Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya: An Engineering Genius and Architect of Economic Planning in India
We celebrate 15th September as National Engineer’s Day to appreciate the immense contributions of Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya in the field of engineering, technology and economic planning both in colonial and post-colonial era. He was one of the chief architects of Planning Commission in India. Visvesvaraya was born on 15th September, 1861 in Karnataka. He completed Bachelor of Arts (BA) from the University of Madras and went on to study civil engineering at the College of Science in Pune. His contribution was not only limited within the narrower boundaries of building engineering infrastructure projects like dams and bridges, but he played a key role in capturing the imagination of a Nation that was grappling through a wide ranging impoverishment in the absence of any concrete industrial policy. He was instrumental in setting up of several industries and sectors that included iron, steel, soaps, silk, sugar and aeronautics etc. Visvesvaraya was greatly influenced by the European economic model, most particularly by the Soviet economic model. It is no wonder then that his ambitious ideas of planning also included even car manufacturing in India (For more details Click Here).
There is little doubt that Sir M.V (as he was popularly known) was the true progenitor of the idea of the Planning Commission. Way back in 1934, it was Sir M.V who could imagine and articulate the concept of planning in Indian Economy. In 1912, he was appointed as the Dewan by the Maharaja of Mysore, where he worked relentlessly for the overall development of the state and his reputation continued to grow astronomically. He wrote two books. The themes of industrialization and economic planning for the development of Indian society connect Reconstructing India (1920) and A Planned Economy for India (1934) in the same thread. His writings and ideas of industrialization had a deeper effect on the Indian leaders, who were to implement the model of economic planning in the near future. No one could perhaps deny the fact he was an enthusiastic believer and practitioner of economic planning, an effective economic model that had become fairly popular by the middle of the 20th century in many Eastern European countries, in most of the newly liberated countries of Asia, Latin America and Africa. Charting a course of development in terms of industrialization in 1934, Sir M.V compared the miserable condition of production in India (chiefly resulted from the colonial policy of systematic de-industrialization) with that of the developed Nations of the West and noted with passion that “there have been no reasoned policies, no plan, no programme in the past to improve the income and wealth of the people. A Ten-Year Plan is, therefore, suggested to cope with the situation and to carry out speedily many long-delayed reforms and development…Enormous numbers of trained men and huge masses of uneducated population are waiting by the roadside to be picked up, drilled and put to work to increase production and service.” (Source: Sir M. Visvesvaraya, Planned Economy for India, Bangalore, 1934). Sir M.V placed highest importance in Indian industrialization as he truly believed that dam-building and nation-building were equivalent activities. At this point, one would find the striking similarity between Sir M.V and Soviet engineering specialist Krzhizhanovsky, who placed highest importance on electrification as the main source of Soviet power in early 20th century.
The profound impact of Sir M.V and his thoughts on industrialization could be seen when in 1938, Subhas Chandra Bose as Congress President had wanted him to become the Chairman of the National Planning Committee. But Meghnad Saha (another genius who played an important role in bringing together science and economic development) requested Sir M.V to step down and instead proposed Nehru’s name to be the Chairman of the Planning Committee. Visvesvaraya generously agreed. However, the case of Nehruvian Planning did not go as smoothly as it seems. Sir M.V had profound disagreement with the way industrialization was taken forward. But it could be noted that following the erstwhile Soviet model of economic planning, these contemporary enterprising actors of colonial India, of which Sir M.V was a leading figure, have argued about an organic relationship between the use of technology and economic development of any society. Sir M.V believed in the fact that uses of science and technology could usher in industrialization, bring about a change in the economic status of the people. For him the utilization of modern technology was necessarily connected with the larger project of Nation building.
For his outstanding contribution in the larger project of Nation building, Sir M.V was awarded Bharat Ratna in 1955 along with Bhagaban Das and Jawaharlal Nehru. In Sir M.V one would find a classical synthesis between the East and West, as Nehru once noted:
“Take Dr. Visvesvaraya, again, a typical Indian. He is no copy of an Englishman or copy of an American; he is an Indian above all. Yet he has imbibed the modern scientific outlook and made a synthesis of the two…” (For more details Click Here).
Sir M. Visvesvaraya passed away on 12th April 1962. In order to honour his achievements in engineering works and his project on Nation building work, Engineer’s Day is celebrated on his birthday, 15th September. We celebrate 15th September as Engineers Day as a tribute to the greatest Indian Engineer, Sir M Visvesvaraya.
