Blasius M. D'Souza (22 February 1938 – 26 January 2008) was an Indian

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

from

Mangalore Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka–Ke ...

. 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 E ...

from

, he was the first

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

minister in the Karnataka state government.

Biography

Blasius D'Souza was the son of AR D'Souza, a prominent businessman in Mangalore. He studied at St. Aloysius College, Mangalore, from where he graduated with a B.Com. degree in 1959. At St. Aloysius, he was president of the College Students' Union and also a member of the

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

team. He earned his

L.L.B. Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

from Siddhartha Law College,

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

, in 1961. He had five children, Anoop, Rohit, Sonia, Reema & Rovena. He hailed from the Mangalorean Catholic community.

Political career

Blasius D'Souza entered politics as a Mangalore City Council member in 1962 from Congress Party, where he served for 17 years. For seven years from 1972 to 1979 he was the Council President. He served as a District Chairman of Congress Committee in Dakshina Kannada district. He was a Member of Legislative Council in Karnataka Legislature from 1980 to 1985 and represented Mangalore as a

Member of Legislative Assembly A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. ...

for nine years. In the July 1991, he was appointed Law Minister of Karnataka in the

Veerappa Moily Marpadi Veerappa Moily (born 12 January 1940) is an Indian politician belonging to the Indian National Congress from the state of Karnataka. Moily was the former Chief Minister (and the first ethnic Tuluva CM) of the Indian state of Karnataka ...

government. He cleared an average of 25,00 files a month and created a record during his tenure as a minister. In November 1992, he was appointed Minister for

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

in a Cabinet Reshuffle, a position in which he served until 1994.

Death

Mr D'Souza died at 5:30 a.m. at the KMC hospital in Mangalore on 26 January 2008. His funeral was attended by Karnataka Congress leaders such as

, Janardhana Poojary,

B. Ramanath Rai Bellipady Ramanath Rai (born 13 September 1952) is an Indian politician who was a Minister in Government of Karnataka from 23 May 2013 to 15 May 2018. Biography Rai was born 13 September 1952 to Bellipady Perne Narayan Rai and Girija Rai in ...

, former ministers B. Nagaraja Shetty and B A Moideen, former MP Vinaykumar Sorake, local Congress leaders Ivan D'Souza and Naveen D'Souza among others. National politicians Oscar Fernandes and

George Fernandes George Mathew Fernandes (3 June 1930 – 29 January 2019) was an Indian trade unionist, statesman, and journalist, who served as the 22nd Defence Minister of India from 1998 until 2004. He was a member of Lok Sabha for over 30 years, starting f ...

also attended.

Positions held

* Member of Legislative Council * Member of Legislative Assembly * Minister for Law * Minister for Labour * Member, Indian National Congress. * President Students Union St. Aloysius College, Mangalore. * Chairman, City Central Library, Mangalore. * Senate Member, Mangalore University. * Member, Karnataka Telecommunication Advisory Board. * Vice-Chairman, Hind Kuhst Nivarana Sangha Mangalore. * Chairman Board of Visitors Govt. Venlock Hospital, Mangalore. * Member, Board of Visitors Lady Goschan Hospital, Mangalore. * Member, Mangalore Port Trust, New Mangalore * Member, Karnataka Administrative Reforms Commission. * Member, Karnataka State Town and Country Planning Board, Bangalore. * Member, Planning Authority, Mangalore. * Founder, Patron Mangalore Wildlife Trust. * Founder-Chairman Millions of Tree Club, Mangalore. * Member, World Forestry Day Committee, New Delhi. * Member, Karnataka State Board for prevention and Control of Water Pollution, Bangalore. * Vice-Chairman, D.K. District Tuberculosis Assn. Mangalore. * Member Governing Council, Fr. Muller's Charitable Institution, Mangalore. * Founder President Mangalore Auto Rickshaw and Car Operators Co-operative Society, Mangalore. * Executive Committee Member KPCC (I) from 1979 to 1982. * President Dakshina Kannada DCC(I) from 1979 to 1992, 2001 * Member Organisation Election Committee for Orissa State 1999. * Chairman, Membership Books Committee for Membership drive of the party in Karnataka 1999. * Observer Goa Legislative Assembly Election 1999. * Vice-President, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (I) since 1998. * Chairman, Pradesh Election Authority for Goa. * Councillor Mangalore City Municipal Council 1962 to 1979 * President Mangalore City Municipal Council 1972 to 1979. * President, Dakshina Kannada Hockey Association. * Member Governing Board Fr. Muller's Hospital, Mangalore. * Member, Governing Board St. Joseph's Engineering College, Mangalore. * Chairman, Cheshire homes India, Mangalore Unit. * Member, KPCC (I) and AICC (I). * Member, Library Committee * Member, Public Undertaking Committee * Member, House Committee * Member, SC/ST Committee * Member, Public Accounts Committee * Member, Managing Committee, SDM Law College, MG Road, Mangalore * Deputy Leader of the Indian Delegation to the 81st Session of the International Labour Organisation held at Geneva during the Month of June, 1994.

References

External links

Obituary in The HinduObituary in Manglorean.Com
{{DEFAULTSORT:D'Souza, Blasius M. 1938 births 2008 deaths Indian Roman Catholics Mayors of Mangalore Mangalorean Catholics State cabinet ministers of Karnataka Indian National Congress politicians from Karnataka Members of the Karnataka Legislative Council Karnataka MLAs 1985–1989 Karnataka MLAs 1989–1994