer from Maharashtra. His work extended to many fields, including era ...

. He did '' satyagraha'' to allow untouchables to enter Ambabai Temple'',''

, which was condemned by the upper castes. Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar supported him in this movement. The management of the temple later allowed untouchables to enter the temple. Dr. Punjabrao Deshmukh started another equality movement from his home. After the death of his father, his mother asked him to conduct traditional activity "Shradhha" with Brahmins. He brought untouchable students home from his school hostel and his mother treated them as Brahmins. His marriage ceremony was simple and held in Mumbai. After the marriage ceremony, when he reached Amravati, his friends convinced Deshmukh to give a party. He held a small dinner party for them. The meal was served by youths wearing white. After dinner Bhausaheb stated that the servers were untouchables (violating the prohibition). Many such events were conducted by Dr. Deshmukh to remove untouchability from our society.

Educational activist

In 1931 he established Shivaji Education Society at

. This education society grew to become the second largest in Maharashtra. This society operates 24 degree colleges, 54 intermediate colleges, 75 high schools, and 35 hostels. An agricultural university bearing his name operates 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 ...

, i.e. Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth. He strengthened the foundation of education throughout Maharashtra.

Politics

He was elected thrice for the

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-p ...

. Dr. Deshmukh was selected by Nehru as Minister of State Agriculture for 10 long years, from 1952 to 1962. He played an important role in the making of the

Indian Constitution The Constitution of India (IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental ri ...

. He was inspired by

B. R. Ambedkar Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956) was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader who headed the committee drafting the Constitution of India from the Constituent Assembly debates, served ...

and was a supporter of the mission by Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. He was the secretary for

Vidarbha Vidarbha (Pronunciation: �id̪əɾbʱə is a geographical region in the east of the Indian state of Maharashtra and a proposed state of central India, comprising the state's Amravati and Nagpur divisions. Amravati Division's former name is Ber ...

region of the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...

, established by Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar.

Leader of peasants

He dedicated his talent and energy for the formulation and implementation of the policies that would bring prosperity to agriculture and the agriculturist. He established the Bharat Krishak Samaj and launched a campaign called Food for Millions in 1955. He introduced the Japanese method of rice cultivation in 1958 and organized the World Agriculture Fair in 1959. The fair was visited by dignitaries across the world, including US President Dwight Eisenhower, Soviet first secretary

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...

, Lord and Lady

Mountbatten The Mountbatten family is a British dynasty that originated as an English branch of the German princely Battenberg family. The name was adopted on 14 July 1917, three days before the British royal family changed its name to “Windsor”, by ...

. He started the process of establishing agricultural universities across the country and supported agricultural education and research.

Lawyer

He appeared for poor peasants in many cases at the district court of

. His most predominant case was British Government vs. Azad Hind Sena, in which he assisted

Legacy

Dr. Deshmukh died on 10 April 1965 at

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

. He was survived by his wife Vimalabai Deshmukh and one son.

References

External links

Lok Sabah Member ProfileDr.Panjabrao Krishi Vidyapith,AkolaShri Shivaji Education Society, Amravati
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deshmukh, Panjabrao Activists from Maharashtra People from Amravati district Members of the Constituent Assembly of India India MPs 1952–1957 India MPs 1957–1962 India MPs 1962–1967 Nehru administration Lok Sabha members from Maharashtra Agriculture Ministers of India Marathi politicians 1898 births 1965 deaths Farmers' rights activists