V. K. R. V. Rao

V. K. R. V. Rao
V. K. R. V. Rao
Born	Vijayendra Kasturi Ranga Varadaraja Rao; 8 July 1908; Kancheepuram, Madras Presidency, British India
Died	25 July 1991 (aged 83)
Occupation(s)	Economist, politician
Known for	Founder of the Delhi School of Economics
Awards	Padma Vibhushan (1974)

Vijayendra Kasturi Ranga Varadaraja Rao (8 July 1908 – 25 July 1991) was an Indian economist, politician and educator.^[1]

Early life

Rao was born in a Kannada speaking Madhwa Brahmin family^[2] on 8 July 1908 at Kancheepuram in Tamil Nadu to Kasturirangachar and Bharati Amma. He had his early schooling in Tindivanam and Madras (Chennai).^[3] He was a recipient of the Padma Vibhushan. He served as a Union Minister for the Education in 1971, elected as member for Bellary in 1967 and 1971. He obtained a B.A and M.A in economics from Bombay University before earning another B.A from Cambridge where he was a member of Gonville & Caius College. He was awarded the Ph.D. of Cambridge in 1937; the title of his doctoral thesis was "The national income of British India, 1931-1932". He studied with John Maynard Keynes.^{[citation needed]}

Institute builder

Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysuru, an office of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, is considered to be the brainchild of Rao.^[4]

Publications

Notable among his works are: Taxation of Income in India (1931), An essay on India’s National Income -1925-29 – (1936); The National Income of British India (1940); India and International Currency Plans (1945); Post-War Rupee (1948); Greater Delhi A Study in Urbanization 1940-1957 (1965); Gandhian Alternative to Western Socialism (1970); Values and Economic Development – The Indian Challenge (1971); the Nehru Legacy (1971); Swami Vivekananda – Prophet of Vedantic Socialism (1978); Many Languages and One Nation – the Problem of Integration (1979); India’s National Income 1950-80 (1983) Food, Nutrition and Poverty (1982); Indian socialism: Retrospect and Prospect (1982), etc.^[5] He was awarded Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India in 1974.

Positions held

Adviser for Planning, Food Department (1945–46)
Food and Economic Adviser, Government of India at Washington (1946–47)
Director, Delhi School of Economics, Delhi (1948–57)
Vice Chancellor, University of Delhi (1957–60)
Director, Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi (1960–63)
Member, Planning Commission (1963–66)
Union Cabinet Minister for Transport and Shipping (1967–69)
Union Cabinet Minister for Education & Youth Services (1969–71)
Director, Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore (1972–77)
National Professor, Government of India (1985-1990).

Legacy

He is commemorated by the VKRV Rao prizes in Social Science Research.^[6]

References

^ "VKRV Rao". www.isec.ac.in. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
^ Pulin B Nayaka; Bishwanath Goldar; Pradeep Agrawal (5 October 2010). India's Economy and Growth: Essays in Honour of V K R V Rao. SAGE Publishing India. p. 361. ISBN 9789386042873. Retrieved 5 October 2010.
^ Vijendra Kasturi Ranga Varadaraja Rao; S. L. Rao (2002). The Partial Memoirs of V.K.R.V. Rao. Oxford University Press. p. 1. ISBN 9780195658231.
^ Kachru, Braj B. (1995). "Debi Prasanna Pattanayak (Ed.), Multilingualism in India. (Multilingual matters, 61.) Clevedon (UK) & Philadelphia (PA): Multilingual Matters, 1990. Pp. Xii, 116. Pb $19.00". Language in Society. 24 (4): 608–611. doi:10.1017/S0047404500019151. S2CID 145670855.
^ Rao, Vijendra Kasturi Ranga Varadaraja; Desai, Prasannavadan Bhagwanji (1965). Greater Delhi: A Study in Urbanisation, 1940-1957. Asia Publishing House.
^ "VKRV Rao Prize".