43 Facts About Ramaswamy Venkataraman

Ramaswamy Venkataraman, known as R Venkataraman, was an Indian lawyer, independence activist and politician who served as a union minister and as the president of India.

Ramaswamy Venkataraman studied law and practised in the Madras High Court and the Supreme Court of India.

Ramaswamy Venkataraman was appointed as the member of the Constituent Assembly and the provisional cabinet.

Ramaswamy Venkataraman was elected to the Lok Sabha four times and served as Union Finance Minister and Defence Minister.

Ramaswamy Venkataraman served as a state minister under K Kamaraj and M Bhaktavatsalam.

Ramaswamy Venkataraman was born in a Tamil Brahmin family in Rajamadam village near Pattukottai, Tanjore district in Madras Presidency, British India.

Ramaswamy Venkataraman had his school education in Govt Boys Higher Secondary School, Pattukottai and undergraduation in National College, Tiruchirappalli.

Ramaswamy Venkataraman was enrolled in the Madras High Court in 1935 and in the Supreme Court in 1951.

Law and trade activity led to Ramaswamy Venkataraman's increasing association with politics.

Ramaswamy Venkataraman was a member of constituent assembly that drafted India's constitution.

Ramaswamy Venkataraman was a member of the Indian Parliamentary Delegation to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in New Zealand.

Ramaswamy Venkataraman however resigned the seat and joined the Madras government at the invitation of its Chief Minister, K Kamaraj.

Ramaswamy Venkataraman was sworn in as Minister for Industries on 26 April 1957 and was allotted several ministries including those of Labour and Co-operation, Commercial Taxes and Nationalised Transport, Textiles, Mines and Minerals and Companies and was elected to the Madras Legislative Council in the biennial elections conducted in March 1958.

Ramaswamy Venkataraman himself was sworn-in as Minister in the Bhaktavatsalam Ministry only on 23 October 1963, as he was in New York to attend the session of the United Nations Administrative Tribunal.

Ramaswamy Venkataraman was reelected to the Council in the biennial elections of March 1964 and remained the leader of the house in the Council until after the assembly elections of 1967.

Ramaswamy Venkataraman championed the idea of industrial estates, the first of which was established at Guindy, and succeeded in getting investments in major public sector undertakings such as the Integral Coach Factory, Neyveli Lignite Corporation and the Heavy Vehicles Factory.

Ramaswamy Venkataraman persuaded the TVS Group to set up a factory at Padi and several other private companies including Ashok Leyland, Hindustan Motors and Enfield established their automobile factories in Madras during this time.

Ramaswamy Venkataraman was appointed a member of the Planning Commission in July, 1967 by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and held charge of industry, labour, power, transport, communications and railways.

In 1970, the Commission on Major Ports headed by Ramaswamy Venkataraman submitted its report to the Government.

In 1977, Ramaswamy Venkataraman was elected to the Lok Sabha from Madras Constituency and served as an Opposition Member of Parliament and Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee.

Ramaswamy Venkataraman was, variously, a member of the Political Affairs Committee and the Economic Affairs Committee of the Union Cabinet; Governor, International Monetary Fund, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the Asian Development Bank.

Ramaswamy Venkataraman was a Delegate to the United Nations General Assembly in 1953,1955,1956,1958,1959,1960 and 1961.

Ramaswamy Venkataraman was Leader of the Indian Delegation to the 42nd Session of the International Labour Conference at Geneva and represented India in the Inter Parliamentary Conference in Vienna.

Ramaswamy Venkataraman was a member of the United Nations Administrative Tribunal from 1955 to 1979 and was its President from 1968 to 1979.

Ramaswamy Venkataraman was re-elected to the Lok Sabha from the Madras South constituency in the 1980 general election with an improved majority of over 120,000 votes.

Ramaswamy Venkataraman was sworn in as Cabinet Minister in charge of Finance in the Indira Gandhi ministry on 14 January 1980.

Antulay regarding the collection of funds by a trust named after Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, she tasked Ramaswamy Venkataraman with defending the government in debates on the matter in Parliament.

Ramaswamy Venkataraman was shifted from the Ministry of Finance on 15 January 1982 to the Ministry of Defence, a portfolio that had until then been held by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Ramaswamy Venkataraman's term witnessed India attempt to conduct a nuclear test in 1983 and the seizing of the Siachen Glacier by the Indian Army in 1984.

Prime Minister Indira Gandhi chose Venkataraman to be the Congress Party's candidate for the vice presidential election to elect a successor to M Hidayatullah.

Ramaswamy Venkataraman was sworn in as Vice-President on 31 August 1984.

Ramaswamy Venkataraman saved Rajiv Gandhi's government much embarrassment when he declined to allow a discussion in the house on this letter and on the president's right to be kept informed under Article 78 of the Constitution.

However, Ramaswamy Venkataraman let it be known that he would resign if he were not nominated as the party's candidate for the presidency.

Ramaswamy Venkataraman was declared elected on 16 July 1987 and was sworn in on 25 July 1987.

Ramaswamy Venkataraman returned to Chennai after retiring, but moved back to Delhi a few years later.

Ramaswamy Venkataraman received the Doctorate of Law from the University of Madras.

Ramaswamy Venkataraman is an Honorary Fellow, Madras Medical College; a Doctor of Social Sciences, University of Roorkee; Doctor of Law from the University of Burdwan.

Ramaswamy Venkataraman was awarded the Tamra Patra for participation in the freedom struggle, the Soviet Land Prize for his travelogue on K Kamaraj's visit to the Socialist countries.

Ramaswamy Venkataraman was a great devotee of the Paramacharya of Kanchi.

On 12 January 2009, Ramaswamy Venkataraman was admitted to the Army Hospital in New Delhi with complaints of Urosepsis.

Ramaswamy Venkataraman died at the age of 98 on 27 January 2009 at 14:30 IST, due to multiple organ failure.

Ramaswamy Venkataraman was cremated with full state honours at Ekta Sthal near Raj Ghat.

Ramaswamy Venkataraman was married to Janaki Venkataraman, and had a daughter.