Honest John: A Life of John Matthai

John Matthai was independent India’s first railways and transport minister. Later, he was India’s second finance minister but resigned due to his differences with Pandit Nehru over the Planning Commission. Matthai served in important position in the Tatas and was a friend and confidant of J.R.D. Tata. He was chairman of the Taxation Enquiry Commission (1953), which provided a framework for the future tax policies of the government. Matthai was the first chairman of the State Bank of India of the court of governors of the Administrative Staff College of India, Hyderabad, and of the National Book Trust. He was also the founder-president of the National Council of Applied Economic Research, New Delhi.

Drawing from numerous primary and secondary sources this comprehensive biography introduces Matthai to a new generation, even as it rekindles the memory of a man who has become the victim of collective amnesia. Meticulously researched and engagingly written, it also provides a window to that period in history: Matthai’s life and work provide a picture of those tumultuous times as well as describe the thinking that went into the making of modern India. This biography fills an important gap by throwing light on one of the more substantial, but now forgotten men, in the public life of those times.

Bakhtiar K Dadabhoy is the author of nine books including the bestselling Jeh: A Life of JRD Tata, Sugar in Milk: Lives of Eminent Parsis, the critically acclaimed Barons of Banking: Glimpses of Indian Banking History, The Magnificent Diwan: The Life and Times of Sir Salar Jung I, and Zubin Mehta: A Musical Journey, the authorized biography of music conductor Zubin Mehta. He was educated at Hindu College, Delhi University, and the Delhi School of Economics. He has written the script for Nani: The Crusader, a documentary on legal luminary Nani A. Palkhivala. His most recent book was Homi J. Bhabha: A Life, the first full-fledged biography of the theoretical physicist who founded India’s atomic energy programme. He currently resides in Hyderabad.