The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : ‘V.K.R.V. Rao was a Field Marshal of economic studies in India’

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Sunday, Jul 06, 2008
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‘V.K.R.V. Rao was a Field Marshal of economic studies in India’

Staff Reporter

The former Union Minister was a man of many accomplishments

ISEC is holding a three-day seminar from today
Rao was responsible for setting up many institutions

V.K.R.V. Rao

Bangalore: The Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC) at Nagarbhavi here, is holding a three-day seminar beginning on Sunday on the Institutional Structure of Social Science Research to commemorate the birth centenary of its founder.

Vijayendra Kasturi Ranga Varadaraja Rao, who founded ISEC in 1972, was born on July 8, 1908, at Kancheepuram in Tamil Nadu. After completing his initial education in Tamil Nadu, he trained as an economist, qualifying for a master’s degree from Bombay University. He then did his Ph.D. in Cambridge University under the guidance of the acclaimed economist Lord John Maynard Keynes.

It is difficult to assess the legacy of Dr. Rao because of his wide-ranging accomplishments in diverse areas — as a scholar of economics, an institution builder, adviser, politician and Minister. His early works on the national income of India added valuable insights to the economic studies of the country. He later went on to write more than 20 books.

As an institution builder, he was responsible for single-handedly setting up the Delhi School of Economics and the Institute for Economic Growth in Delhi. He was also instrumental in setting up the Indian Council of Social Science Research in 1969 to encourage social science research in India.

He was elected to the Lok Sabha from Bellary and served as Minister in the Union Cabinet from 1969 to 1971.

He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 1974. According to Deshpande, Professor and Head, Agricultural Development and Rural Transformation Centre at ISEC: “Dr. Rao was the Field Marshal of economic studies in India.” S.L. Rao, chairman of the Board of Governors at ISEC, said: “The way he connected with the voters in Bellary even though his Kannada was not so good was amazing. He had a unique way of reaching out to the audience.”

He also said that Dr. Rao was a visionary who thought 10 years ahead.

Dr. Rao passed away in 1991, but his legacy lives on in the many social science research institutes he founded.

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