->Gazal world at 16:23, 8 January 2022

2022-01-08T16:23:53Z

New page

{{Short description|Indian politician}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2013}}
{{Infobox Indian politician
| name = Dr. Jivraj Mehta
| image = Jivraj Mehta.jpg
| caption = Mehta in October 1947
| birth_date = {{birth date |1887|8|29|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Amreli]], [[Bombay Presidency]], [[British India]]
| residence =
| death_date ={{Death date and age|df=yes|1978|11|7|1887|8|29}}
| death_place =
| term =
| order= 1st
| office=Chief Minister of Gujarat
| term_start=1 May 1960
| term_end =18 September 1963
| predecessor = ''Office Established''
| successor = [[Balwantrai Mehta]]
| party = [[Indian National Congress]]
| spouse =[[Hansa Jivraj Mehta]]
| constituency2 = [[Amreli (Lok Sabha constituency)|Amreli]], [[Gujarat]]
| office2= [[Member of Parliament]], [[Lok Sabha]]
| term2 = 1971-1977
| predecessor2 = [[Jayaben Shah]]
| successor2 = Dwarkadas Patel
| children =
| footnotes =
| date=
| year =
}}
'''Jivraj Narayan Mehta''' (29 August 1887 – 7 November 1978) was an Indian politician and the first [[Chief Minister of Gujarat]]. He also served as the first "[[Dewan]]" (Prime Minister) of the erstwhile [[Baroda state]], and Indian [[High commissioner|high commissioner]] to the United Kingdom from 1963 to 1966.<ref name="National Portrait Gallery 1931">{{cite web | title=Jivraj Narayan Mehta | website=National Portrait Gallery | date=1931-11-09 | url=https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp122000/jivraj-narayan-mehta | access-date=2020-02-25}}</ref>

==Early life==

[[File:Jivraj maheta's house.jpg|thumb|Jivraj Mehta's house in Amreli|left]]
Jivraj Narayan Mehta was born on 29 August 1887 to Narayan and Jamakben Mehta in a kapol vania caste [[Amreli]] in [[Bombay Presidency]]. He was son-in-law of [[Manubhai Mehta]], then [[Dewan]] of [[Princely State of Baroda|Baroda state]]. In his early age, Dr. Eduljee Rustomji Dadachandjee, a civil surgeon in Amreli prompted him to take up medicine. He subsequently secured admission into the [[Grant Medical College]] and Sir J. J. Hospital, [[Mumbai|Bombay]], after clearing a stiff written test and a thorough [[Oral exam|''viva voce'']] examination that was conducted by the British IMS officers.{{cn|date=July 2020}}

Mehta's medical education was sponsored by the Seth VM Kapol Boarding Trust. He topped the class in his first [[Licentiate (degree)|Licentiate]] in Medicine and Surgery (equivalent of [[MBBS]]) examination. In his final year, he won seven of the eight prizes open to his batch and shared the eighth prize with his hostel roommate Kashinath Dikshit.{{cn|date=July 2020}}

Later, for postgraduate studies in [[London]] he applied to the Tata education foundation for a student loan and he was selected as one of the only two students for this prestigious fellowship from amongst several bright students who had applied for it. Jivraj Mehta lived from 1909 to 1915 in London. He was the president of the Indian Students Association in London where he studied medicine and did his [[FRCS]] there. He won university gold medal in his MD examinations in 1914. Later, he became a member of the [[Royal College of Physicians]] of London.{{cn|date=July 2020}}

==Political career==

===Doctor of Mahatma Gandhi===
He was briefly the personal doctor to [[Mahatma Gandhi]] after returning to India and joined the [[Indian independence movement|independence movement]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.qmul.ac.uk/alumni/publications/blc/blc_spring06.pdf |title=A Pioneer in India |access-date=9 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614145337/http://www.qmul.ac.uk/alumni/publications/blc/blc_spring06.pdf |archive-date=14 June 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

He was twice incarcerated (1938 and 1942) by the British government for his role in Gandhi's [[Satyagraha]] movement. After independence in 1947, he held various public offices. He served as the first "[[Dewan]]" (Prime Minister) of the erstwhile [[Baroda state]] in free India sworn-in on 4 September 1948,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=xdI-AAAAIBAJ&sjid=k0wMAAAAIBAJ&pg=3890,6471046&dq=baroda-state&hl=en|title=Gaekwar Inaugurates Responsible Government|date=5 September 1948|work=Indian Express}}</ref> director general of health services and secretary to the ministry of health in the central government during the partition period, minister of public works, finance, industry and prohibition for the then [[Bombay state]].

===Chief minister===
He was the first chief minister of the newly formed [[Gujarat]] state from April 1960 to September 1963. Later he also served as the Indian high commissioner to the [[United Kingdom]] from 1963 to 1966.

