The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee attended the 125th birth anniversary celebrations of Professor P.C. Mahalanobis in Kolkata today (June 29, 2017).

Speaking on the occasion, the President said that he was happy to attend the celebrations of 125th birth anniversary of Professor P.C. Mahanolobis, the pioneer of applied statistics and the architect of economic planning in our country. Prof. Mahalanobis was a visionary of extraordinary dimension.

The President paid his respectful homage to Prof. Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobisand said that we should adopt his thoughts and ideas. He emphasized that we should keep our minds free from dogmatism and rigidity. He also referred to flexibility adopted in economic policies in India keeping in view the situation. Besides, he stated that when many elderly members of the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj were reluctant to admit Rabindranath Tagore as a member of the Samaj, Prasanta Chandra waged a logical war to support Rabindranath’s membership. He wrote a compelling set of arguments that culminated in the printing of a booklet and distributed it among members of the Samaj. Soon thereafter, Rabindranath was admitted as a member of the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj.

The President said that the Indian Statistical Institute started by Prof. Mahalanobis imparts high quality education. He expressed happiness on being present at the ISI and having an opportunity to address mighty minds in the form of teachers, researchers and students.

This release issued at 1710 hrs.