BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

GUPTA, SHRI BANARSI DAS

Intermediate, Prabhakar; I.N.C.(Haryana); s. of late Shri Ram Swaroop Dass and late Shrimati Kesar Devi; b. at Manheru, District Bhiwani, November 5, 1917; ed. at Birla Inter College, Pilani (Rajasthan); m. Shrimati Dropadi Gupta, February 28, 1941; 1 s. and 2 d.

Social Worker; a true follower of Gandhi, Nehru and Vinobaji; established Parja Mandal in erstwhile Jind State in pre-independence period; launched agitation for establishment of a responsible Government in Jind State and was imprisoned several times; waged struggle against the practice of untouchability and got Harijans the right to enter temples and use wells in his area; undertook several Padyatras, collected thousands of acres of land and distributed it among the landless during the Bhoodan Movement and became Vinobaji's trusted sewak; fought against social evils like dowry system, child marriage and stood for widow re-marriage; started the tradition of community-marriages without dowry; worked for spreading education by upgrading existing and opening new schools/colleges; Chief Patron, All India Vaish Federation; Patron, Maharaj Agrasen Medical Education & Scientific Research Society, Haryana; Trustee, Vaish Mahavidyalaya Trust which runs (i) Vaish Senior Secondary School and (ii) Vaish Model School; Trustee and Member, Haryana Prakritik Chikitsalaya; President, Managing Committee, (i) Vaish P.G. Boy's College, (ii) Adarsh Mahila Mahavidyalaya and (iii) All India Agarwal Sammelan; Member, (i) Haryana Legislative Assembly (thrice),(ii) Committee on Home Affairs,1996-98, (iii) Committee on Human Resource Development and (iv) Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Food and Consumer Affairs; Speaker(once), Haryana Vidhan Sabha; was Minister for several years; was Deputy Chief Minister (once) and Chief Minister (twice) of Haryana; elected to the Rajya Sabha in April, 1996.

Travels abroad : Most of the countries of Europe, Kenya, Malawi, Egypt and Nepal.

Publications : Edited Hindi Weekly `Apna Desh' and `Haryana Kesri' for long time.

Special interest : Working for the uplift of Harijans and backward classes and for spreading education, particularly in rural areas.

Favourite pastime and recreation : Reading, writing, literature, travelling, sight-seeing and enjoying cultural programmes, especially folk songs and dances.

Permanent address : Vijay Nagar, Bhiwani, Haryana.