Mysore/Mysuru: Former Chamaraja Congress MLA Vasu has been appointed as the Chairman of H.C. Dasappa Institute of Public Affairs at the General Body Meeting of the Institute held at ‘Yasho Vilasa’ located at V.V. Mohalla recently, marking the 56th death anniversary of the veteran freedom fighter.

At the meeting, outgoing Chairman Dr. K. Mahadev handed over the charge to Vasu.

H.C. Dasappa, a noted freedom fighter from the State, was associated with Mahatma Gandhi, Kasturba Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri and such other great leaders. 

Vasu was serving as the Vice-Chairman of the Institute and now he has been elevated as the Chairman.

The meeting also appointed Prof. G.B. Shivaraj as the new Vice-Chairman in place of  Vasu. 

It was also decided to continue Saroja Tulasidas as the Secretary and former Mayor P. Vishwanath as the Treasurer of the Institute. Besides, a 15-member Executive Committee was formed.

Speaking on the occasion, Vasu said that H.C. Dasappa was the first Finance and Industries Minister of the State and also served as a Union Minister in Jawaharlal Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri Cabinets. Pointing out that H.C. Dasappa’s wife Yashodhara Dasappa was the first woman Minister of the State, he said that Yashodhara Dasappa quit the Cabinet in order to force the Government to impose a complete ban on liquor.

Stating that we are in the times when the thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi are getting faded, Vasu observed that it is important to educate the people on the selfless, sacrificial and service minded life of H.C. Dasappa couple.

Institute’s immediate Past- Chairman Dr. K. Mahadev, in his address, said that H.C. Dasappa served as the Railway Minister in Jawaharlal Nehru Cabinet and as the Minister for Irrigation and Industries in Lal Bahadur                    Shastri Cabinet.

Noting that H.C. Dasappa also served as the first Finance and Industries Minister of the State under K.C. Reddy, he said that Dasappa must be credited for forming industrial areas in Rajajinagar and Jayanagar in Bengaluru. Regretting that the present generation do not remember the sacrifices made by Dasappa couple, Dr. Mahadev said that the Institute will greatly help in educating the public on the achievements of freedom fighters and the administration in the first Government after Independence.

Institute Treasurer P. Vishwanath said that Yashodhara Dasappa came to be known as Kasturba of Karnataka through her yeoman service to the society. Recalling that Yashodhara was the first President of Kasturba Trust of Mysore region, he said that she later went on to become the first woman President of the State Congress and also the first woman Minister                             of the State.

Pointing out that Yashodhara was honoured with ‘Padma Bhushan’ award for her yeoman service to the society, Vishwanath said that it is high time that the services of Dasappa couple be made known to the present generations as well as the generations to come.

Institute Secretary Saroja Tulasidas, wife of former Mysuru MP late Tulasidas Dasappa, who was the son of H.C. Dasappa, said that the Institute was established in 1974 with an objective of keeping alive the achievements of H.C. Dasappa couple. 

The Institute was inaugurated by the then President of India V.V. Giri, she said and added that there are plans to build a memorial for her father-in-law H.C. Dasappa at the site allotted for the Institute in Mysuru.