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Rediff.com  » Business » Who was the first Finance Minister of independent India?

Who was the first Finance Minister of independent India?

Last updated on: January 30, 2004 18:06 IST
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Finance Ministers of India

1. Who was the first finance minister of independent India?
Take the Rediff Biz Quiz and find out how much you know about India's finance ministers since Independence.

1.Who was the first finance minister of independent India?
a) T T Krishnamachari
b) R K Shanmukhan Chetty
c) Jawaharlal Nehru

2. Who was the finance minister during the Emergency?
a) Pranab Mukherjee
b) Y B Chavan
c) C Subramaniam

Wrong! Try again.
Wrong!
The correct answer is C Subramaniam .
C Subramaniam actively participated in India's freedom struggle, having gone to prison several times, and had the unique distinction of serving as minister under Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi. CS, as he was popularly known, is best-remembered as the man who provided political leadership to the Green Revolution. He stayed with the Congress until the end of the Emergency, but later joined the short-lived Charan Singh Cabinet as defence minister in 1979-80. CS presented the budgets between 1975-76 and 1976-77.
Correct!
C Subramaniam actively participated in India's freedom struggle, having gone to prison several times, and had the unique distinction of serving as minister under Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi. CS, as he was popularly known, is best-remembered as the man who provided political leadership to the Green Revolution. He stayed with the Congress until the end of the Emergency, but later joined the short-lived Charan Singh Cabinet as defence minister in 1979-80. CS presented the budgets between 1975-76 and 1976-77.

3. Which two Indian finance ministers have presented 5 budgets in a row?
a) Pranab Mukherjee / P Chidambaram
b) Yashwant Sinha / Manmohan Singh
c) Pranab Mukherjee / Yashwant Sinha

Wrong! Try again..
Wrong! The correct answer is Yashwant Sinha / Manmohan Singh .
The first time he took over the office of the finance minister, Yashwant Sinha's government was pulled down before he could present a proper Budget and instead had to present an interim budget for 1991-92. He was appointed Union finance minister for the second time in 1998, when the Bharatiya Janata Party was voted to power.
In the election held in May 1991, the Congress returned to power and Manmohan Singh became the finance minister. He presented the final budget for 1991-92 in July 1991. This was the first occasion when the interim and final budgets were presented by two ministers of two different political parties. Consequent to the capital markets scam and UTI meltdown, Sinha was removed from the finance ministry and Jaswant Singh became India's finance minister in July, 2002.
Correct!
The first time he took over the office of the finance minister, Yashwant Sinha's government was pulled down before he could present a proper Budget and instead had to present an interim budget for 1991-92. He was appointed Union finance minister for the second time in 1998, when the Bharatiya Janata Party was voted to power.
In the election held in May 1991, the Congress returned to power and Manmohan Singh became the finance minister. He presented the final budget for 1991-92 in July 1991. This was the first occasion when the interim and final budgets were presented by two ministers of two different political parties. Consequent to the capital markets scam and UTI meltdown, Sinha was removed from the finance ministry and Jaswant Singh became India's finance minister in July, 2002.

4. Which finance minister went on to become the President of India?
a) Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
b) Giani Zail Singh
c) R Venkataraman

Wrong! Try again..
Wrong! The correct answer is R Venkataraman .
R Venkataraman was India's finance minister from 1980-82 in the Cabinet of Mrs. Indira Gandhi. He served as President from 1987-1992.
Correct!
R Venkataraman was India's finance minister from 1980-82 in the Cabinet of Mrs. Indira Gandhi. He served as President from 1987-1992.

5. How many finance ministers later went on to become the Prime Ministers of India?
a) 4
b) 3
c) 2

Wrong! Try again..
Wrong! The correct answer is 3.
Morarji Desai, was twice the finance minister of India -- 1959-64 and 1967-70. He served as the prime minister from 1977 to 1979. Chaudhary Charan Singh became the prime minister in late 1979, having held the finance portfolio earlier the same year. V P Singh was finance minister from 1985 to 1987 and prime minister from 1989 to 1990. India's first prime minister (1947-64) Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru had also held the finance portfolio from 1958 to 1959. Indira Gandhi too held the finance portfolio from 1970 to 1971 while she was still the prime minister. Her tenure as PM was from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 to 1984.
Correct!
Morarji Desai, was twice the finance minister of India -- 1959-64 and 1967-70. He served as the prime minister from 1977 to 1979. Chaudhary Charan Singh became the prime minister in late 1979, having held the finance portfolio earlier the same year. V P Singh was finance minister from 1985 to 1987 and prime minister from 1989 to 1990. India's first prime minister (1947-64) Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru had also held the finance portfolio from 1958 to 1959. Indira Gandhi too held the finance portfolio from 1970 to 1971 while she was still the prime minister. Her tenure as PM was from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 to 1984.

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