G. V. Mavalankar
A commemorative postage stamp on the 25th Death Anniversary of Dadasaheb Ganesh Vasudev Mavalankar, 1st Speaker of the Lok Sabha (1952-56) :
Issued by India
Issued on Feb 27, 1981
Issued for : Indian Posts & Telegraphs Department is privileged to issue a commemorative stamp in his honour.
Description of Designs : The stamp design consists of portrait of Shri G. V. Mavalankar with a part of Parliament House in the foreground. The first day cover depicts Speaker’s Chair in Lok Sabha Chamber. The cancellation shows the Parliament House building.
Type : Stamp, Mint condition
Colour : Mineral red
Denomination : 35 Paise
Overall size : 4.06 x 2.75 cms.
Printing size : 3.70 x 2.40 cms.
Perforation : 14½ x 14
Paper : Unwatermarked P.G. matt coated paper
Number printed : 20,00,000
Number per issue sheet : 40
Printing process : Photogravure
Designed and printed at : India Security Press
Name : Ganesh Vasudev Mavalankar
Born on Nov 27, 1888 at Baroda, Gujarat, India [now Vadodara]
Died on Feb 27, 1956 at Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
About :
- In the annals of India Parliament, Ganesh Vasudeo Mavalankar occupies a place of resplendent honour. Jawaharlal Nehru called him ‘Father of the Lok Sabha‘. His lasting contributions to the moulding and development of Parliamentary life led Pandit Nehru to observe that his name “will be associated with the Lok Sabha and with our Parliament for long periods to come as a Person who gave it the stamp and impress of his personality.”
- Dadasaheb Mavalankar, as he was affectionately called, was born at Baroda on 27 November 1888. After his B.A. from Gujarat College, Ahmedabad, he graduated in Law with distinction. He took to legal Profession in 1913, but soon came under the influence of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Mahatma Gandhi. He took active part in all the campaigns of Gandhiji from the Kaira No-Rent Campaign in 1917 to the Quit India Movement in 1942. He underwent several terms of imprisonment during the struggle for the country’s freedom.
- The seeds of Shri Mavalankar‘s future Parliamentary career were sowed in 1919 with his election to the Ahmedabad Municipality of which he twice became President later. When the Congress Government took office in 1937, he was elected Speaker of the Bombay Legislative Assembly. His success in that post made him the natural choice for the Presidentship of the Central Legislative Assembly in January 1946 and his election was historic. In November 1947, he was unanimously elected Speaker of the Constituent Assembly (Legislative). When India was declared Republic on 26 January 1950 he again became the Speaker of the Provisional Parliament and continued until the First General Elections of 1952. Thereafter, with the introduction of a bicameral Legislature, he was conferred the unique honour of Speakership of the House of the People (Lok Sabha). For a period of over ten years he guided the deliberations of India’s Parliament with dignity, uprightness and impartiality which enhanced the lustre of the office itself and also earned him the esteem and affection of all sections of the House. He was known all over the world, more especially in England and the Commonwealth countries, as one of the outstanding Speakers of modern times. As a mark of this high regard and recognition, he was unanimously elected Chairman of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association for two years at the Jamaica meeting. He led two Parliamentary Delegations to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Conferences in 1948 and 1952, as also of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in 1950.
- Shri Mavalankar was great not only as a Parliamentarian but as a social worker, educationist and writer as well. Numerous were the trusts for Public good that he guided, the chief among them being the Gandhi Smarak Nidhi and the Kasturba Memorial Trust.
- (Text by Prof. P. G. Mavalankar).
