129th Birth Anniversary of Morarji Desai | 04 Mar 2025

Source: PIB 

Lok Sabha Speaker paid tributes to Morarji Desai, former Prime Minister of India, on his birth anniversary. 

• About Morarji Desai: He was born on 29th February 1896 and served as the 4^th Prime Minister of India (1977 to 1979) during the 6^th Lok Sabha. 
  • Role in Freedom Struggle: He resigned as Deputy Collector in 1930 after 12 years in British service to join India's independence movement. 
    • He was detained during Individual Satyagraha (1941) and arrested during Quit India Movement (1942). 
  • Post Independence: He became Commerce and Industry Minister in 1956, and took over the Finance portfolio in 1958.  
    • He resigned from the Union Cabinet under the Kamaraj Plan (1963) that urged the senior Congress leaders holding government positions to voluntarily resign to focus on grassroots strengthening. 
    • He was appointed Chairman of the 1st Administrative Reforms Commission (1966) to restructure the government administration. 
    • He led the Janata Party to a landslide victory in the 1977 Lok sabha elections and became Prime Minister. During his tenure, the 44th Amendment Act, 1978 was enacted to uphold the rule of law.