Ramnath Goenka

Ramnath Goenka (22 April 1904 – 5 October 1991) was an Indian newspaper publisher. He launched The Indian Express in 1932 with his partner Raja Mohan Prasad which is held in a trust by the current legal heirs for the family of Raja Mohan Prasad and created the Indian Express Group with various English and regional language publications.^[1] In 2000, India Today magazine, named him amongst their list of "100 People Who Shaped India".^[2] The Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards, named after Ramnath Goenka, are one of the awards in India in the field of journalism.^[3][4][5]

Ramnath Goenka
Goenka in 1942
Born	(1904-04-22)22 April 1904 Darbhanga, Bengal Presidency, British India
Died	5 October 1991(1991-10-05) (aged 87) Bombay, Maharashtra, India
Occupation	Media businessman
Political party	Bharatiya Jana Sangh

Early life

Ramnath Goenka was born on 22 April 1904^[6] in Darbhanga Bihar, to Basantlal Goenka.^[7]

Career

Worked as a managing partner on a salary of 100 rs per month from 1926 to 1936 under partner Raja Mohan Prasad in the partnership firms Murli Prasad mohan Prasad from 1926 to 1931 and then Chunnilal murliprasad from 1931 onwards who were Consignee sales agent (Dubashish agents) for British trading company importing gold, silver and cotton in India. Simultaneously he took up job as chief salesman of the British trading company from 1931 to 1936 on a salary of Rs. 800 per month out of which 500 belonged to the partnership firm.This empire along with properties was acquired for the Trust of Raja Mohan Prasad and is held in trust by the current legal heirs.

During the Emergency Period of India, Ramnath Goenka was one of the few businessmen and journalists that opposed Indira Gandhi government.^[8]

Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha

In 1971 Indian general election, Goenka was elected as the Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha from Vidisha Lok Sabha constituency as a candidate of Bharatiya Jana Sangh.^[9]

Death

Goenka died in Mumbai on 5 October 1991.^[1]

In 1997 the heirs of Ramnath Goenka made a division of the Indian Express Group into two separated operations. The northern segment was put under the control of Viveck Goenka, whereas the southern one went to the family branch of Manoj Sonthalia.^[10]

References

1. A doyen of Indian Journalism, Shri Goenka's greatest passion was the print media. He with the permission of his Capitalists partner Raja Mohan Prasad for whom he worked as a working partner on a salary of rs 100 per month from 1926 to 1936 acquired these properties and media empire from the partnership firm and gave a declaration of trust DTD 1-09-1936 making Raja Mohan Prasad as the beneficiary of this entire empire and he being a nominal trustee launched the Indian Express in 1932 which he did not fulfill. The Prasad family finally filed a suit for ownership in 1982 of the empire and properties and all investments along with undisputed marked 445 exhibits including current legal heirs admittance in sworn affidavit stating source of funds from partnership firm and Raja Mohan prasad. https://parliamentofindia.nic.in/ls/lsdeb/ls10/ses2/02201191.htm
2. Naqvi, Saeed (2000). "THOUGHT & ACTION: The Baron". Indian Today. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 28 July 2010.
3. "Ramnath Goenka Awards, Journalism Awards, Journalism Awards for Excellence 2015". expressindia.indianexpress.com. Archived from the original on 10 May 2018. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
4. ":: Award ::". cij.co.in. Archived from the original on 7 April 2018. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
5. "The Wire's Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty Wins Ramnath Goenka Award for Feature Writing - The Wire". The Wire. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
6. "Glowing tributes to Ramnath Goenka". The Hindu. 22 April 2004. Archived from the original on 2 June 2004. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
7. Reed, Stanley (1950). The Indian And Pakistan Year Book And Who's Who 1950. Bennett Coleman and Co. Ltd. p. 679. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
8. Vishwamitra Sharma (2012). Famous Indians of the 20th Century. V & S Publishers. p. 82. ISBN 9789350572412. OCLC 800734508. Archived from the original on 24 April 2019.
9. "Members : Lok Sabha". loksabhaph.nic.in. Parliament of India. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
10. Robin Jeffrey (2000). India's Newspaper Revolution: Capitalism, Politics and the Indian-language Press, 1977-99. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers. p. 109. ISBN 9781850654346. OCLC 246163109.

Further reading

• George, T. J. S. (2006). The Goenka Letters: Behind the scenes in The Indian Express. Madras: East West Books. ISBN 978-81-88661-50-3.
• Verghese, B. G. (2005). Warrior of the Fourth Estate. Penguin India. ISBN 0-670-05842-4. – official biography
• Goenka, Ananya (2005). Ramnath Goenka: A life in Black and White. – a privately published book written by his daughter-in-law
• Jeffrey, Robin (2000). India's Newspaper Revolution: Capitalism, Politics and the Indian-Language Press, 1977–99. C. Hurst & Co. ISBN 9781850654346.
• Verghese, B. G. (2010). First Draft: Witness to the Making of Modern India. Westland Ltd./HOV Services. ISBN 9789380283760.
• McDonald, Hamish (2010). Mahabharata in Polyester. UNSW Press. ISBN 9781742240114.
• Aggarwal, S. K. (1989). Media Credibility. Mittal Publications. ISBN 9788170991571.

External links

• Dhirubhai's fight with RNG