Anand Chand was born on 26 January 1913 to Raja Bijai Chand (1873–1931), of the
Rajput clan of
Chandel, and Suraj Devi (1886–1939) in
Bilaspur, an erstwhile
princely state. He studied at the
Mayo College in
Ajmer, before heading to
Delhi to engage in civil and judicial training that preceded him being invested with full ruling powers of Bilaspur, 9 January 1933. While the Raja, he abolished
begar (heavy labour) in 1936, also passing a legislation abolishing
child marriage. Gandhiji’s ideas on Panchayati Raj were followed. In 1938, Education and Health Committees (Panchayats) were elected in all parganas on the basis of adult franchise. A representative Constitutional Advisory Committee was formed. The Committee prepared a constitution on the most egalitarian principles. It provided for a decentralised state on the principle that local issues must be resolved locally. In the middle of the year 1939 Raja Anand Chand separated judiciary from executive making
Bilaspur State one of the first states in India to do so. Before 1934 Courts of the State were governed by an established code and procedure. After retirement of Diwan in the year 1934, the post of revenue and judicial secretary had been created which also became the joint head of the Revenue and Judicial Department and also supervised a number of other departments. The Court of Collector and District Magistrate was temporarily suspended but was revived in 1935. In 1942, he introduced the Bilaspur Prohibition Act. Schools, health centres, and roads linking Suket and
Mandi to Delhi were constructed during his reign. In recognition of the role he played during
World War II, Chand was awarded the
George Cross,
Victoria Cross and in 1945, the
KCIE. Between 1947 and 1948, Chand became a member of the
Constituent Assembly of India that was established to draft a
constitution for India. In October 1948, he was appointed the chief commissioner of the hitherto
Bilaspur Province of independent India, a position that he held until 1950, when it became a State, before merging with what is today the State of
Himachal Pradesh. Chand was elected to the
1st Lok Sabha from Bilaspur. He was later elected to the
Rajya Sabha, first from Himachal Pradesh (1958–1964) and then from
Bihar (1965–1970). In 1976, Chand moved to
London, England, with his family after government-given privileges and allowances to princely states
were abolished in 1971. Chand was elected to the
Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly in 1977 and would travel to Bilaspur and
Shimla while the legislature was in
session. == Death ==