Ravi Shankar Shukla

Ravi Shankar Shukla ran the government of central India for nearly eleven years. He did it under three different titles, and he never changed his job.

He led as Premier, then as Chief Minister of the old province, then as the first Chief Minister of the new Madhya Pradesh. He died two months after that last title began.

1Who was Ravi Shankar Shukla?

Ravi Shankar Shukla was born on 2 August 1877 in Saugor, in the Central Provinces. His family was wealthy and scholarly. His father and grandfather loved the Indian classics.

He studied at Robertson College in Jabalpur. He then went to Hislop College in Nagpur and graduated in 1899. He sat for the Calcutta University law exams as a private student in 1906 and 1907. After that he began work as a lawyer in Raipur and did well.

He first saw Gandhi in 1904 at a Congress session in Bombay. Gandhi had just come back from South Africa. Years later, Gandhi’s ideas shaped his work.

• Born 2 August 1877, in Saugor.
• Graduated from Hislop College, 1899.
• Passed law exams privately, 1907; practised at Raipur.
• First saw Gandhi in 1904.

2How did he fight for freedom?

Shukla joined the Raipur District Council in 1921. He felt local bodies could carry the freedom struggle to villages. He ran its schools and held teachers’ conferences. He was president of the council from 1927 to 1937.

He gave up English-made clothes and wore khadi. He joined the All India Congress Committee in 1921. In 1930 he was arrested in the Civil Disobedience Movement. He was freed in March 1931 after the Gandhi-Irwin Pact.

In 1935 he started a weekly Hindi magazine, Mahakoshal, from Nagpur. Later it moved to Raipur. He also started an English daily, the Nagpur Times, to spread Congress views.

• President, Raipur District Council, 1927 to 1937.
• Arrested in 1930; freed in March 1931.
• Started the Hindi weekly Mahakoshal in 1935.
• Started the English daily Nagpur Times.
• Read about Civil Disobedience.

3What was the Khare crisis?

The 1937 elections brought Congress ministries to the provinces. Shukla himself proposed Dr N. B. Khare as Congress leader in the Central Provinces on 14 July 1937. Khare became the first Premier. Shukla joined his cabinet.

The cabinet soon fell into quarrels. Sardar Patel, Maulana Azad and Jamnalal Bajaj came to Pachmarhi in May 1938 to settle it. A compromise was agreed. Khare then insisted that three ministers resign, including Shukla.

They refused. On 20 July 1938 Khare asked the Governor to dismiss them. The Governor did so. The Congress high command was angry. At a Wardha meeting under Congress President Subhas Chandra Bose, it asked Khare to resign. The party then elected Shukla as its leader.

Shukla formed his cabinet. It served from August 1938 to November 1939. It resigned when Britain pulled India into the Second World War without asking Indians.

• Khare was first Premier, July 1937.
• Ministers dismissed on 20 July 1938.
• Subhas Chandra Bose presided at the Wardha meeting.
• Shukla’s cabinet: August 1938 to November 1939.
• Read about the Government of India Act 1935 and Subhas Bose.

4What was the Vidya Mandir scheme?

As Education Minister in 1937, Shukla brought in the Vidya Mandir scheme. He felt that British rule had left very few people educated. He wanted schools that taught self-reliance and good character.

He asked Zakir Hussain of Jamia Millia to lead a committee on the curriculum. The subjects included spinning, weaving, agriculture, social studies, science, mathematics, geography, the mother tongue, music and drawing.

Gandhi found his own basic-education ideas inside the plan. He blessed it.

• Launched as Education Minister, 1937.
• Curriculum committee under Zakir Hussain.
• Included spinning, weaving and agriculture.
• Had Gandhi’s blessing.
• Read about Gandhi’s philosophy.

5How did he lead Madhya Pradesh?

Shukla became Premier of the Central Provinces and Berar on 27 April 1946. He held that post until the Constitution came into force in January 1950. The title then changed to Chief Minister. He kept leading the same region under the new name.

The States Reorganisation Act of 1956 formed a larger Madhya Pradesh on 1 November 1956. It merged in Madhya Bharat, Vindhya Pradesh and Bhopal State. Shukla became its first Chief Minister. He died in New Delhi on 31 December 1956, aged 79. His new term had lasted about two months.

After his death, Kailash Nath Katju became the next long-serving Chief Minister, from 31 January 1957. Two of his six sons became prominent: Shyama Charan Shukla later became Chief Minister himself, and Vidya Charan Shukla became a national politician.

• Premier from 27 April 1946.
• New Madhya Pradesh: 1 November 1956.
• Died in office: 31 December 1956.
• Sons Shyama Charan and Vidya Charan.
• Read about Kailash Nath Katju and the States Reorganisation Commission.

6What are the exam traps?

Do not mistake one long tenure for three separate people.

• Three titles, one continuous tenure.
• The first Premier of the Central Provinces was Khare, not Shukla.
• New MP began 1 November 1956, not 26 January 1950.
• Father Ravi Shankar, son Shyama Charan: both Madhya Pradesh leaders.