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A Passionate Humanitarian
— V. K. R. V Rao
THIS is a commemorative volume brought out by the Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bangalore, of which he was the founder. The ISEC Board of Governors deserves thanks for having arranged this publication to coincide with the 100th birth anniversary of Dr Rao in July this year. The book contains 31contributions from academics and others, including Dr Rao's nephew and daughter, who had worked with him and knew at first hand this noted economist. Born in July 1908 in a Madhava Brahmin family from the temple town of Kancheepuram, Dr Rao grew up in Bombay where his father was working as a Sanskrit teacher and an astrologer. The family was in straitened circumstances but young Rao did not allow himself to be overwhelmed by this. As many as four decades of his 80 years were spent in the resurgent India which was passing through its ever mounting freedom struggle under Gandhi's leadership with its values of truth, non- violence and absolute integrity. Rao's intense patriotism, austere lifestyle, a disdain for acquiring wealth and the spirit of public service were the result of his commitment to the national cause. This solid value system stayed with him even after Independence. He did his Ph.D under noted John Maynard Keynes and on a subject that was of great importance to India and to the science of economics — India's National Income. It was not an easy subject as in those days there was a dearth of reliable data. The measurement of the national income, the methodology of computation, its sources and distribution and the incidence of poverty were areas that received the attention of his incisive mind to which he returned towards the end of his career with a vastly richer analysis. He won the Adam Smith Prize, a highly prestigious award that brought fame not only to him but also gave a boost to our national pride. On returning he came face to face with the harsh reality that on account of caste factor his own state of Mysore, now Karnataka, had no use for him. But for a man of his calibre it was not long before other universities picked him up. As a junior lecturer at Waltair (now Vishakhapatanam) he was sought out by Jawaharlal Nehru and thus began a life-long relationship. There are several things that stand out in this volume. Dr Rao's personal traits of brilliance, his fierce determination and energy to achieve results despite odds, his vision, the fact that he was sure of what he wanted and could not be deflected from the pursuit of his objectives, his lack of personal ambition or wealth and above all his intellectual independence from the heavy overlay of western academic thought. His large heartedness and humanity and a capacity for spotting talent and nurturing it into leadership positions are among the qualities that find a recurring mention in the book. The book is divided into four sections: Creating ISEC, Building people, A Passionate Institution Builder, An inspiring Academic and Some Intimate Facets. As an economist he was well versed with India's ground realities and therefore had a clear idea of what was relevant for its development. Even though he did his research at Cambridge (UK) and was continuously interacting with British scholars, he was never swayed by the Keynesian prescription of state spending to boost the sagging demand. This was because Britain as a developed economy was not facing a problem of inelastic supply and consequent inflation, as would be the case in Indian economy. What he wrote in support of his view is a seminal contribution. In the Indian context, he never failed to see the overriding importance of the social and institutional factors. The book, however, does not deal at length with his contribution to the Indian economic thought and its evolution over the four decades after Independence as it deals with his role as an institution builder. He was involved in the setting up of the Delhi School of Economics, the Institute of Economic Growth and the Institute of Social and Economic Change; apart from the big hand he had in the setting up of the Indian Council of Social Sciences Research (ICSSR). These achievements bring out the enormous confidence he enjoyed from those who helped with the funding of these projects, leading intellectuals such as B.N. Ganguli, K.N. Raj, P.N. Dhar, were among the people he was able to rally round him. The Government of India, state governments and international agencies and business houses readily donated for his projects. This part of the book makes a thrilling narrative. There are some distinguished academics who have given glowing accounts of Dr Rao's academic achievements. As a powerful and compelling orator, Dr Rao could convey the most complex ideas in an easy manner. His endearing personal qualities were many and have been dealt with in a somewhat adulatory way. But the one that exemplifies his nobility was the fact that he proposed the name of a colleague for the Chairmanship of ISEC on his retirement even as the gentleman did not hesitate from making baseless allegations of misuse of funds and financial mismanagement leading to a high level enquiry. He died penniless and but for the award of a National Professorship and a small residential plot allotted to him by the Bangalore Development Authority in lieu of a larger one he surrendered, he would have been wholly dependent on his wife's savings. It would be an excellent idea and one of great practical utility if a separate book were to be attempted on the evolution of his economic thought. The book refers to his disillusionment with the early plan priorities and his shift in favour of rural development, irrigation and agriculture. There is no reference to his views on the savage direct taxation in the 60s, which led to the emergence of a parallel economy. The book, however, mentions the conviction that grew on him that it was not mere economic development but social and economic change that would usher in the revolution. This was what led him to establish the ISEC. In spite of these gaps, what emerges is an impressive portrait of a man who contributed so much for so little that he got in return.
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