Mohinder Singh Randhawa

2021-07-23T12:07:30Z

2401:4900:5196:9947:A4BE:5F2D:B12:7F4D:

{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox person
|name = M.S. Randhawa
|image = Chandigarh, India rose garden bust of Dr Randhawa 5.jpg
|image_size =
|caption = Bust of Dr Randhawa at the Chandigarh rose garden.
|birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1909|02|02}}
|birth_place = [[Zira, India|Zira]], [[Punjab, India|Punjab]], India
|death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1986|03|03|1909|02|02}}
|death_place = [[Kharar, Mohali|Kharar]], [[Punjab, India|Punjab]], India
|death_cause =
|resting_place =
|resting_place_coordinates = 
|nationality = Indian
|ethnicity =
|citizenship =
|known_for =
|alma_mater = [[University of the Punjab]]
|occupation = {{flatlist|
* Civil servant
* Phycologist
* director general of rehabilitation
}}
|spouse = Iqbal Kaur Randhawa
|children = Jatinder Singh Randhawa
|signature =
|website =
|footnotes =
}}

'''Mohinder Singh Randhawa''' or '''M. S. Randhawa''' (2 February 1909 – 3 March 1986) was a [[Punjab, India|Punjabi]] civil servant, botanist, historian, art and culture promoter and prominent writer. He played major roles in the establishment of agricultural research in India, the [[Green Revolution in India]], resettling Punjabis uprooted by Partition as the Director-General of Rehabilitation, establishing the city of [[Chandigarh]] and documenting the arts of Punjab, the history of agriculture in India. A biographer, [[Gulzar Singh Sandhu]], gave him the sobriquet ''Punjab da Chhewan Dariya'', the sixth river of Punjab.

==Biography==

===Early life and education===
Randhawa was born on 2 February 1909 into a Randhawa Jat family at [[Zira, India|Zira]], [[Ferozepur district]], [[Punjab, India|Punjab]], [[India]] to Sher Singh Randhawa and Bachint Kaur who came from an affluent family belonging to the village of Bodlan in [[Hoshiarpur]] 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 from [[Lahore]]. In 1955, he was awarded a Doctorate in Science by the [[University of the Punjab]] for his work on [[algae]], especially on ''[[Zygnemataceae]]''.

===Career===
Randhawa joined the [[Indian Civil Service]] in 1934, then served in various capacities at [[Saharanpur]], [[Fyzabad]], [[Almora]], [[Allahabad]], [[Agra]], and [[Rai Barelli]] until 1945, when he became secretary of the [[Indian 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 the [[Green Revolution in India]].

In 1946, he was appointed as the [[Deputy Commissioner]] of [[Delhi]], when [[India]] was on the eve of independence. In 1947 he was in charge of the entire function where [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] delivered his famous ''[[Tryst with destiny]]'' speech. As [[Deputy Commissioner]], he helped persons uprooted by the [[Partition of India]] resettle, and then in 1949 he was sent as the Additional Director-General (Rehabilitation) and subsequently made the Director-General (Rehabilitation), [[Punjab]]. Dr. Randhawa then went to [[Ambala Division]] in the [[Punjab]] as the Commissioner. He was brought back to the task of rehabilitating people in 1953 as the Development Commissioner and [[Commissioner]] Rehabilitation and Custodian, Evacuee Property, [[Punjab]]. During this time he was in charge of allotting land to those who had left behind lands in [[Pakistan]] and allotting land to them in [[Indian Punjab]].

In 1955 he was made the Vice-President of the [[Indian Council of Agricultural Research]] (ICAR) and Additional Secretary to [[Government of India]], [[Ministry of Agriculture (India)|Ministry of Food and Agriculture]], New Delhi. He then served the [[Government of India]] as Advisor, [[Natural Resources Planning Commission]] from 1961–1964 and as the special Secretary, Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Govt. of India. He subsequently became the Financial Commissioner of the [[Capital Project Punjab]] from July 1966 to October 1966, and then he was appointed the Chief Commissioner of the [[Union Territory of Chandigarh]] in November 1966 and remained so till 1968. Dr. Randhawa served as the founding [[Vice-Chancellor]] of [[Punjab Agricultural University]] in the 1970s.

Randhawa was chairman of the committee to plan the city of [[Chandigarh]] in 1955, and was instrumental in its landscaping. He was instrumental in the establishment of the [[Chandigarh Museum]], [[Punjab Arts Council]] and [[Museum of Cultural Heritage of Punjab]] at [[Ludhiana]]. He also introduced many species of avenue trees to [[Chandigarh]] and founded the [[Zakir Hussain Rose Garden|Rose Garden]] in [[Sector 16, Chandigarh|Sector 16]] in [[Chandigarh]], the [[Punjab Agricultural University]] at [[Ludhiana]], the [[Government Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh]], and the [[Anglo-Sikh Wars]] Memorial near [[Ferozepur]] which was completed in February 1976.

