Chidambaram Subramaniam (commonly known as CS) (30 January 1910 – 7 November 2000), was an Indian politician and independence activist. He served as

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

and

Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

in the union cabinet. He later served as the

Governor of Maharashtra The governor of Maharashtra is the ceremonial head of the Indian state of Maharashtra. The Constitution of India confers the executive powers of the state to the governor; however, the de facto executive powers lie with the Council of Minister ...

. As the Minister for Food and Agriculture, he ushered the Indian Green Revolution, an era of self-sufficiency in food production along with M. S. Swaminathan, B. Sivaraman and Norman E. Borlaug. He was awarded

Bharat Ratna The Bharat Ratna (; ) is the highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conferred in recognition of "exceptional service/performance of the highest order", without distin ...

, Indian's highest civilian award, in 1998, for his role in ushering Green Revolution.

Early life and education

Subramaniam was born in Senguttaipalayam a village near

Pollachi Pollachi is a town and municipality in Coimbatore district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of Pollachi taluk. It is situated near the center of the South Indian Peninsula, surrounded by Western Gha ...

Coimbatore district Coimbatore District is one of the 38 districts in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. Coimbatore is the administrative headquarters of the district. It is one of the most industrialized districts and a major textile, industrial, commercial, educa ...

, Presidency of Fort St. George (now the

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

state). Subramaniam completed his early education in Pollachi before moving to Chennai where he did his B.Sc in Physics at the Presidency College, Chennai (affiliated to the

University of Madras The University of Madras is a public university, public State university (India), state university in Chennai (Madras), Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and most prominent universities in India, incorporated by an ...

). Later he graduated with degree in law from Madras Law college,

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

(then affiliated to the same university). During his college days, he started ''Vanamalar Sangam'' and published a magazine called ''Pithan'' from Gobichettipalayam along with

Periyasaamy Thooran M. P. Periyasaamy Thooran (26 September 1908 – 20 January 1987) was an Indian patriot, Tamil poet, teacher, and composer of Carnatic music. Early life Periyasamy was born to K. A. Palanivelappa Gounder and Paavaathal on 26 September 1908 ...

, K. M. Ramasami Gounder, O. V. Alagesan and Justice Palanisami. His inspiration was his uncle Swami Chidbhavananda.

Political career

Early years

Subramaniam was an active member of the

Civil disobedience movement Civil disobedience is the active and professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders, or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be called "civil". ...

against the British during his college days. He was imprisoned during the Quit India Movement in 1942. He was later elected to the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

and had a hand in the framing of the

Constitution of India The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India, legal document of India, and the longest written national constitution in the world. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures ...

. He was a minister of Education, Law and Finance for

Madras State Madras State was a state in the Indian Republic, which was in existence during the mid-20th century as a successor to the Madras Presidency of British India. The state came into existence on 26 January 1950 when the Constitution of India was ad ...

from 1952 to 1962 under chief ministers Rajaji and

K. Kamaraj Kumaraswami Kamaraj (15 July 1903 – 2 October 1975), popularly known as Kamarajar was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the Chief Minister of Madras from 13 April 1954 to 2 October 1963. He also served as the pr ...

. He was the First Leader of the House in the Madras Legislative Assembly for the entire duration. He was elected to the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

in 1962 and was the Minister for Steel and Mines. Subsequently, he served as the Minister for Food and Agriculture. He also worked as the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission from 2 May 1971 to 22 July 1972.

Green Revolution

Along with M. S. Swaminathan and B. Sivaraman, Subramaniam was the architect of India's modern agricultural development policy, after the success of his programme which led to a record production of wheat in 1972 termed as the Indian Green Revolution. As Minister for Food and Agriculture, he introduced high-yielding varieties of seeds and more intensive application of fertilizers which paved the way for increased output of cereals and attainment of self-sufficiency in food-grains in the country. About his contribution, Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, writes: He appointed M. S. Swaminathan, who played a major role in green revolution and Verghese Kurien as the chairman of National Dairy Development Board when he ushered the Indian White Revolution. Kurien says, ''that the key role played by Subramaniam in the whole thing (Operation Flood) is hardly mentioned.'' He founded the National Agro Foundation, Chennai and Bharathidasan Institute of Management, Tiruchirappalli.

Finance ministry and emergency

When the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

split in 1969, he became the interim president of the Congress (R) faction led by

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 un ...

. Later, he was appointed

in the union cabinet by Indira Gandhi. He advised her to devalue

Indian rupee The Indian rupee (symbol: ₹; code: INR) is the official currency of India. The rupee is subdivided into 100 '' paise'' (Hindi plural; singular: ''paisa''). The issuance of the currency is controlled by the Reserve Bank of India. The Reserve ...

and was the finance minister during the Emergency in 1976. After the Emergency, he parted ways with Indira and joined the breakaway Congress faction led by D. Devaraj Urs and

Kasu Brahmananda Reddy Kasu Brahmananda Reddy (28 July 1909 – 20 May 1994) was the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, India, from 29 February 1964 to 30 September 1971. On 3 June 1977, he was elected president of the Indian National Congress. Early life Kasu Brahma ...

Later years

He was appointed the union

by Charan Singh in 1979. He became the

in 1990. He resigned after his criticism of the style of functioning of the then Indian Prime Minister

P. V. Narasimha Rao Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao (28 June 1921 – 23 December 2004) was an Indian independence activist, lawyer, and statesman from the Indian National Congress who served as the prime minister of India from 1991 to 1996. He was the first p ...

. Subramaniam died on 7 November 2000 at the age of 90 in

. At his death, he was the last surviving cabinet minister who had served under

Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...

, as well as the last surviving cabinet minister from the Shastri and Nanda cabinets.

Awards

, India's highest civilian honor, 1998 * Y. B. Chavan National Integration Award * U Thant peace award, 1996 * Norman Borlaug award, 1996 * Anuvrat award, 1988

Publications

* ''The New Strategy in Indian Agriculture'' * ''Some Countries which I visited Round The World'' * ''The India of My Dreams''

Legacy

Chidambaram Subramaniam 2010 stamp of India

A commemorative coin in his honour, was released by the Government of India in August 2010. A commemorative postage stamp was also released in his honour in 2010. Shri Chidambaram Subramaniam Award - For Excellence in Character has been instituted by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavans which is awarded to its students annually.

References

External links

About us – National Agro Foundation
* Genesis – Bharathidasan Institute of Management {{DEFAULTSORT:Subramaniam, Chidambaram Recipients of the Bharat Ratna 1910 births 2000 deaths Indian National Congress politicians from Tamil Nadu Governors of Maharashtra Presidency College, Chennai alumni University of Madras alumni Tamil Nadu ministers Members of the Constituent Assembly of India Indian independence activists from Tamil Nadu India MPs 1962–1967 Lok Sabha members from Tamil Nadu India MPs 1971–1977 People from Coimbatore district India MPs 1977–1979 People from Krishnagiri district People from Dindigul district Ministers of finance of India Ministers of defence of India Agriculture ministers of India Ministers for corporate affairs Commerce and industry ministers of India Union ministers from Tamil Nadu Indian National Congress (U) politicians Madras MLAs 1952–1957