==Contributions to medical education in India==
He was the founder of Seth Gordhandas Sunderdas Medical College and [[KEM Hospital|King Edward VII Memorial Hospital]], [[Mumbai]]. He served in these institutions as their first dean over a period of 17 years (1925–1942).

In the 1930s, Mehta had gauged the fundamental importance of research in medical education. As the dean, he made many efforts towards securing adequate funds for the institute. Drs. P. C. Bharucha, M. D. D. Gilder, N. A. Purandare and R. N. Cooper responded overwhelmingly to his appeal for financial donations to the college research corpus. However, similar requests to the Indian Research Fund Association went for nothing. Then Dr. Jivraj persuaded Sir [[Walter Morley Fletcher]] to visit KEM Hospital on his visit to Bombay to attend a dinner. He showed him the commendable research going on and also impressed upon Sir Walter the acute need of government support for such a research program. The result was government sanction of funds within a few weeks for the same projects through the Indian Research Fund Association.

Mehta with other medical personalities like Nilratan Sarkar and Dr. [[B. C. Roy]] strongly forwarded the case of the metropolitan city of [[Delhi]], when the government was contemplating establishment of a central medical research institute at [[Dehradun]]. Their proposal was accepted by the government and result was [[All India Institute of Medical Sciences]] (AIIMS) at Delhi. He was also involved in the planning of the medical colleges and hospitals at Poona (now [[Pune]]), [[Ahmedabad]], [[Nagpur]] and [[Aurangabad, Maharashtra|Aurangabad]]. In the establishment of the [[Topiwala National Medical College and B.Y.L. Nair Charitable Hospital, Mumbai|Topiwala Nair Municipal Hospital]], Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Hospital and the [[Nanavati hospital|Dr. Balabhai Nanavati Hospital]] in Mumbai, he played a key role. He was thrice elected president of the All India Medical Congress and also president of the [[Indian Medical Association]].

Mehta died on 7 November 1978.{{cn|date=July 2020}} His marriage to [[Hansa Jivraj Mehta|Hansabhan]] in the 1920s provoked what historian John R. Wood describes as a "mild sensation" because it was an inter-[[caste system in India|caste]] union, with Mehta being of the [[Bania (caste)|Bania]] community and his wife coming from a prominent [[Nagar Brahmin]] family.<ref>{{cite journal |title=British versus Princely Legacies and the Political Integration of Gujarat |first=John R. |last=Wood |journal=The Journal of Asian Studies |volume=44 |issue=1 |date=November 1984 |pages=65-99 |doi=10.2307/2056747 |jstor=2056747}}</ref>

The newly instituted first-ever Dr. Jivraj Mehta Awards were also presented to veterans Dr. G. S. Sainani (Mumbai), Dr. V. Mohan (Chennai), Dr. Sidharth Shah (Mumbai), Dr. Ashok K. Das (Pondicherry) and Dr. S. K. Sharma (AIIMS, New Delhi) on February 4, 2015.

==References==
<references/>
*[http://www.jpgmonline.com/article.asp?issn=0022-3859;year=2006;volume=52;issue=3;spage=226;epage=229;aulast=Goenka A tribute to the indomitable spirit of Jivraj Mehta]
*[http://gpamreli.org/directories/menu/jnmehta.htm Dr. Shri Jivraj Narayan Mehta (First Chief Minister of Gujarat)]
*http://www.business-standard.com/article/government-press-release/jp-nadda-and-dr-jitendra-singh-release-api-textbook-of-medicine-115020401132_1.html
*http://www.gujaratinformation.net/gallery/Chief_Minister/Jivrajbhai.htm
*https://web.archive.org/web/20090625093249/http://www.mapsofindia.com/gujarat/government-and-politics/

==External links==
*[http://164.100.47.194/loksabha/writereaddata/biodata_1_12/2154.htm Official biographical sketch in Parliament of India website]

{{Chief Ministers of Gujarat}}
{{Padma Vibhushan Awards}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehta, Jivraj Narayan}}
[[Category:1887 births]]
[[Category:1978 deaths]]
[[Category:Chief Ministers of Gujarat]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian medical doctors]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons]]
[[Category:Indian independence activists from Gujarat]]
[[Category:People from Amreli district]]
[[Category:Members of the Constituent Assembly of India]]
[[Category:History of Vadodara]]
[[Category:Baroda State]]
[[Category:Gandhians]]
[[Category:High Commissioners of India to the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Lok Sabha members from Gujarat]]
[[Category:4th Lok Sabha members]]
[[Category:5th Lok Sabha members]]
[[Category:Bombay State politicians]]
[[Category:Gujarat MLAs 1960–1962]]
[[Category:Chief ministers from Indian National Congress]]
[[Category:Indian National Congress politicians from Gujarat]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in public affairs]]
[[Category:Medical doctors from Gujarat]]
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of British India]]

Jivraj Narayan Mehta - Revision history

->Gazal world at 16:23, 8 January 2022