R. K. Shanmukham Chetty

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Sir R. K. Shanmukham Chetty (1892 – 1953) was an economist. He became the first finance minister of India after it became independent in 1947. He hailed from a business family in Tamil Nadu that owned mills in Coimbatore. He believed in constitutional means rather than confrontational means to secure self-rule and independence. He was the Chief Whip of the Swarajya Party for some time. He was also a member of the Justice Party for a brief while. He represented India at the 1929 ILO conference. From 1923 to 1931, he was a member of the Central Legislative Assembly. He held the positions of its Deputy President and President during 1931-33 and 1933-34 respectively. He was also the Indian delegate to the Assembly of the League of Nations in Geneva in 1938 and the World Monetary Conference at Bretton Woods in 1944. He was a Constitutional Adviser to the Chamber of Princes in 1945. He was a member of the Constituent Assembly of India. Regarding India’s independence, he is reported to have said "... we have secured freedom from foreign yoke, mainly through the operation of world events, and partly through a unique act of enlightened self-abnegation on behalf of the erstwhile rulers of the country...." Thus, though he did not hail from the mainstream movement for independence, he was made the first Finance Minister of Independent India and he presented its first budget. He resigned shortly. It is believed that he was asked to resign by Jawaharlal Nehru, the Prime Minister of India due to a minor dereliction of duty by a subordinate official, so as to ensure probity. John Mathai, India's first railway minister, a former director of Tata Sons and the person who replaced Chetty as finance minister once said about Chetty that "he is more sinned against than sinning." In 1952, Chetty became a member of the Madras Legislative Council. Sir R K Shanmugham Chettiar hailed from Coimbatore and was the founder President of The Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry,Coimbatore.He was the founder of Devanga Higher Secondary school in Coimbatore.

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[edit] Further reading

Business Legends by Gita Piramal (1998) - Published by Viking Penguin India.
T. Praskasam by P. Rajeswara Rao under National Biography Series published by the National Book Trust, India (1972).

Preceded by John Mathai	Finance Minister of India 1949–1951	Succeeded by C. D. Deshmukh

First Indian Cabinet
Nehru, Prime Minister and Extl Affrs • Patel, Home • Baldev Singh, Defence • Chetty, Finance • Maulana Azad, Education • Jagjivan Ram, Labour • Babasaheb Ambedkar, Law • Rafi Ahmed Kidwai, Communications • S.P. Mookerjee, Industry • Amrit Kaur, Health • Mathai, Railways