M.S. Randhawa | |
|---|---|
 Bust of Dr Randhawa at the Chandigarh rose garden | |
| Born | (1909-02-02)2 February 1909 |
| Died | 3 March 1986(1986-03-03) (aged 77) |
| Alma mater | University of the Punjab |
| Occupations |
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| Spouse | Iqbal Kaur Randhawa |
| Children | 1 |
Mohinder Singh Randhawa orM. S. Randhawa (2 February 1909 – 3 March 1986) was an Indian historian, civil servant, botanist, and author. He played major roles in the establishment ofagricultural research in India, theGreen Revolution in India, resettlingPunjabis uprooted by thepartition of India as the Director-General of Rehabilitation, establishing the city ofChandigarh, and documenting the arts ofPunjab and the history of agriculture in India. A biographer,Gulzar Singh Sandhu, gave him the sobriquetPunjab da Chhewan Dariya, the sixth river of Punjab.
Randhawa was born on 2 February 1909 into a Randhawa Jatt Sikh family atZira,Ferozepur district,Punjab,India, to Sher Singh Randhawa and Bachint Kaur, who came from an affluent family belonging to the village Bodal(Garna sahib)DasuyaHoshiarpur district. He received his matriculate from Khalsa High School,Muktsar in 1924 and his F.Sc., BSc (Hons.), and MSc (Hons.) in 1926, 1929, and 1930, respectively, fromLahore. In 1955, he was awarded a Doctorate in Science by theUniversity of the Punjab for his work onalgae, especially on theZygnemataceae.
Randhawa joined theIndian Civil Service in 1934, then served in various capacities atSaharanpur,Fyzabad,Almora,Allahabad,Agra, andRai Barelli until 1945, when he became secretary of theIndian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) for a year. He was associated with the ICAR through its initial years and made huge contributions to this pioneering organisation which was responsible for theGreen Revolution in India.
In 1946, he was appointed as thedeputy commissioner ofDelhi, whenIndia was on the eve of independence. In 1947 he was in charge of the entire function whereJawaharlal Nehru delivered his famousTryst with destiny speech. As deputy commissioner, he helped persons uprooted by thePartition of India resettle, and then in 1949 he was sent as the additional director-general (rehabilitation) and subsequently made the director-general (rehabilitation),Punjab. Randhawa then went toAmbala Division in thePunjab as the commissioner. He was brought back to the task of rehabilitating people in 1953 as the development commissioner andcommissioner rehabilitation and custodian, evacuee property,Punjab. During this time he was in charge of allotting land to those who had left behind lands inPakistan and allotting land to them inIndian Punjab.
In 1955 he was made the vice-president of theIndian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and additional secretary toGovernment of India,Ministry of Food and Agriculture, New Delhi. He then served theGovernment of India as advisor,Natural Resources Planning Commission from 1961 to 1964 and as the special secretary, Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Govt. of India. He subsequently became the financial commissioner of theCapital Project Punjab from July 1966 to October 1966, and then he was appointed the chief commissioner of theUnion Territory of Chandigarh in November 1966 and remained so till 1968. Dr. Randhawa served as the foundingvice-chancellor ofPunjab Agricultural University in the 1970s.
Randhawa was a key promoter of tree planting and was behind what became the establishment of the national tree planting week known asVan Mahotsav.
Randhawa was chairman of the committee to plan the city ofChandigarh in 1955, and was instrumental in its landscaping. He was instrumental in the establishment of theChandigarh Museum,Punjab Arts Council andMuseum of Cultural Heritage of Punjab atLudhiana. He also introduced many species of avenue trees toChandigarh and founded theRose Garden inSector 16 inChandigarh, thePunjab Agricultural University atLudhiana, theGovernment Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh, and theAnglo Sikh War Memorial nearFerozepur which was completed in February 1976.
Dr. Randhawa died on 3 March 1986 in his farmhouse inKharar. The library atPunjab Agricultural University is named in his honour and maintains a collection of his works and laboratory instruments used by him.[1]
Randhawa was a prolific writer. Apart from numerous papers on algae, he published many books on art, history, culture and agriculture. An autobiography in PunjabiAap Biti was published in 1985.
