Nityanand Kanungo

Nityanand Kanungo (4 May 1900 – 2 August 1988) was one of India's prominent politicians from the state of Odisha, who held successive high-profile portfolios in Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's cabinet.

Early life Nityanand Kanungo was born in Cuttack on 4 May 1900 in an aristocratic Zamindar Karan family and was educated at Ravenshaw College and University College (Calcutta). His father was Dewan Basudev Kanungo, and his mother was Padmavati Devi. His sister Sarala Devi was the first Odia woman to join the Non-cooperation movement in 1921 and the first woman to be elected to the Odisha Legislative Assembly.

Public life He was a member of the Indian National Congress and served as a member of the Orissa Legislative Assembly from 1937 to 1939 and again from 1946 to 1952.

When Orissa was granted provincial autonomy as per the Government of India Act 1935, Kanungo served as the Minister for Revenue and Public Works Departments in the cabinet of Bishwanath Das from 1937 to 1939. He was again appointed a Minister in 1946 and served till 1952, looking after the Home, Law, Industries and Agriculture portfolios.

In 1952, Kanungo was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Kendrapara constituency. In September, 1954 he was appointed Union Deputy Minister of Commerce and Industry. From August 1955 in Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's cabinet; he was Union Minister of Industries, and in June 1956 was designated Union Minister of Consumer Industries. In 1957, he was again returned to the Lok Sabha and was appointed Union Minister of Commerce. Kanungo was a member of the Indian Delegation to the International Labour Conference in San Francisco (1948) and was the Leader of the Delegation to the Conference of the International Rice Commission held in Jakarta in 1952. from 7 December 1967 to 20 January 1971.