Rafi Ahmed Kidwai

He went from a British jail to India’s first Communications Ministry. Then he took charge of the country’s food supply. He died in office, in the middle of a speech.

His name was Rafi Ahmed Kidwai. He was a Congress organiser, a trusted aide of the Nehru family, and one of the busiest ministers of the early republic.

1Where did Kidwai come from?

Kidwai was born on 18 February 1894. His home was Masauli, a village in Barabanki district. Today that district lies in Uttar Pradesh.

He studied at the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College in Aligarh. It is now Aligarh Muslim University. Accounts say he began a law degree there but never finished it.

The reason was the political storm of those years. Kidwai joined the Khilafat Movement around 1920. He also backed the Non-Cooperation Movement of 1919 to 1922 in Barabanki.

• Born 18 February 1894 at Masauli, Barabanki.
• Studied at the Aligarh college, now AMU.
• Active in the Khilafat and Non-Cooperation movements.

2How did he reach the Nehru circle?

Many accounts say British authorities jailed Kidwai for his part in the agitation. They add that he worked as a private secretary to Motilal Nehru after his release. Later he is said to have served Jawaharlal Nehru in the same way.

Treat these details with some care. The core point is safe. Kidwai moved close to the Nehru family, and that closeness shaped his career.

Jawaharlal Nehru also mentions Kidwai in his autobiography. In 1931 Kidwai was part of the District Congress Committee. He signed a book of recommendations on the farmers’ problems of the United Provinces.

• Often described as private secretary to Motilal Nehru.
• Close to Jawaharlal Nehru for life.
• 1931: signed farm-reform recommendations for the United Provinces.
• Read about Motilal Nehru.

3What did he do in Uttar Pradesh?

Kidwai rose through the Congress in the United Provinces. Accounts say he became Revenue and Prisons Minister in the 1937 Congress ministry led by G.B. Pant. They also link him to the United Provinces Tenancy Act of that year, which eased burdens on tenant farmers.

In 1946, he became Home Minister of Uttar Pradesh. Pant was again the head of government. India was only a year from independence.

He also sat in the Constituent Assembly. That is the body that framed the Constitution. So he helped write the rules he later served under as a Union minister.

• 1937: Revenue minister under G.B. Pant, per accounts.
• Linked to the Tenancy Act for tenant farmers.
• 1946: Home Minister of Uttar Pradesh.
• Member of the Constituent Assembly.
• See Govind Ballabh Pant.

4What did he do as Communications Minister?

When India became free, Nehru formed his first cabinet. Kidwai was the first Minister of Communications in it. The post covered the post office and telegraph services.

Accounts credit him with starting a night air mail service. The idea was simple. Letters would fly overnight and reach cities faster. A 1969 stamp even carries the theme of air mail.

India Post also honoured him later. In November 2011, the Postal Staff College in Ghaziabad was renamed the Rafi Ahmed Kidwai National Postal Academy. It trains postal officers.

• First Minister of Communications in Nehru’s first cabinet.
• Credited with a night air mail service.
• 1969: India Post issued his commemorative stamp.
• 2011: postal academy at Ghaziabad named after him.
• Read about Nehru’s India.

5How did he handle food and agriculture?

After the 1951-52 general elections, Nehru made Kidwai the Minister of Food and Agriculture. He was also the first Member of Parliament for Bahraich. Food rationing was in force across India at the time.

Kidwai worked hard to ease the shortage. Sources praise his bold and practical style. Accounts add that he removed price controls on rice and wheat in December 1953.

Kidwai died in Delhi on 24 October 1954. He had an asthma attack while giving a speech. Heart failure followed. Historian Paul Brass wrote that he was a great fund-raiser for Congress, yet he died in debt.

His name lives on in farming and in medicine. The Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Award was created in 1956 by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. He also gave 20 acres of land and Rs 1 lakh for a radiotherapy machine. That helped create the Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology in Bengaluru.

• Food and Agriculture Minister after 1951-52.
• First MP for Bahraich.
• Died 24 October 1954 after an asthma attack mid-speech.
• ICAR award created in 1956.
• Helped found the Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology, Bengaluru.

6What are the exam traps?

Keep the order of his portfolios straight, and keep the institutions apart.

• Communications came first, in 1947.
• Food and Agriculture came second, after 1951-52.
• The postal academy and the oncology institute are two different bodies.
• He was Home Minister of Uttar Pradesh in 1946.
• He was born in Barabanki but represented Bahraich.
• See the Khilafat and Non-Cooperation movements.