14 get Padma Vibhushan
B.K. Nehru, Chidambaram, Lata in list
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Jan 25 — Noted administrator and the Chairman of The Tribune Trust Mr Braj Kumar Nehru is among the 14 distinguished persons who have been conferred with the prestigious Padma Vibhushan, the country’s second highest civilian award.

The others who have been conferred with the award this year include noted scientist and a key figure behind the Pokhran nuclear tests conducted last year, R. Chidambaram, melody queen Lata Mangeshkar, noted artist and sculptor Satish Gujral and pioneer of ‘operation flood’ in milk production Verghese Kurien.

One of the oldest surviving civil servants, who has excelled himself in the field of public administration, Mr Braj Kumar Nehru has been honoured with the award for his contribution in the field of Public Affairs.

Born on September 4, 1909 at Allahabad, Mr Nehru had his elementary education in the city itself and graduated in B.Sc from Allahabad University. He then went to London School of Economics and Political Science and later to Balliol College Oxford. He became a Barrister-at-Law from Inner Temple London.

Mr Nehru joined ICS in 1934. He was an Assistant Commissioner during 1934-39; Under Secretary, Department of Education, Health and Lands in 1939; Member Indian Legislative Assembly, 1939; Officer on Special Duty, Reserve Bank of India and Under Secretary, Finance Department (1940-44); Deputy Secretary (1944-45); Joint Secretary (1946-49 and 1954-57).

He then became Minister Economic, Embassy of India in Washington and Indian Director, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and became Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs (1957). He was Commissioner-General for Economic Affairs and Ambassador-at-Large (1958-61) and Ambassador to USA thereafter for seven years. He returned to India to become Governor of Assam and Nagaland and also of Meghalaya, Manipur and Tripura before being sent as the Indian High Commissioner to London. He was also Governor of Jammu and Kashmir from 1981-1984 and Governor of Gujarat from 1984 to 1986.

Besides these distinguished positions, Mr Nehru also held the position of the Chairmen of various Trusts and Boards which include UN Investments Committee, Hindustan Oil Exploration Co Ltd, Indian Advisory Board of ANZ Grindlays Bank, Dyal Singh College Trust, Dyal Singh Library Trust, The Tribune Trust and was Vice-Chairman of the Vienna Institute for Development and Member of the International Advisory Council of the Vienna Institute for Development and Cooperation.

He represented India at Reparations Conference in 1945; Commonwealth Finance Ministers’ Conference from 1949 to 1954. He was the Indian Representative at the UN General Assembly and at the FAO Conferences and Sterling Balance Negotiations and Bandung Conference.

The others who have been conferred with the Padma Vibhushan this year include, Pt. Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi (art-vocal), Ms Dhamal Krishnaswami Pattamal (art-carnatic music), Mr Dharma Vira (civil service), Justice Hans Raj Khanna (public affairs-law), late Lallan Prasad Singh (civil service), Nana Deshmukh (social work), Pandurang Shastri Vaijnath Athawale (social work), Dr Sarvepalli Gopal (literature and education-history) and Justice Vaidyanathapuram Rama Krishna Iyer (public affairs-law).