In the annals of Indian Parliament, Ganesh Vasudeo Mavalankar occupies a place of resplendent honour. Jawaharlal Nehru called him 'Father of the Lok Sabha'. His lasting contributions to the moulding and development of Parliamentary life led Pandit Nehru to observe that his name "will be associated with the Lok Sabha and with our Parliament for long periods to come as a Person who gave it the stamp and impress of his personality."

Dadasaheb Mavalankar, as he was affectionately called, was born at Baroda on 27 November 1888. After  his B.A. from Gujarat College, Ahmedabad, he graduated in  Law  with distinction. He took to legal Profession in 1913, but soon came under the influence of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Mahatma  Gandhi. He took active part  in  all the  campaigns of Gandhiji from the Kaira No-Rent Campaign in 1917 to the Quit India Movement in 1942. He underwent several  terms of imprisonment during the struggle for the country's  freedom.

The seeds of Shri Mavalankar's future Parliamentary career were sowed in 1919 with his election to the Ahmedabad Municipality of which he twice became President later. When the Congress Government took office in 1937, he was elected Speaker of the Bombay Legislative Assembly. His success in that post made him the natural choice for the President­ ship of the Central Legislative Assembly in January 1946 and his election was historic. In November 1947, he was unanimously elected Speaker of the  Constituent Assembly (Legislative ). When India was declared Republic on 26 January 1950 he again became the Speaker of the Provisional Parliament and continued until the First General Elections of 1952. Thereafter, with the introduction of a bicameral Legislature, he was conferred the  unique honour of Speakership of the House of the People (Lok Sabha ). For a period of over ten years he guided the deliberations of India's Parliament with dignity, uprightness and impartiality which enhanced the lustre of the office itself and also earned him the esteem and affection of all sections of the House. He was known all over the world, more especially in England and the Commonwealth countries, as one of the outstanding Speakers of modern times.  As a mark of this high regard and recognition, he was unanimously elected Chairman of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association for two years at the Jamaica meeting. He led two Parliamentary Delegations to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Conferences in 1948 and 1952, as also of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in 1950.

Shri Mavalankar was great not only as a Parliamentarian but as a social worker, educationist and writer as well. Numerous were the trusts for Public good that he guided, the chief among them being the Gandhi Smarak Nidhi and the Kasturba Memorial Trust.

Indian Posts & Telegraphs Department is privileged to issue a commemorative stamp in his honour.

Source : Information Folder issued by Indian Posts & Telegraph Department, Government of India