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Palit, (Sir) Taraknath (1831-1914) lawyer and philanthropist, was born in 1831 in
Kolkata, the only son of a millionaire father, Kalisankar Palit. Taraknath passed his childhood and adolescence at Amarpur in Hooghly district. After completing his studies at
Hindu College, Kolkata, he went to England to study law. Tarakanath returned to India in 1871 and started practising law, gaining considerable fame within a short time. Taraknath was one of the founders of the National Council of India, but left the Council over some disagreements. With the assistance of Maharaja Manindra Chandra Nandy of Cossimbazar, he established a Technical Institute in Kolkata for technical education. He attempted to amalgamate the institute with the Government Technical School but failed. He used to contribute two thousand rupees per month towards the institute. He also donated fifteen lakh rupees, his total life savings, to
Calcutta University
to be spent on science education. While donating money to the university, he imposed the condition that teachers hired to teach Chemistry and Physics must be of Indian origin. If no suitable person were found, Indians were to be made eligible for the posts through training and higher education abroad. Along with Sir rashbehari ghosh, he also donated money towards the establishment of Calcutta Science College. In recognition of his contributions, a scholarship was introduced in his name in 1913. That same year he was knighted by the British Government.
Taraknath was a stout supporter of nationalism and national
development and attempted to nationalise education. He firmly believed
that the economy of India was dependent upon scientific education and
industrialisation. Though he was a devout follower of hinduism,
he was against caste prejudices and untouchability. He died on 3 October
1914. [Md Masud Parvez] |
