R. K. Shanmukham Chetty

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In this Indian name, the name Ramasamy Chetty is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by the given name, Shanmukham Chetty.
E. F. L. Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax,
Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon
Personal details
Born(1892-10-17)17 October 1892
Madras Law College
OccupationLegislator
ProfessionLawyer, politician

Sir Ramasamy Chetty Kandasamy Shanmukham Chetty

Cochin kingdom
from 1935 to 1941.

Shanmukham Chetty was born into a wealthy Vanika Vaisya (oil monger community) family in

Madras Law College. On completion of his education, Shanmukham Chetty joined politics and served both in the Indian nationalist Swaraj Party as well as the Justice Party. Shanmukham Chetty was elected to the Central Legislative Assembly of India and served as its Deputy President from 1931 to 1935. After losing the 1935 elections, Chetty returned to South India where he served as Diwan of Cochin kingdom from 1935 to 1941. On India's independence in 1947, Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India
controversially chose Chetty as his Finance Minister despite the latter's well known pro-British leanings. Shanmukham Chetty died on 5 May 1953.

During his public life, Chetty also identified with a number of social causes. He was a strong supporter of the Tamil Isai Movement. Shanmukham Chetty was the Finance Minister of India when the country's first budget was tabled in Parliament on 26 November 1947.

Early life

Shanmukham Chetty was born to Kandasamy Chetty in Vaaniar Street, Coimbatore on 17 October 1892. Shanmukham Chetty's grandfather Ramasami Chetty had migrated to Coimbatore in the middle of the 19th century. The family was involved in business and owned a number of mills in Coimbatore city.

Shanmukham Chetty had his schooling at Coimbatore. He studied economics at

Madras Law College
. On completion of his graduation, Shanmukham Chetty did not join the bar. Instead, he took care of the family business and after some time, entered politics.

Early political career

R. K. Shanmukham Chetty in 1924

Shanmukham Chetty joined the Justice Party and became a Councillor in the Coimbatore municipality in 1917.[2] Soon afterwards, he was elected Vice-Chairman of the Coimbatore Municipality.[3] Chetty is credited with having brought about some reforms in the municipal administration.[3]

In 1920, Shanmukham Chetty participated in the

Imperial Legislative Council of India.[5] Chetty represented Indian employers at the International Labour Conference in Geneva in 1928, 1929 and 1932.[5] He was the Indian delegate at the Imperial Economic Conference held at Ottawa in 1932.[5]

In 1932, Shanmukhan Chetty was made Deputy-President of the Central Legislative Assembly and in 1934, made President, in succession to

Sir Ibrahim Rahimtoola.[6][7] Shanmukham Chetty served as President till 1935, when he had to quit his membership of the Central legislative Assembly after losing the 1935 elections.[6]

During his tenure as member of the Central Legislative Assembly, Chetty is believed to have enjoyed the support of Lord Willingdom, who once even referred to Shanmugham Chetty as his "god-son".[8]

Later political career

Chetty served as Diwan of

Periyar's schemes.[2] Chetty returned to Madras in 1941 and was succeeded by E. F. W. Dickinson
.

In 1938, Chetty visited

Nawab of Bhopal.[10] He also served as President of the Indian Tariff Board.[10] Due to his pro-British views, Shanmukham Chetty was not included in the Constituent Assembly.[10]

When India got independence on 15 August 1947, he is reported to have said

... we have secured freedom from foreign yoke, mainly through the operation of world events, and partly through a unique act of enlightened self-abnegation on behalf of the erstwhile rulers of the country....

Due to his expertise in economics, Shanmukham Chetty was chosen by the Father of the Nation, Mahathma Gandhi, against the wishes of Jawaharlal Nehru, to be the Finance Minister in independent India's first cabinet.[10] However, due to conflict of views with Nehru, Chetty quit after a short time.[10][11] Shanmukham Chetty is, today, remembered for presenting the first budget of independent India on 26 November 1947.[12]

Chetty returned to state politics and was re-elected to the

State Legislative Assembly in the 1952 elections as an independent candidate.[13] [failed verification
]

Constituent Assembly Debates[14]

In the Constituent Assembly, Chetty[15] he intervened on the issues of fiscal federalism.

The Parliament House will join with me in conveying our condolence to his family. The House may stand in silence for a minute and express its sorrow.[16]

Death

Shanmukham Chetty suffered a severe heart attack on 3 May 1953. He succumbed to a second attack on the evening of 5 May 1953.[17]

Honours

Chetty was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire on 3 June 1933.[18] He was conferred with the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by the Annamalai University. A life-size bronze statue of Dr. Chetty was unveiled on the campus of R. K. Sreerangammal Kalvi Nilayam Higher Secondary School, Coimbatore on 6 July 2014. Kochi's Shanmugham road is named after him.[19]

Notes

  1. ISBN 978-1-5381-0686-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  2. ^ a b c G. Satyamurty (7 January 2009). "A visionary economist, great lawyer, great orator". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 6 July 2009.
  3. ^ a b Patriot, p. 122
  4. ^ a b The collected works of Lala Lajpat Rai, Volume 13. Manohar. 2010. p. 42.
  5. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7190-2390-3
    .
  6. ^ a b Ramananda Chatterjee (1975). The Modern review, Volume 137. Modern Review Office. p. 213.
  7. ISBN 978-81-261-2563-0
    .
  8. ^ a b Patriot, p. 123
  9. ^ "List of diwans of Kochin". worldstatesmen.org.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g Patriot, p. 124
  11. ^ S. Muthiah (29 March 2004). "When the postman knocked". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 30 September 2004.
  12. ISBN 978-0-07-069937-3
    .
  13. ^ "Statistical report on General Election 1951 to the Legislative Assembly of Madras" (PDF). Election Commission of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 February 2007.
  14. ^ "CADIndia". cadindia.clpr.org.in. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
  15. ^ "CADIndia". cadindia.clpr.org.in. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
  16. ^ https://eparlib.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/55530/1/lsd_01_03_06-05-1953.pdf Page no. 31
  17. ^ "This Day That Age: Shanmukham Chetti dead". The Hindu. 6 May 2003. Archived from the original on 26 March 2012.
  18. ^ The India Office and Burma Office list, Volume 56. India Office. 1947. p. 108.
  19. ^ "What's in a name: Who's this Shanmugham?". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 22 November 2023.

References

Further reading

  • Business Legends by Gita Piramal (1998) – Published by Viking Penguin India.
  • T. Praskasam by P. Rajeswara Rao under National Biography Series published by the National Book Trust, India (1972).
Preceded by
Finance Minister of India

1947–1949 		Succeeded by
John Mathai
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