On the occasion of the 96th birth anniversary of the Guardian of Social Justice V.P. Singh, the Hon'ble Minister and other dignitaries garlanded his statue, offered flowers and paid their respects. On behalf of the Government of Tamil Nadu, on the occasion of the 96th birth anniversary of the Guardian of Social Justice V.P. Singh, the Hon'ble Minister and other dignitaries today (25.6.2026) garlanded and offered flowers at his statue located at the State College campus, Chennai, and paid their respects. Vishwanath Pratap Singh was born on 25th June 1931 in Allahabad, as the son of Raja Bhau Sahib Pratap Singh. He completed his schooling at Colonel Brown Cambridge School, Dehradun, and later studied at Fergusson College, Poona, where he obtained his undergraduate degree. He also studied law at Allahabad University in 1950 and obtained a law degree. V.P. Singh became actively involved in the Gandhian movement while still studying at law college. He subsequently joined the Sarvodaya Samaj, participated in the Bhoodan (land-gift) movement, and donated his own lands. He held various positions, including Member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly in 1969, Member of Parliament in 1971, and Deputy Minister for Commerce in Indira Gandhi's council of ministers in 1974. In 1980, he was elected Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and introduced several special schemes to benefit the underprivileged. V.P. Singh served as India's Finance Minister and Defence Minister in 1984. He was subsequently elected Prime Minister of India in 1989. He named Chennai's domestic airport after the great leader Kamarajar, and the international airport after the eminent scholar Anna. He fulfilled the long-standing demand to confer the Bharat Ratna on Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. By implementing the recommendation of the Second Backward Classes Commission, headed by Thiru B.P. Mandal, to provide 27 percent reservation in government jobs for socially and educationally backward classes, V.P. Singh became known as the Guardian of Social Justice. The event was attended by Hon'ble Minister for Rural Development and Water Resources Thiru N. Anand, Hon'ble Minister for Public Works and Sports Development Thiru Adhav Arjuna, Hon'ble Minister for Food and Civil Supplies Thiru P. Vengadaramanan, Hon'ble Minister for School Education, Tamil Development, Information and Publicity Thiru Rajmohan, Hon'ble Minister for Finance, Planning and Development Thiru Sa. Mariya Wilson, Hon'ble Minister for Artificial Intelligence, Information Technology and Digital Services Dr. Ra. Kumar, MLA Thiru M. Vignesh, Secretary (In-charge) of Backward Classes, Most Backward Classes and Minorities Welfare Department/Tamil Development and Information Department Thiru V. Dakshinamurthy, IAS, Director of Information and Public Relations Dr. A. Arun Thamburaj, IAS, and other senior government officials. ************ Issued By: - Director, Department of Information and Public Relations, Chennai-9