THE EMMINENT EDUCATIONIST IS NO MORE

Pratap Chandra Chunder

MY MAMA JI ( MY MOTHER'S OWN ELDER -BROTHER)

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by Debkanchan Mitra

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Pratap Chandra Chunder (1919 – January 1, 2008) was a union minister of India, educationist and author. He served in Morarji Desai Ministry from 1977 to 1980 as a cabinet minister with education and social welfare portfolios.

Chunder studied history and law at the University of Calcutta. He was a member of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly from 1962-68 and state's Finance and Judicial Minister in 1968. He was awarded a D. Phil. in Arts from the same university. Chunder was an attorney-at-law in the Calcutta High Court and an advocate of the Supreme Court of India. He was member of Senate and the faculty of law of the Calcutta University between 1961 and 1968.

A former student of Presidency College, Kolkata, he was the President of the Alumni Association, from 1989-90 to 1993-94, 1998-99 and from 2000 to 2005 Chunder was executive council member of the Rabindra Bharati University. He was also the Founder-Chairman of West Bengal Heritage Commission.

He has authored many historical novels and dramas including Bubhuksha, Smrtira Alinde, Job Charnocker Bibi, Glimpses of Indian Culture: Ancient and Modern, and Kautilya on Love and Morals.

Pratap Chandra Chunder died on January 1, 2008, aged 88.

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Ex-Union minister PC Chunder is no more

Kolkata, January 1 Former Union minister and educationist Pratap Chandra Chunder passed away at a city nursing home on Tuesday afternoon.

He was 89 and is survived by his wife, Leena Chunder, and four sons. He had been admitted to Apollo Gleneagles Hospital on December 25 with a cardiac problem and underwent angioplasty. However, family members said that his condition continued to deteriorate. He was put on dialysis thereafter and died around 12.30 pm today.

Chunder was born in 1919. He studied law and history in Calcutta University. He later joined politics and became the Minister for Education, Culture and Social Welfare in the Morarji Desai cabinet from 1977-1979. Earlier, he was the Finance Minister of West Bengal in 1968. He was also a member of the state Assembly from 1962-68.

Chunder was also involved with a number of education institutions, including the Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management (IISWBM), the Asiatic Society, Indian Museum as well as the State Heritage Commission. He had authored a number of books, including Glimpses of Indian Culture: Ancient and Modern.

Speaker Hashim Abdul Halim, who was Chunder’s student, said, “I am shocked to hear of his demise. It is a great loss. Having studied under him, I was close to him and his family and this is a tragic moment for Bengal.”

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and CPM state secretary Biman Bose visited Chunder’s house to pay their last respects and offer condolences to the family. Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi visited the hospital to pay his last respects.

Gopalkrishna Gandhi and Buddhadev Bhattacharjee today deeply condoled the death of former Union Minister Pratap Chandra Chunder, describing him as a “scholar par excellence”. “His administrative skills and range of wisdom have earned him a special status in our private life,” the governor said in his condolence message.

The chief minister recalled Chunder’s contribution to public life and said that the renowned academician played a significant role by involving himself with different educational and cultural institutions.

“He headed the state Heritage Commission and will ever be remembered by the people of West Bengal,” he said.

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said though Chunder was aged and not in good health for quite sometime, his death came as a shock. Mukherjee said he had the benefit of being associated with Chunder as his student in the University Law College and subsequently as a colleague in Parliament when he was union minister.

WBPCC Working President Pradip Bhattacharya described Chunder as a tall political personality.

State Bharatiya Janata Party president Sukumar Banerjee said the nation lost a patriot and great educationist due to the death of Pratap Chandra Chunder.