P.C. Mahalanobis: Remembering the ‘Plan Man’ of India

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June 29, is national ‘Statistics Day’, in ‘recognition of the contributions made by Prof. Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis’, the ‘Plan Man’ of India; it is also his birthday.

What are the contributions of P.C. Mahalanobis?

P.C. Mahalanobis is referred to as the chief architect of the Indian statistical system as well as the father of statistical science in India.

Believed in Data: Mahalanobis clearly believed data to be instrumental in efficient planning for national and human development. Planning in the newly independent nation in the 1950s was largely based on the data obtained from various surveys.

Contribution to Statistics:

-Mahalanobis established the Statistical Laboratory within the Baker Laboratory at Presidency College.

-In 1931, he established the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) in Kolkata.

-In 1933, Mahalanobis founded Sankhyā, the Indian Journal of Statistics.

Other contributions:

-Mahalanobis helped in the establishment of the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO), the National Sample Survey (NSS) and the Annual Survey of Industries (ASI).

-Mahalanobis also served as the Chairman of the United Nations Sub-Commission on Statistical Sampling.

-In 1936, he introduced a statistical measure named the Mahalanobis distance. It is widely used in cluster analysis and classification techniques.

-He also devised a statistical method called ‘Fractile Graphical Analysis’. This method is used to compare the socio-economic conditions of varied groups.

-The Mahalanobis model was employed in the Second Five Year Plan. The model laid the blueprint for industrialisation and development in India.

Honours: In 1968, he was honoured with the Padma Vibhushan.

P.C. Mahalanobis’s Friendship with Rabindranath Tagore

Tagore treated Mahalanobis as a close confidant, despite an age gap of 32 years. Mahalanobis first met Tagore at Santiniketan in 1910.

Accompanied Tagore on multiple occasions: Mahalanobis accompanied Tagore on many of his international visits, mostly in the 1920s.

When Tagore met Einstein in 1930, Mahalanobis was also with him. In fact, Einstein asked Tagore about a young scientist named Bose. Mahalanobis then informed Tagore about Satyendra Nath Bose, who would be ever-remembered for Boson.

Mahalanobis’s literary works about Tagore: He wrote a series of essays titled ‘Rabindra Parichay’ (‘Introduction to Rabindra’) for the prestigious Bengali magazine, Probashi. He also wrote a book, Rabindranath Tagore’s Visit to Canada in 1929.

Helped in Tagore’s dream project: Mahalanobis helped Tagore immensely in his dream project — the founding of Visva Bharati. He also served as a joint secretary of Visva Bharati for 10 years from the beginning.

Tagore’s dance drama, ‘Basanta’ (meaning ‘Spring’), had a premier at the Calcutta University institute auditorium on Mahalanobis’ marriage day. Tagore attended the marriage ceremony and presented them with the manuscript of ‘Basanta’.

Source: The post is based on the article “Remembering the ‘Plan Man’ of India” published in “The Hindu” on 29^th June 2022.