Madhu Dandavate: Difference between revisions

'''Madhu Dandavate''' (21 January 1924 – 12 November 2005) was an [[India]]n [[physicist]] and [[Socialism|socialist]] [[politician]], who served as [[Minister of Railways (India)|Minister of Railways]] in the [[Premiership of Morarji Desai|Morarji Desai ministry]], and as [[Minister of Finance (India)|Minister of Finance]] in the [[Vishwanath Pratap Singh ministry|V P Singh ministry]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|last=Deol|first=Taran|date=21 January 2020|title=Madhu Dandavate — two inches of foam that he gifted Indians and the letters he wrote|work=ThePrint|url=https://theprint.in/theprint-profile/madhu-dandavate-two-inches-of-foam-that-he-gifted-indians-and-the-letters-he-wrote/352263/|access-date=11 September 2020}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Guha|first=Ramachandra|date=20 November 2005|title=TWO INCHES OF FOAM, The Hindu|url=http://ramachandraguha.in/archives/two-inches-of-foam.html|access-date=11 September 2020|website=ramachandraguha.in}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite news|date=13 November 2005|title=Madhu Dandavate passes away at 81|work=The Times of India|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Madhu-Dandavate-passes-away-at-81/articleshow/1293361.cms|access-date=11 September 2020}}</ref>

Born in [[Ahmednagar]], [[Bombay Presidency]], Dandavate studied and was employed as a physicist in [[Mumbai|Bombay]], before participating in the [[Quit India Movement]] in 1942.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /> After independence, he served as a [[Member of parliament, Lok Sabha|Member of Parliament]] from [[Rajapur (Lok Sabha constituency)|Rajapur]] in [[Maharashtra]] from 1971 to 1991.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4" /> As an opposition politician, Dandavate was jailed during [[The Emergency (India)|the Emergency]].<ref name=":5" /> Serving as Railway Minister from 1977 to 1979, he initiated a number of improvements, most notably providing more comfortable cushioned seats to second-class passengers, a measure that "helped hundreds of millions of people". Later in the late 1980s, he served as Finance Minister.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":6">{{Cite book|last=Guha|first=Ramachandra|title=[[India After Gandhi]]|publisher=Picador|year=2008|isbn=978-0-330-50554-3|location=London|pages=526-527}}</ref>

After the end of the Emergency and the [[1977 Indian general election|1977 elections]], Dandavate served as the [[Minister of Railways (India)|Minister of Railways]] in the [[Premiership of Morarji Desai|Morarji Desai ministry]]. He initiated a number of improvements in [[Rail transport in India|the country's rail infrastructure]]. These included the computerization of railway reservations, which reduced corruption among booking clerks and uncertainty among passengers; sanctioning the first phase of the [[Konkan Railway]] in 1978-79, with a line from [[Apta railway station|Apta]] to [[Roha railway station|Roha]]; and the repair or replacement of 5000 [[Kilometre|kilometres]] of worn-out [[Track (rail transport)|tracks]]. Most notably, he introduced cushioned berths for passengers of second-class sleeper coaches, replacing the existing wooden berths, to provide for a more comfortable journey. While initially implemented in the major trunk lines, all trains had these padded berths in their second-class compartments by the end of the 1980s.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Editorial|date=22 February 2018|title=February 22, 1978, Forty Years Ago|work=The Indian Express|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/indian-railways-history-rail-budget-5073301/|access-date=11 September 2020}}</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

Madhu Dandavate was married to [[Pramila Dandavate]], who was also prominently involved in the socialist movement in India, in 1953.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":5" /> She was a member of the [[7th Lok Sabha]] after being elected in the [[1980 Indian general election|1980 general election]] from the [[Mumbai North Central (Lok Sabha constituency)|Mumbai North Central constituency]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://164.100.47.132/LssNew/biodata_1_12/2714.htm | title=Members Bioprofile - Dandavate, Shrimati Pramila | publisher=[[Lok Sabha]] | accessdate=10 May 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140512231640/http://164.100.47.132/LssNew/biodata_1_12/2714.htm | archive-date=12 May 2014 | url-status=dead }}</ref> During their 18-month detention during the Emergency, with Madhu lodged in Bangalore Central Jail and Pramila in [[Yerawada Central Jail|Yerawada Jail]] in [[Pune]], the couple wrote each other 200 letters, discussing issues like music, books, philosophy and love.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":5" />  

In ''[[India After Gandhi]]'', historian [[Ramachandra Guha]] highlights Dandavate's pragmatism, stating that "his socialism eschewed rhetoric against the rich in favour of policies for the poor. As he [Dandavate] put it, 'what I want to do is not degrade the first class but elevate the second class'."<ref name=":6" /> Noting his role in the introduction of cushioned seats in trains, Guha writes that "those two inches of [[Foam rubber|foam]]" have probably "brought more succour to more people than any other initiative by an Indian politician". Guha thus places him among the few ministers who "shall be remembered for having carried out programmes that radically reshaped the lives of their people".<ref name=":1" />  

* ''Echoes in Parliament: Madhu Dandavate's speeches in Parliament, 1971-1990'', [[Allied Publishers]], 1995, {{ISBN|8170234204}}

* Madhu Dandavate: [http://hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mag/2002/01/06/stories/2002010600050400.htm `The battle for justice'], ''The Hindu'', 6 Jan. 2002.

* Madhu Dandavate: [http://www.hinduonnet.com/2005/04/06/stories/2005040602221000.htm `Gandhis dialogue with the nation'], ''The Hindu'', 6 Apr. 2005.

[[Category:Ministers_for_Corporate_Affairs]]