<gallery mode=packed>
File:Rose Garden,Chandigarh.jpg|Roses in the garden.
File:Rose Garden ,Chandigarh UT.jpg|Roses in the garden.
File:Zakir Husain Rose Garden ,Chandigarh.jpg|Roses in the garden.
File:Rose Garden ,Chandigarh.jpg|Roses in the garden.
File:Chandigarh, India stone paying tribute to the founders of the rose garden incl Dr Randhawa.jpg|Tribute to the founder including Dr Randhawa
File:Chandigarh, India rose garden modern art monument 5.jpg|India rose garden modern art monument
File:Chandigarh, India rose garden modern art monument 4.jpg|India rose garden modern art monument
File:Chandigarh Rose Fest.jpg|The winning flower from Rose Fest 2006
File:Chandigarh, India rose garden modern art monument 3.jpg|Modern art monument
File:Chandigarh, India rose garden auditorium 3.jpg|A plaque for Dr Randhawa
File:Chandigarh, India rose garden bust of Dr Randhawa 5.jpg|Bust of Dr Randhawa
File:Chandigarh, India Rose Garden. Books probably belonging to Dr Randhawa in the book cafe.jpg|Books, probably belonging to Dr Randhawa, at the book cafe
File:Chandigarh, India banners at the rose garden 2.jpg|Banners at the rose garden
File:Chandigarh, India -- banners at the rose garden.jpg|More banners on display
</gallery>

===Death and afterward===
Dr. Randhawa died on 3 March 1986 in his farmhouse in [[Kharar, Mohali|Kharar]]. The library at [[Punjab Agricultural University]] is named in his honour and maintains a collection of his works and laboratory instruments used by him.<ref>{{cite web |title=M.S. Randhawa Library |url=http://www.pau.edu/index.php?_act=manageLink&DO=firstLink&intSubID=78 |publisher=Punjab Agricultural University }}</ref>

==Published works==
Randhawa was a prolific writer. Apart from numerous papers on algae, he published many books on art, history, culture and agriculture. An autobiography in Punjabi ''Aap Biti'' was published in 1985.
*''The Birth of the Himalayas'' (1947)
*''[http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/20443 Beautifying India]'' (1950)
*''[http://www.dli.ernet.in/handle/2015/208191 Out of the Ashes; an account of the rehabilitation of refugees from West Pakistan in rural areas of East Punjab]'' (1954)
*''[http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/2045683 Flowering Trees]'' (1957)
*''[http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/2033935 Agricultural Research In India]'' (1958)
*''[http://www.dli.ernet.in/handle/2015/101816 Basohli Painting]'' (1959)
*''Zygnemaceae'' (ICAR Monographs on Algae) (1959)
*''[http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/2033850 Farmers of India]'' with Prem Nath (1959)
*''Indian Painting : the scene, themes, and legends'' with John Kenneth Galbraith (Hamilton, 1961)
*''Beautiful Trees and Gardens'' (1961)
*''Kangra Paintings on Love'' (1962)
* ''[http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/2034090 Agriulture And Animal Husbandry In India]'' (1962)
*''Natural Resources of India'' (1963)
*''Chamba Painting'' (1967)
*''[http://www.dli.ernet.in/handle/2015/111755 Travels In The Western Himalayas]'' (1967)
*''[http://www.dli.ernet.in/handle/2015/146642 Evolution of Life]'' (1969)
*''[http://www.dli.ernet.in/handle/2015/111753 The Kumaon Himalayas]'' (1970)
*''Kangra rāgamālā paintings'' (1971)
*''Beautiful Gardens'' (1971)
*''The Famous Gardens of India'' (1971)
*''Kangra Valley Painting'' (1972)
*''Green Revolution'' (1973)
*''Travels in the western Himalayas in search of paintings'' (1974)
*''Gardens through the ages'' (1976)
*''A history of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, 1929–1979'' (1979)
*''Kishangarh Painting'' (1980)
*''A History of Agriculture in India'' [https://archive.org/details/HistoryAgricultureIndia1 volume 1] [https://archive.org/details/HistoryAgricultureIndia2 2] [https://archive.org/details/HistoryAgricultureIndia3 3] [https://archive.org/details/HistoryAgricultureIndia4 4] (1980–1986)
*''Basohli Paintings of the Rasamanjari'' (1981)
*''Guler Painting'' (1982)
*''Paintings of the Bābur nāmā '' (1983)
*''Indian sculpture : the scene, themes, and legends'' (1985)
*''Indian paintings : exploration, research, and publications'' (1986)
* ''Punjab''(Punjabi Ed.) 1980

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://insaindia.org.in/deceaseddetail.php?id=N430622 Indian National Science Academy biography]
* [http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060311/saturday/main1.htm Beautiful mind dutiful life, The Tribune, March 11, 2006]
* [https://www.astocare.com/doctors/chandigarh Book Doctor Appointment Online]

{{Authority control}}
{{PadmaBhushanAwardRecipients 1970–79}}
{{Fellows of the Lalit Kala Akademi}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Randhawa, MS}}
[[Category:1909 births]]
[[Category:1986 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian art historians]]
[[Category:Indian civil servants]]
[[Category:People from Firozpur district]]
[[Category:Indian Civil Service (British India) officers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian historians]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Lalit Kala Akademi]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in science & engineering]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian botanists]]
[[Category:Scientists from Punjab, India]]
[[Category:Historians of Indian art]]

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Mohinder Singh Randhawa