Bijoy Prasad Singh Roy
{{Short description|Indian politician (1894–1961)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix = Sir
| name = Bijoy Prasad Singh Roy
| office1 = Member of the Bengal Legislative Assembly
| term_start1 = 1937
| term_end1 = 1945
| constituency1 = Burdwan Landholders
| successor1 = Uday Chand Mahtab{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.11657/page/n139/mode/2up|title=The Indian Year Book|editor=Reed, Sir Stanley|year=1947}}
| birth_date = 12 January 1894
| birth_place = Calcutta, Presidency division, Bengal Presidency
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1961|11|23|1894|1|12}}
| death_place = Calcutta, West Bengal
| party =
| bodyclass =
| mainwidth =
| image = Sir Bijoy Prasad Singh Roy.jpg
}}
Sir Bijoy Prasad Singh Roy, KCIE, Kt, MLC (12 January 1894 {{Spaced en dash}} 23 November 1961), was an Indian lawyer and politician.{{Cite book |last=Mussourie Library |first=LBS National Academy of Administration |title=Leaders Conference |date=March 1943 |publisher=Hindustan Times Press, Convenors of the Conference at Ferozshah Road |year=1943 |location=New Delhi, India |publication-date=March 1943 |pages=15 |language=English}}{{Cite web |date=September 12, 1954 |title=India At a Glance, A Comprehensive Reference Book on India, G.D. Binani, T.V. Rama Rao|pages= 1726–1727 |publisher=Orient Longmans Ltd Bombay |url=https://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.527101/page/1727/mode/2up}} A prominent figure during the Indian independence movement, he had served as the President of the Indian National Liberation Foundation (Indian Liberal Party) and delivered its twenty-third session, held in Madras on 26 December 1941.{{Cite web |title=Presidential Address of Sir Bijoy Prasad Singh Roy at the Twenty-Third session of The National Liberal Federation of India, held in Madras|date= December 26, 1941 |url=https://eap.bl.uk/archive-file/EAP922-1-2-65}}{{Cite news |date=August 19, 1942 |title=The Draft Resolution |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000540/19420819/127/0005 |work=The Scotman}}{{Cite web |title=Widsom Library-Significance of Indian National Liberal Federation |date=23 November 2024 |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/concept/indian-national-liberal-federation#google_vignette}}
He was educated at the Chakdighi Sarada Prasad Institution, the Hindu School, and Presidency College. He studied law at Calcutta University College of Law, where he was appointed a Fellow of the Senate. He later practiced as an Advocate at the Calcutta High Court.{{Cite book |last=Broomfield |first=J.H. |title=Soundings in Modern South Asian History |chapter= Chapter 8: The Non-Cooperation Decision of 1920 : A Crisis in Bengal Politics |date=1968 |editor= by D.A Low|publisher= Printed by the Camelot Press ltd, Published by Australian National University Press }}
In 1921, Singh Roy was elected to the Bengal Legislative Council in British India, where he was responsible for the Revenue Department. Singh Roy served for many years as a Councilor of the Calcutta Corporation and as a Trustee of the Calcutta Improvement Trust from 1924 to 1930. He was appointed Minister of Local Self-Government from 1930 to 1937 and served as the Finance Minister of Bengal under the new constitution from 1937 to 1941, in the cabinet of A.K. Fazlul Huq, Bengal's first and longest-serving Prime Minister during the British Raj.{{cite web |title=West Bengal Legislative Assembly |url=http://legislativebodiesinindia.nic.in/STATISTICAL%5Cwbengal.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080918045814/http://legislativebodiesinindia.nic.in/STATISTICAL%5Cwbengal.html |archive-date=2008-09-18 |access-date=22 May 2020}}{{cite book |last1=Sen |first1=Dwaipayan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gORfDwAAQBAJ&q=Bijoy+Prasad+Singh+Roy&pg=PA83 |title=The Decline of the Caste Question: Jogendranath Mandal and the Defeat of Dalit Politics in Bengal |date=2018 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-41776-1 |language=en}}{{cite book |last1=Corporation |first1=Calcutta (India) Municipal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3RHnAAAAMAAJ&q=Bijoy+Prasad+Singh+Roy |title=Calcutta Municipal Gazette |date=1967 |publisher=Office of the Registrar of Newspapers. Press in India. |page=348 |language=en}} He later became the President of the Bengal Legislative Assembly, serving from 1943 until 1947.{{Cite web |title=Bengal Legislative Council Debates Vol-1 |url=https://ia801507.us.archive.org/9/items/in.ernet.dli.2015.47324/2015.47324.Bengal-Legislative-Council-Debates-1940-Vol-1_text.pdf}} He was appointed Sheriff of Calcutta in 1952.
