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Basanta Kumar De
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Basanta Kumar De (Bengali: বসন্ত কুমার দে) (9 March 1897 - 31 August 1975) was a senior officer of the BNR.[1]
Early Life and education
De, who was a member of a Kayastha-Brahmo family of Calcutta, was the third son of Brajendranath De, Esq., ICS 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 James Drummond Anderson, Esq., ICS. Later, he was admitted to The Honourable Society of Middle Temple.[2] His son was the historian, Barun De.
Career
He was recruited into 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.[3]
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.[4]
De was commissioned as a Major in the Commercial Department of the BNR under the Defence of India Act during the Second World War years.[5] 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
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. In 1968, he was elected a member[6] of the Organising Committee of the 150th Foundation Anniversary Celebration of his alma mater, Hare School, Calcutta and chairman[7] of the Brochure Sub-Committee of the Organising Committee responsible for the publication of all materials related to the foundation day celebration.
References
- ↑ Aniruddha Ray, "Historian and Administrator", 'Frontline', 2013 Retrieved 2015-03-03
- ↑ Kundu, Rajib, (tr. & ed.), Saroj Nalini: Shankhipta Jibani, (Ababhash, Kolkata, 2014) (in Bengali), (translation of her husband Gurusaday Dutt's, A Woman of India: Being the Life of Saroj Nalini (Founder of Women's Institute Movement in India (with a foreword by Rabindranath Tagore), (Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1941)
- ↑ Irfan Habib, "Professor Barun De (1932-2013)" in Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, Volume 73, 2012, pp. 1553-1555
- ↑ Text of Barun De's interview given to Kris Manjapra for Tufts University Oral History Archive, 2009
- ↑ Memorandum dated 7th July 1947 and signed by the Commercial Traffic Manager of the BNR granting honorary ranks noted each under the War Department Notification to Ex: Defence of India Commissioned Officers of the same railway company.
- ↑ Notice dated 12th March 1968, signed by M. Pradhan, Hony. General Secretary of the Organising Committee of Hare School, Calcutta
- ↑ Minutes of the Meeting of the Brochure Sub-Committee held at Hare School at 4-30 P.M. on Friday, the 22nd March, 1968