Satis Chandra Samanta

Satis Chandra Samanta (1900-1983) lived a life of sacrifice and renunciation in the service of the country. Teachings of his Guru, Swami Pragnanananda Saraswati, with whom he came into contact at the age of fifteen, had a lifelong influence on him. The young Satis decided to adopt Brahmacharya as advised by his Guru, and also chose the path of service to humanity as the mission of his life. He was a second year student in the Shibpur Engineering College when he decided to forsake his studies in favour of working for the freedom of the motherland. Satis Chandra Samanta started his public life through the activities organised by the Indian National Congress in his locality. He went on to become the President of the Tamluk Congress Committee and remained a dedicated Congress worker for many decades. His unlimited energy and leadership qualities proved to be a big asset in organising constructive work simultaneously with the activities of the freedom struggle. He would organise and lead by example activities like cleaning the roads and choked up ponds to prevent malaria, nursing cholera patients, organising free medical camps, training volunteers and spreading education and literacy in backward areas. He is remembered most for his leadership of the National Government called Tamralipta Jatiya Sarkar which was formed in Tamluk in the wake of the Quit India Movement. From the formation of the National Government on 17 December 1942 till his arrest in June 1943, he oversaw its functioning, ensuring that the administration was discharged in an effective and fair manner. In post-independence India , Satis Chandra Samanta was a Member of Parliament for almost three decades.