In April 1932, Singh Roy passed the Bengal Municipal Act, aimed at streamlining city management.{{Cite web |title=Government of Bengal Legislative Department - Bengal Municipal Act 1932 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.22761/page/n37/mode/2up |website=Internet Archive|date=1941 }}{{Cite web |title=History – Municipal Governance Sector |url=https://www.wburbanservices.gov.in/page/cms/history_6efcb0#:~:text=In%201923%2C%20Surendranath%20Banerjea%2C%20the,the%20Bengal%20Municipal%20Act%2D1932.}} The bill focused on expanding community representation, implementing financial and urban planning reforms, improving infrastructure, and enhancing public health and welfare.{{cite web |last= |first= |title=Indian Recorder April June 1932 |url=https://archive.org/stream/indianrecorderap033569mbp/#page/n155/mode/1up |access-date=22 May 2020 |website= |publisher=Indian Journalists Association}}{{Cite web |date=1932 |title=Council Proceedings Official Report, Bengal Legislative Council, thirteeninth session |url=https://ia601504.us.archive.org/4/items/in.ernet.dli.2015.47162/2015.47162.Bengal-Legislative-Council-Proceedings-1932-V39-Pt2_text.pdf |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date= |website=Internet Archive}} This bill had originally been introduced in 1923 by Surendranath Banerjea but was not passed by the Bengal Legislative Council at that time.
Singh Roy was knighted in 1933 and awarded the Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire (KCIE) in 1943.{{cite magazine |year=1961 |title=Sir B P Singh Roy Knighted |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ch0kAAAAMAAJ&q=Sir+B+P+Singh+Roy+KNIGHTED%27 |access-date=29 August 2022 |magazine=Transport |page= |volume=}}{{page needed|date=October 2022}}{{Cite web |title=Supplement to the London Gazette|date= June 3, 1933|page= 3800 |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/33946/supplement/3800/data.pdf}}{{Cite web |title=Edinburgh Gazette, June 6, 1933 |page= 466 |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/Edinburgh/issue/14971/page/466}} The newspaper Civil and Military Gazette, Lahore, on June 3, 1933, read: "Mr. Bijoy Prasad Singh Roy, Minister of Local Self-Government, Bengal, is the recipient of the honor of knighthood for the services he has rendered to the cause of municipal reform."{{Cite news |date=June 3, 1933 |title=K.C.I.E for Assembly Presdient |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003221/19330603/003/0001 |work=Civil and Military Gazette, Lahore |pages=1, 5}}
On 17 February 1945, Singh Roy attended the British Commonwealth Relations Conference held in London alongside seven other members of the Indian delegation.{{Cite news |date=February 13, 1945 |title=British Commonwealth Relations Conference - Indian Delegation Enroute to England |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003221/19450213/105/0008 |pages=8}} The conference was notable for two main developments, that included, discussions around the future of India and the transition to self-rule, as well as, the formation of the United Nations. Leaders discussed the role of the Commonwealth in the new international organization and how the nations involved could collaborate in shaping global peace and security after World War II.{{Cite book |title=Monograph, Note on the Conference / by the Press Committee. |publisher=The Conference, (Welwyn Garden, England : Broadwater Press) |year=1945 |location=London |language=English}}
Following the first India-Pakistan war, on 6 July 1950 he delivered a speech on All India Radio regarding an Indo-Pakistani agreement.{{cite web |title=AIR,Calcutta/6.7.1950,A31nSri (Sir) Bijay Prasad Singh Roy, Ex-Minister, Bengali, and ex-President, Bengal Legislative Council, who broadcast a talk on Indo-Pakistan Agreement from the Calcutta Station of AIR on July, 17, 1950. |url=http://photodivision.gov.in/waterMarkdetails.asp?id=15454.jpg |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304101607/http://photodivision.gov.in/waterMarkdetails.asp?id=15454.jpg |archive-date=2016-03-04 |access-date=22 May 2020 |publisher=photodivision.gov.in}}
Other notable positions include being appointed honorary 2nd Lieutenant in 1918; serving as a member of the Calcutta Volunteer Rifles, 2nd Bn, from 1913 to 1918; serving as a member and Honorary Assistant Secretary of the British Indian Association from 1925 to 1928; being a Trustee and Vice-President of the association; representing the Landlords of Bengal before the Simon Commission in 1926; serving as a member of the Bengal Provincial Franchise Committee in 1932; acting as a Trustee of the Victoria Memorial; and being President of the All-India Kshatriya (Rajput) Mahasabha in 1939. In 1947, Singh Roy served as the President of the Calcutta Club.{{cite web |title=Past Presidents of the Club |url=http://www.calcuttaclub.in/pastpresidents.html |publisher=Calcutta Club |access-date=22 May 2020 |date=12 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130412052439/http://www.calcuttaclub.in/pastpresidents.html |archive-date=2013-04-12 }}
File:AK Fazlul Huq Cabinet 1937.jpg
Additionally, Singh Roy served as Chairman of several companies, including Basanti Cotton Mills Ltd and Insulated Cable Co. Ltd. He also held directorships at Alkali Chemical Industries Ltd, The Imperial Bank of India, Lionel Edwards Ltd (Calcutta), Belvedere Jute Mills Ltd, Budge Budge Jute Mills Ltd, India Steamship Co. Ltd, and the Reserve Bank of India.
