ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>GI&#256N SI&#7748GH R&#256&#7770EV&#256L&#256 (1901-1979)</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="GIN,SIDGH,RZEVL,Person,Person"> <META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279GI&#256N SI&#7748GH R&#256&#7770EV&#256L&#256 (1901-1979), administrator and politician, was born on 16 December 1901 at his mother's village Bha&#7771&#299 in Ludhi&#257&#7751&#257 district. His own ancestral village was R&#257&#7771&#257, also in Ludhi&#257&#7751&#257 district, where his father Ratan Si&#7749gh was a <i>bisved&#257r</i> (fief-holder) of the former princely state of Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257. Gi&#257n Si&#7749gh having received his early education at Bha&#7771&#299, Samr&#257l&#257 and Ludhi&#257&#7751&#257, passed his matriculation examination from Model High School, Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257, and Bachelor of Arts examination from Mohindr&#257 College, Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257, in 1925. He then entered the Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 state service as a <i>n&#257ib n&#257zim</i> (assistant deputy commissioner) and after a year's training at Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 he was posted to Sun&#257m. He later served in different positions as under-secretary in the state's foreign office; as district magistrate at N&#257rnaul; as revenue commissioner of the state of Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 where he simultaneously functioned as president of the municipal committee of Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257; as excise commissioner; as judge of the state's high court; and as revenue and agriculture minister. After the formation of Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU) in 1948, Sard&#257r Gi&#257n Si&#7749gh R&#257&#7771ev&#257l&#257 was appointed its prime minister, and later became the first elected chief minister of PEPSU at the head of a non-Congress coalition ministry formed on 20 April 1952. In this capacity his major achievements were integration of the services of different constituent states of PEPSU and rehabilitation of Hindu and Sikh refugees from West Pakistan. He made a sterling contribution towards the development of the Punjabi language. Already during the prime ministership of Sard&#257r Hardit Si&#7749gh Malik (1944-47), he had persuaded the Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 state government to establish a Punjabi cell in the department of education. During his own prime-ministership of PEPSU, he upgraded this cell into a full-fledged Punjabi department and made the knowledge of Punjabi compulsory for all government servants. The R&#257&#7771ev&#257l&#257 ministry was, however, short-lived. As a result of an adverse judgement on an election petition moved against him, the ministry was dismissed and the state placed under President's rule on 5 March 1953. Sard&#257r Ra&#7771ev&#257l&#257 sympathized with and worked for the Punjabi S&#363b&#257 agitation in 1955. He was personally not in favour of the Regional Formula scheme, although in the general body meeting of the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Ak&#257l&#299 Dal held on 11 March 1956 it was he who commended the plan to the house. The general body approved it after a prolonged discussion. Consequently, PEPSU merged with the Punjab on 1 November 1956, and many Ak&#257l&#299s including R&#257&#7771ev&#257l&#257 joined the Congress party.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; He was sworn in as minister for irrigation and power in the Kairo&#7749 ministry on 3 April 1957 after the second general election. He was re-elected to the Punjab Assembly in 1962 and 1967 on Congress nomination. On 31 August 1965 he convened a meeting of all Sikh legislators. The meeting asked the government to accept the Punjabi S&#363b&#257 demand in principle. The demand was later accepted and Punjab was reorganized on linguistic basis into two states, Hary&#257&#7751&#257 and Punjab, with effect from 1 November 1966. During the Ak&#257l&#299 ministeries that were subsequently formed, Gi&#257n Si&#7749gh R&#257&#7771ev&#257l&#257 functioned as leader of the Opposition.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Sard&#257r Gi&#257n Si&#7749gh R&#257&#7771ev&#257l&#257 left active politics in 1969. He died at Delhi on 31 December 1979 after a prolonged illness. His body was cremated at R&#257&#7771&#257 on 2 January 1980.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Sarhadi, Ajit Singh, <i>Punjabi Suba</i>. Delhi, 1970<BR> <li class="C1"> Bajwa, Harcharan Singh <i>Fifty Years of Punjab Politics (1920-1970) </i>. Chandigarh, 1979<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Ajmer Si&#7749gh; Lohga&#7771h<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>