Vasant Purushottam Sathe (5 March 1925 – 23 September 2011) was an Indian politician 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 a lawyer by training and became a parliamentarian in 1972 and a cabinet minister during the 1980s. He was a socialist and came to prominence in the congress after Indira Gandhi split the party for a second time in 1978. He was also known for his tenure as Union

Minister of Information and Broadcasting Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (Ministry of I&B) is a ministerial level agency of the Government of India responsible for the formulation and administration of rules, regulations and laws in the areas of information, broadcasting, the ...

when he initiated the process which led to

Indian television The television industry in India is very diverse and produces thousands of programs in many of the Indian languages. More than half of all Indian households own a television. As of 2016, the country had over 857 channels of which 184 were pay ...

moving into colour broadcasting for the Asian Games 1982 and '' Hum Log'' the first colour Indian soap-opera.

Early life

Vasant Purushottam Sathe was born on 5 March 1925 at

Nashik Nashik (, Marathi: aːʃik, also called as Nasik ) is a city in the northern region of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Situated on the banks of river Godavari, Nashik is the third largest city in Maharashtra, after Mumbai and Pune. Nashik ...

, Maharashtra, to Purushottam Sathe. He received his early education at Bhonsla Military School,

, and did his masters in Economics and Political Science at Nagpur Mahavidyalaya, followed by a degree in Law at Morris College,

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 ...

Political career

Sathe joined the Socialist Party upon at its inception in 1948 after which he joined the Congress. He made his debut as a Member of Parliament in 1972 for the

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. Akola ...

constituency in the

Vidarbha Vidarbha (Pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, �id̪əɾbʱə is a geographical region in the east of the Indian state of Maharashtra and a Proposed states and union territories of India#Maharashtra, proposed state of central India, comprising th ...

region of Maharashtra. In the 1980s he moved to the

Wardha Wardha is a city and a municipal council in Wardha district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarters of Wardha district. Wardha gets its name from the Wardha River which flows at the north, west and south bounda ...

constituency. He won from Wardha in 1980, 1984 and 1989, but lost in 1991 and 1996. Sathe worked as a Union Cabinet minister for the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

. He is known for his candidness on issues of critical concern to the country and his unconventional lifestyle. He propagated the Presidential form of government for India. He was a member of the Consultative Committee of the Planning commission in 1972 before holding key portfolios as the Union Minister of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in 1980, Chemicals and Fertilizers in 1982, Steel, Mines & Coal in 1985, Energy in 1986, and Communications from 1988–1989. He was also the Chairman of Indo-Japan Study Committee from 1992–95 and became President of the

Indian Council for Cultural Relations The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), is an autonomous organisation of the Government of India, involved in India's global cultural relations, through cultural exchange with other countries and their people. It was founded on 9 Apri ...

in 1993. He has represented India at

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

, the World Peace Congress and the Inter-Parliamentary Union. In 2005 he released his auto-biography ''Memoirs of a Rationalist'' on his 81st birthday.

Personal life

Sathe married the late Jayshree Sathe on 7 February 1949. He has 3 children: Two daughters Suhas and Suniti and a son, Subhash who is an industrialist at Gurgaon near Delhi. He died following a heart attack on 23 September 2011 in

Gurugram Gurgaon (pronunciation: �ʊɽɡãːw, officially named Gurugram (pronunciation: �ʊɾʊɡɾaːm, is a city located in the northern Indian state of Haryana. It is situated near the Delhi–Haryana border, about southwest of the nationa ...

, India. He complained of chest pain late in the evening and was rushed to a private hospital, where doctors declared him dead.Congress veteran Vasant Sathe dead

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia. It was founded by Sunder Singh Lyall ...

Books

* ''Towards Social Revolution: A Case for Economic Democracy'', Vikas Pub., 1985. . * ''Restructuring of Public Sector in India'', Vikas Pub. House, 1989. * ''National government: agenda for a new India'', UBS Publishers Distributors, 1991. . * ''Two Swords in One Scabbard: a Case for Presidential Form of Parliamentary Democracy'', NIB Publishers, 1989. * ''Tax Without Tears: For Economic Independence and National Integration'', * ''The Challenge of Change: Key Issues for a Developing Society'', Allied Publishers, 1989. * ''India to be a Global Power''. * ''Memoirs of a Rationalist'', Om Books International, 2005. .

References

External links

9th Lok Sabha: Members Bioprofile: Vasant Sathe

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 ...

Interview with Vasant Sathe
at

Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split betw ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sathe, Vasant 1925 births 2011 deaths Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University alumni Indian National Congress politicians from Maharashtra Indian memoirists People from Nashik Lok Sabha members from Maharashtra India MPs 1971–1977 India MPs 1977–1979 India MPs 1980–1984 India MPs 1984–1989 India MPs 1989–1991 Marathi politicians Ministers for Information and Broadcasting of India Ministers of Power of India People from Akola district People from Wardha district Indian political writers Writers from Maharashtra Indian autobiographers 20th-century Indian writers Praja Socialist Party politicians