From 1958 to 1959, he was the Chairman of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).{{Cite web |title=FICCI celebrates 97th Foundation Day, felicitates 33 past presidents | work=The Economic Times | date=9 April 2024 |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/company/corporate-trends/ficci-celebrates-97th-foundation-day-felicitates-33-past-presidents/articleshow/109158917.cms?from=mdr}} Stanley A. Kochanek, in this paper, The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and Indian Politics, noted that Sir Bijoy Prasad Singh Roy, along with Lalji Mehotra (in 1948), were the only two FICCI presidents not connected with a major business house and therefore able to offer balanced views.{{cite book |last1=Kochanek |first1=Stanley A |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0v0KFAAQCLkC&q=%22B.+P.+Singh+Roy%22&pg=PA179 |title=Business and politics in India |publisher=University of California Press |year=1974 |isbn=9780520023772 |page=179}}
In the 1950s, Singh Roy became the President of the Lighthouse for the Blind in Calcutta as noted in a letter from M.S. Sengar, the honorary secretary, dated June 1, 1955, that expressed gratitude to Dr. Helen Keller and her secretary Miss Polly Thompson for their visit and contributions to the institution.{{Cite web |title=Letter from M. S. Sengar, Honorary Secretary, Lighthouse for the Blind, Calcutta, India to Polly Tho... April 5, 1955 |url=https://www.afb.org/HelenKellerArchive?a=d&d=A-HK01-02-B042-F09-007&e=-------en-20--1--txt--%22Anne+Sullivan%22-Letter-----3-7-6-5-3----------USA+%252D+Connecticut----1-1}}
Singh Roy wrote the foreword to Studies in the Land Economics of Bengal by Sachin Sen in 1935 and authored the report The Sapru Scherre of Constitutional Reform & its Implications in March 1942.{{Cite book |last=Sen |first=Sachin |title=Studies in the land economics of Bengal |date=1935 |publisher=Calcutta, The Book Company Limited, Bib ID 203176 |isbn= |location=Calcutta, India |language=English}}{{Cite web |title=The Sapru Scherre of Constitutional Reform & its Implications |url=https://biakolkata.com/publication/}} His book, Parliamentary Government in India, was published in July 1943, with a foreword by Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru.{{Cite book |last=Singh Roy |first=Sir Bijoy Prasad |title=Parliamentary Government in India |publisher=Thacker, Spink & Company, Limited |year=1943 |location=Calcutta, India |language=English}} The book provides a detailed account of the history of India's constitutional development over the sixty years leading up to 1943. {{Cite journal |last=Maclagan |first=E.D. |date=April 1945 |title=Book Review – 'India – Parliamentary Government in India'. By the Hon. Sir Bijoy Prasad Singh Roy K.C.I.E., M.A., B.L. Calcutta |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25222015 |journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland |issue=1 |pages=104, 105 |doi=10.1017/S0035869X00099470 |jstor=25222015|url-access=subscription }}
Born into an aristocratic Rajput family that migrated to Bengal during the Mughal period for political reasons in the 1600s, his ancestors later assumed the role of Zamindars in Burdwan district - their philanthropy had influenced the trajectory of his career.{{Cite book |last=Singhroy |first=Saileshwar & B.P. |title=The History of the Chakdighi SinghRoy Family |date=1917}} His father was Rajani Lall Singh Roy and mother, Srimati Binoylata Debi. Sir Bijoy Prasad Singh Roy was married to Lady Bilwabasini Debi Singh Roy.{{Cite news |last=Sen |first=Staff reporter A.K. |title=To Sir B.P. Singh Roy with Compliments - Amrita Bazar Patrika}} They had five children: Sunil, Avarani, Suhasini, Dilip, and Manjusree, as well as three grandchildren: Bishakha, Archan, and Ishwari.{{Cite news |date=November 25, 1961 |title=Sir Bijoy Prasad Singh Roy Obituary |url=https://eap.bl.uk/archive-file/EAP262-1-2-25-321#?xywh=-453%2C1089%2C10878%2C7125&cv= |work=Jugantar (Bengali version and sister to Amrita Bazar Patrika) |pages=1, 5}}