Basanta Kumar De

Basanta Kumar De (9 March, 1897 - 31 August, 1975) was a senior officer of the BNR.

Early Life and Education

De was born in Balasore, Orissa. He was born in to a Brahmo family of Calcutta. He was the second son of Brajendranath De, Esq., ICS, the first Indian Magistrate and Collector of Hooghly and Commissioner (offg.) of Burdwan Division in Bengal and Nagendranandini De (née Bose). He completed his education at Hare School, Calcutta and Presidency College, Calcutta, where he completed his B.A. (Hons.) in English. He attended Trinity College, Cambridge, where his moral tutor was J.D. Anderson, Esq., ICS. Later he was also admitted to The Honourable Society of Middle Temple.

Career

He was recruited in to the BNR in London in 1921. His first posting was as Assistant Commercial Officer. In that capacity he played an important role in the building of the BNR Hotel in Puri. As a young officer posted in Kharagpore he witnessed the first railway workshop strike there led by V.V. Giri in 1927. He was tasked with the responsibility of carrying out the survey work for the laying of the Raipur-Vizianagram and Sonepur-Bolangir railway lines in 1931. Through the 1930s he served as District Commercial Officer in Waltair, Kharagpore, Nainpur and Adra. While he was in Adra for a second time, he was given the responsibility of managing the transportation of Congress leaders and workers attending the Ramgarh Session of the Indian National Congress of 1941. In this connection he had to visit Mahatma Gandhi there. De was recruited as a Major in the Corps of Engineers of the Indian army during the Second World War years. He served as Regional Controller of Railway Priorities (RCRP) under the Railway Board and then as Traffic Superintendent General. In 1950, he was appointed as Commercial Traffic Manager. In the last two years of his career, he attended meetings chaired by the then Chief Minister of West Bengal, Bidhan Chandra Ray. De retired from active service at the end of 1952.

Post-Retirement Years

After retirement he was offered membership of the Railway Recruitment Board in Gorakhpur, which he declined. He took the initiative to publish large segments of his father, Brajendranath De's, memoir in the Calcutta Review, on the occasion of the latter's birth centenary in 1952. As an original Trustee of the Estate of the Late Gurusaday Dutt, he recommended as well as contributed to the formation of the Gurusaday Dutt Folk Arts Museum, which is now under the Bratachari Society.