New Delhi: Every year, June 29 since 2007 has been designated the National Statistics Day to commemorate Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis’ birth anniversary, also known as the ‘Father of Indian Statistics’. He was an Indian scientist and statistician and is best remembered for the Mahalanobis distance, a statistical measure. He was one of the members of the first Planning Commission of Free India. He made pioneering studies in anthropometry in India. On National Statistics Day, let us learn more about it.
On the birth anniversary of Professor Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis today, join the nation in celebrating #NationalStatisticsDay in honor of his invaluable contributions to economic planning and statistical development in India. (1/2)#AmritMahotsav pic.twitter.com/qEhmfr0eW0
— Ministry of Culture (@MinOfCultureGoI) June 29, 2024
Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis: Father of Indian Statistics
Family and Education
Born on June 29, 1893, in Calcutta, Bengal Presidency (now West Bengal), Prasanta belonged to a prominent Bengali Brahmin family. He attended the Brahmo Boys School in Calcutta, graduating in 1908. After this, he joined the Presidency College, affiliated with the University of Calcutta, where teachers like Jagadish Chandra Bose and Prafulla Chandra Ray taught him.
Mahalanobis received a Bachelor of Science degree with Honours in Physics in 1912 and left for England in 1913 to join the University of London. He studied physics and mathematics at the University of Cambridge and completed his Tripos in these subjects.
One of his teachers introduced him to the journal Biometrika, founded by the great statistician Karl Pearson. Mahalanobis found its articles interesting, bought many of the journal’s volumes, and returned to India. This was his first exposure to applied statistical work, which became his lifelong field of research. Upon returning to India, Mahalanobis joined the Department of Physics at Presidency College, Calcutta, where he became a Professor and Head of the department.
Mahalanobis married Nirmalkumari (Rani), daughter of Heramba Chandra Maitra, a leading educationist and member of the Brahmo Samaj in Calcutta.
Opening of the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI)
Mahalanobis and many of his colleagues were interested in statistics. An informal group was developed in the Statistical Laboratory in his room at the Presidency College, Calcutta. On December 17, 1931, Mahalanobis met with many professors, and together, they established the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) in Baranagar. They got the institute formally registered on April 28, 1932, as a non-profit distributing learned society under the Societies Registration Act XXI of 1860. The institute was initially located in the Physics Department of the Presidency College. It gradually grew due to colleagues’ pioneering work and significant assistance from Pitambar Pant, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s Secretary. In 1933, the institute founded the journal Sankhya, following the model of Karl Pearson’s Biometrika. In 1959, the institute was declared an institute of national importance and a Deemed university. The methods pioneered at the institute are now utilised by the World Bank and the United Nations.
Contributions in Statistics
Prasanta’s first foray into applied statistical work was in anthropology. He analysed the anthropometric data about Anglo-Indians of Calcutta. Later, in collaboration with Prof DN Majumdar of the Department of Anthropology, University of Lucknow, Mahalanobis analysed the anthropological data about castes and tribes of Uttar Pradesh. The relevant data was collected along with the Census of 1941. Mahalanobis also ventured into meteorology and flood control problems. In his work as an applied statistician, Mahalanobis was always innovative and methodical in finding practical solutions to real-world problems.
He also made enormous contributions to the discipline of statistics, and three of his works in this area are considered seminal.
First, It relates to his work on anthropometric surveys and the discovery of a method of comparing and grouping populations using a multivariate distance measure. This measure denoted by ’D^2’ is now named ‘Mahalanobis Distance’, independent of the measurement scale.
Another significant area of Mahalanobis’s contributions to statistics was his work on large-scale sample surveys. His estimation of the area and yield of the jute crop in Bengal was a pioneering effort in this field. His other studies also led to many innovative methodological contributions in survey sampling, including the optimal choice of sampling design. His concept of the pilot survey is considered a precursor to A Wald’s sequential sampling.
Prasanta Mahalanobis’s third significant contribution to statistics was introducing the ‘fractile graphical analysis’ method. This innovative approach allowed for comparing socioeconomic conditions among different groups of people, further solidifying his reputation as a forward-thinking statistician.
As a National Planner
Mahalanobis is known for his ‘Mahalanobis Model’, which formed the basis of India’s Second Five-Year Plan. The model emphasised the promotion of heavy industries and prioritised investment in the capital goods sector. Despite the strategy not delivering spectacular results, it laid the foundation for a diversified industrial structure in India and contributed to achieving self-reliance. Mahalanobis was a member of the Planning Commission of India from 1955 to 1967 and held the position of Honorary Statistical Adviser to the Government of India from 1949 until he died in 1972.
Later life
In the 1950s, Mahalanobis played a critical role in bringing India its first digital computers. He received India’s second-highest civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan, for his contribution to science and services to the country. Mahalanobis died on June 28, 1972, a day before his 79th birthday. He was still actively involved in research work. He served as the secretary and director of the Indian Statistical Institute and as the honorary statistical adviser to the Cabinet of the Government of India.
Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis is called the Father of Indian Statistics, and he played a critical role in bringing India its first digital computers. He set up the Indian Statistical Institute in 1931. On his birth anniversary and National Statistics Day, let us look at some of his work and other facts about him. knowledge Knowledge News, Photos and Videos on General Knowledge
