View source for Pratap Chandra Chunder

{{Short description|Indian politician (1919–2008)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Pratap Chandra Chunder
| image               = Pratap Chandra Chunder - The noted educationalist and former Union Minister inaugurates the exhibition, of award winning and selected photographs from 18th National Photo Contest, jointly organized by Photo Division (cropped).jpg
| caption             = Chunder in 2006.
| birth_date          = {{Birth date|df=yes|1919|9|1}}
| birth_place         = [[Kolkata|Calcutta]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British India]]
| death_date          = {{death date and age|2008|1|1|1919|9|1|df=yes}}
| death_place         = [[Kolkata]], [[West Bengal]], [[India]]
| office3             = [[Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha]]
| term_start3         = 1977
| term_end3           = 1980
| predecessor3        = [[Hirendranath Mukherjee]]
| successor3          = [[Sunil Maitra]]
| constituency3       = [[Calcutta North East Lok Sabha constituency|Calcutta North East]]
| office1             = [[Minister of Education (India)|Union Minister of Education]]
| term_start1         = 24 March 1977
| term_end1           = 28 July 1979
| primeminister1      = [[Morarji Desai]]
| predecessor1        = [[Saiyid Nurul Hasan]]
| successor1          = [[Karan Singh]]
| office2             = [[Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment|Union Minister of Social Welfare]]
| term_start2         = 26 March 1977
| term_end2           = 28 July 1979
| primeminister2      = Morarji Desai
| predecessor2        = Saiyid Nurul Hasan
| successor2          = [[Sathiavani Muthu]]
| office4             = [[West Bengal Legislative Assembly|Member of West Bengal Legislative Assembly]]
| term_start4         = 1962
| term_end4           = 1967
| predecessor4        = [[Jatin Chakraborty|Jatindra Chandra Chakraborty]]
| successor4          = ''Constituency abolished''
| constituency4       = [[Muchipara Assembly constituency|Muchipara]]
| term_start5         = 1967
| term_end5           = 1968
| predecessor5        = ''Constituency established''
| successor5          = Jatindra Chandra Chakraborty
| constituency5       = [[Sealdah Assembly constituency|Sealdah]]
| party               = [[Janata Dal]]
| otherparty          = [[Janata Party]] <br> 
[[Indian National Congress]]
| alma_mater          = [[Bachelor of Arts|B.A (hons)]] in history <br> [[Presidency University, Kolkata|Presidency College]] <br>
[[Bachelor of Laws|LLB]] <br> [[Calcutta University]] <br> [[Doctor of Philosophy|D. Phil]] <br> [[Calcutta University]]
| spouse              = Leena Chunder
| children            = 4
}}

'''Pratap Chandra Chunder''' (1 September 1919 &ndash; 1 January 2008) (Bengali: প্রতাপচন্দ্র চন্দ্র) was a union minister of India, educationist and author. He served in the [[Morarji Desai Ministry]] as a cabinet minister with education and social welfare portfolios.<ref name=":0">{{Cite magazine|via=Indo-Asian News Service |date=January 1, 2008 |title=Former union minister P.C. Chunder dead|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/latest-headlines/story/former-union-minister-p.c.-chunder-dead-21973-2008-01-01|access-date=2022-01-10|magazine=India Today|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Members Bioprofile|url=http://loksabhaph.nic.in/writereaddata/biodata_1_12/2346.htm|access-date=2022-01-10|website=loksabhaph.nic.in}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Ex-Union minister PC Chunder is no more - Indian Express|url=http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/exunion-minister-pc-chunder-is-no-more/256772/|access-date=2022-01-10|website=archive.indianexpress.com}}</ref>

==Family and education==
Chunder was the son of {{ill|Nirmal Chandra Chunder|bn|নির্মলচন্দ্র চন্দ্র}}, a prominent member of the [[Indian National Congress]] who was a close associate of [[Chittaranjan Das]], a labour union leader & had also served as a Member of the [[Bengal Legislative Assembly]] (1925–30) & the Mayor of [[Kolkata Municipal Corporation|Calcutta Municipal Corporation]] (May 1952 to March 1953) . Both his father & grandfather Ganesh Chandra Chunder were renowned lawyers of the city. He completed his BA (Hons.) in history at [[Presidency College, Calcutta]], ranking first class first, and his LLB at the [[University of Calcutta]]. He was awarded a D Phil in Arts from the same university.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

