There was a strong earthquake early in the morning on 15 January 1934. Its impact was felt in Bihar and Nepal. The ground caved in at many places. Houses were destroyed. There was a severe crisis of food and drink. Many lives were destroyed by this earthquake. Many families were uprooted. There was a scene of devastation all around. Influential people like Rajendra Prasad, Shri Babu, Anugrah Babu threw themselves into help. But everything was proving inadequate.
Then Rajendra Prasad sought help from Jamna Lal Bajaj. He took his confidant JC Kumarappa into confidence and sent him to Bihar as a financial advisor. JC Kumarappa i.e. Joseph Cornelius Kumarappa. He had done research on the poverty and misery of India. He was aware of pain.
Wastage of money stopped as soon as it reached Bihar
The first thing Kumarappa did as soon as he reached Bihar was to stop the wastage of money. Tried to close all the leakages of misuse of money. After his arrival, Rajendra Babu and others were able to help the victims better. The earthquake measured eight on the Richter scale, so it shook even the British rule.
When Kumarappa was looking after the work of fund management, he had set some rules for the volunteers. According to this, every volunteer was to get three annas per day as pocket money. This payment was only for the volunteers, who were working day and night to help the victims, and no one was to get this facility.
Expenses of Mahatma Gandhi or officers cannot be covered through donations.
Meanwhile, Mahatma Gandhi also reached Patna with the intention of helping the victims in Bihar. Some officers and his own personal staff were also with him. In such a situation the expenses increased. As soon as Kumarappa came to know about this, he told Gandhi's personal secretary Mahadev Desai that with the amount of donation we could not meet the expenses of Gandhi or the officers accompanying him. Because their expenses exceed the prescribed limit.
Kumarappa also asked him to find an alternative for arranging oil etc. for Gandhi's motor. It is natural that as a personal secretary, Mahadev Desai had to make all the arrangements, so he took the opportunity and informed Mahatma Gandhi about the entire matter and sought guidance.
Mahatma Gandhi.
Gave answer to Mahatma Gandhi
This was the time when Mahatma Gandhi had great influence. His image was also strict. Even British officers were afraid of Gandhi with dhoti and stick. Gandhi called JC Kumarappa and asked. Then he looked Mahatma Gandhi in the eyes and told him his compulsion with full respect. Said that the money coming to help the earthquake victims is coming from donations. The rules for spending it are fixed. Everyone has to accept this. Spending even one anna unnecessarily would mean that we would be doing injustice to the earthquake victims.
Mahatma Gandhi told Kumarappa to remain relaxed. The donation money will not be spent on them. They will arrange the necessary funds for this. It is a good suggestion that the money coming in the name of earthquake victims should be spent on them only. Gandhi also patted him on the back in a way.
...Kumarappa's stature increased further
When this discussion became common, everyone who heard it bit their teeth and people's respect for Kumarappa increased further. Gandhi had also discussed this with his other colleagues including Jamna Lal Bajaj. The more discussion, the more respect for Kumarappa increased. Talking to Gandhi about financial matters was an unusual thing at that time but Kumarappa did it.
Kumarappa was also not an ordinary personality. He was born in the then Madras province. He was 23 years younger than Gandhi but was firm on his intentions. His father was an employee of the Public Works Department. He got honesty and candor from his father. Kumarappa had studied from London and Columbia University of America.
Newspapers published the speech given during studies
During his studies, he participated in a speech competition, in which his topic was – Why is India struggling with poverty? This speech was published prominently in the local newspaper. When the professor noticed, he handed over the responsibility of research on this topic to Kumarappa. As a result of the research, very important changes took place in Kumarappa's life.
The result of the research was that the British were exploiting India in many ways. He has tried to change the entire culture. Later, Kumarappa returned home after completing his studies and started serving the country in his own way. Gandhi and his ideology were similar. Kumarappa used to say that in democracy it is necessary that it should be implemented in the economy also. At the same time, Gandhi says that cities like Delhi, Kolkata, Bombay are the centers of power but I want to extend this power to every village of the country.
As the head of All India Rural Industries Organization, Kumarappa made his best efforts for the rural economy. It is also written in many places that later Gandhi was so impressed that he wanted to see Kumarappa as the Finance Minister in the government. However, this could not happen. Later, on 30 January 1960, the death anniversary of Gandhi, Kumarappa said goodbye to the world. He became known as a great economist.
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