==Career==
From an early age Chunder joined the [[Indian National Congress|Congress Party]] and became a member of the [[West Bengal Legislative Assembly]] from [[1962 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election|1962]] till 1968. He was briefly the Finance and Judicial Minister of West Bengal in 1968 under [[Prafulla Chandra Ghosh]]. From [[1977 Indian general election|1977]] to 1979 he was the Education and Social Welfare Minister of India, having been elected from [[Calcutta North East Lok Sabha constituency|Calcutta North East constituency]] a [[Janata Party]] candidate, defeating the sitting 5 - time MP [[Hirendranath Mukherjee]] of [[Communist Party of India|CPI]]. He lost his seat in [[1980 Indian general election|1980]] to [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)|CPI(M)]]'s [[Sunil Maitra]], in which he came third. Chunder stood as the [[Janata Dal]] candidate in [[1991 Indian general election|1991 general elections]] in which he came second & failed to defeat incumbent [[Ajit Kumar Panja]] of INC(I)

Chunder was an attorney-at-law at 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.

Chunder was the Founder-Chairman of West Bengal Heritage Commission and the President of the Board of Governors of [[IISWBM]], India's first MBA school. From 2000 to 2005 he was a member of the executive council of the [[Rabindra Bharati University]]. Chunder was the President of the Presidency College Alumni Association from 1989-90 to 1993-94 and again during 1998-99.

Pratap Chandra Chunder died of cardiovascular disease on 1 January 2008, aged 88.<ref>{{cite book|author=India. Parliament. House of the People|title=Parliamentary Debates: Official Report|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZDVVAAAAYAAJ|date=February 2008|publisher=Lok Sabha Secretariat.}}</ref>

In its obituary, [[The Telegraph (India)|the Telegraph]] noted<ref>{{Cite news |date=2 January 2008 |title=Out of place in mass politics |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/out-of-place-in-mass-politics/cid/1077806 |work=The Telegraph}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|text=Pratap Chandra Chunder’s [[Bhadralok|aristocratic class]] origins, which once gave him an edge in Bengal’s politics, became a liability when the nature of politics changed. He belonged to — and represented — an era in politics when educated people from the rich and the leisurely classes made natural political leaders. [[Gandhian philosophy|Gandhian politics]] and the Congress, too, were their natural choices. But [[mass politics]] became too hot for such gentlemen politicians, especially after the rise of the [[CPI(M)]] and the stormy days of [[Naxalite-Maoist insurgency|Naxalite violence]]. The rough and tumble of electoral politics was something that leaders like Chunder were not trained in. They had neither the temperament for it nor an ability to survive and thrive in it.....But Chunder remained true to his old-world values of non-violence, honesty and integrity in public life, while knowing that success in today’s politics had little to do with these values.}}

==Publications==
Chunder authored many historical novels and dramas. They are:<ref name=":1" />

*''Bubhuksha''
*''Smrtira Alinde'' 
*''Job Charnocker Bibi''
*''Glimpses of Indian Culture: Ancient and Modern''
*''Kautilya on Love and Morals''

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.bagchee.com/books.php?id=19422 Bagchee.com]
*[http://www.bookfinder.com/author/pratap-chandra-chunder/ Bookfinder.com]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070927194434/http://education.nic.in/ministerlistpage.asp Education.nic.in]
*https://archivepmo.nic.in/drmanmohansingh/press-details.php?nodeid=697
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080108083841/http://www.headlinesindia.com/more/index.jsp?news_code=67251 Headlinesindia.com]

{{First to Tenth Lok Sabha, West Bengal}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chunder, Pratap Chandra}}
[[Category:1919 births]]
[[Category:2008 deaths]]
[[Category:Presidency University, Kolkata alumni]]
[[Category:Ministers of education of India]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian lawyers]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:India MPs 1977–1979]]
[[Category:Lok Sabha members from West Bengal]]
[[Category:Indian National Congress (Organisation) politicians]]
[[Category:Indian National Congress politicians from West Bengal]]
[[Category:Novelists from West Bengal]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian novelists]]
[[Category:Indian historical novelists]]
[[Category:Politicians from Kolkata]]
[[Category:West Bengal MLAs 1962–1967]]
[[Category:West Bengal MLAs 1967–1969]]
[[Category:Janata Party politicians]]
[[Category:Janata Dal politicians]]