Dr M.S. Randhawa, known as the father of the Green Revolution in Punjab.

Introduction

A majority of us are born to lead a routine life, chasing existence. Others more gifted, leave inventions or creations for fellow beings. Yet another category is that of people with a vision. They implement this vision with perseverance and leave their footprints for future generations. M.S. Randhawa belongs to this category.

Background ==

Dr Randhawa’s native village was Bodlan in Hoshiarpur district, though he was born at Zira (now in district Muktsar), on February 2, 1909 to Bachint Kaur and tehsildar Sher Singh, he did his matriculation with science, his favourite subject. He was studying in the Khalsa School at Muktsar when his father received a letter in the name of, "Dr. M.S. Randhawa" from the Governor of Punjab. His father was flabbergasted when 12-year-old Mohinder Singh Randhawa told him that he had himself posted this letter because one day a letter like this would come to him. And it did. Only a person with vision and confidence could dream like the 12-year-old did.

He had his early education at Khalsa High School, Mukatsar while he earned a M.Sc. in Botany from the famous Government College, Lahore. He was selected for Indian Civil Service (ICS) in 1934 and was allotted to U.P. cadre. His selection to the ICS too has an interesting story associated with it. While standing at the window of the college office he happened to go through a form for the ICS exam about which he knew nothing. He was delighted to see the form because he knew all the subjects mentioned. When he asked the office clerk about the importance of ICS, his childhood dream shone in his eyes and he enthusiastically filled the form. He cleared the ICS in the first attempt. He served as Deputy Commissioner at Faizabad, Almora and Sahranpur before he got his cadre changed to Punjab.

He was posted as Deputy Commissioner, Delhi, by Sardar Patel during the Partition. As Deputy Commissioner, he made all arrangements for the historic event of August 15, 1947, when at the destined hour, Pt Jawaharlal Nehru unfurled the Tricolour from the ramparts of the Red Fort in Delhi and delivered his famous "Tryst with Destiny" speech.

== Achievements

It was the night of India’s freedom after 200 years of British rule. Jawaharlal Nehru was to unfurl the National Flag from the Red Fort in the morning. A man was unfurling the Flag after every one hour the whole night. He was going through the motions, including wrapping the flowers, hoisting it and then unfurling it at the strategic point again and again. He was none other than M.S. Randhawa, the then Deputy Commissioner, Delhi. A perfectionist, he was afraid that something may go wrong and did not want to take any chance since it was an emotional and historic moment for all. This incident symbolises the kind of focus that came to be associated with Randhawa.

One can well imagine the kind of responsibility of being the Deputy Commissioner of Delhi during those turbulent days when historical events of global significance were unfolding in the the nation’s Capital and hundreds of thousand badly mauled refugees had descended up on the city from across the Radcliffe Line.

A forthright and outspoken man, Randhawa’s career as a bureaucrat speaks volumes about his efficiency. When the riots broke out during Partition in Delhi, the then DC Le Belle adopted a very inhuman stance. Since [[Randhawa had already worked with Dr Radhakrishnan, Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi, his name was suggested as the additional D.C. to balance the acts of Le Belle.

On joining, he immediately realised that he had to remove the insecurity from the minds of Muslims. He immediately began meeting Muslim delegations and took steps to ensure an end to bloodshed. Within a short period he brought the situation under control. His role in the riots portrays him as a man of compassion, justice and a true believer of brotherhood among fellow beings. This aspect of his personality comes out of his own diary in which he maintained the minute details of his official life.

After sometime Dr Randhawa was appointed Director General Rehabilitation at Jalandhar where he performed the most daunting task of rehabilitating lakhs of migrants from Pakistan allotting them lands and residences left behind by the evacuees in Punjab. He discovered there was total chaos over the land left by Muslims. He devised the concept of consolidation of land in Punjab. The refugees from Pakistan were accommodated on this land.

Green Revolution

After a semblance of normalcy was restored, the Government of India sent him to Geneva to learn about modern agricultural techniques. Unlike bureaucrats for whom trips to foreign countries are either for fun or for self-promotion, Randhawa took his trip to Geneva earnestly. On his return, he laid the foundation of an institution from where a future revolution would take place.
He pursued the idea of setting up the Punjab Agricultural University. The first of its kind in the country, it was conceived by Randhawa right down to the last details. As the Vice-President of Indian Council for Agricultural Research, he guided all the research that later on was too bloom into the Green Revolution in Punjab.

Dr Randhawa’s contribution as the founder Chief Commissioner of Chandigarh Union Territory and as Vice-Chancellor of Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana has indeed been great.

At Punjab Agricultural University, he set up a museum and art gallery as well to depict the rural life of this region. Ancient agricultural implements, each and every aspect of the rural and folk art and music are all imaginatively displayed at this museum, showing how far ahead of his times he was. This museum and art gallery was inaugurated by Khushwant Singh in 1973. Yet another feather in Randhawa’s cap was the novel idea of setting up of a library at Punjab Agricultural University for the welfare of farmers. This unique library made available all research conducted at the Punjab Agricultural University.

Idea behind City Beautiful

As the first Commissioner of the Union Territory of Chandigarh, Randhawa played a pivotal role that ensured his place in history. The entire lay out of the landscape and the aboriculture of Chandigarh is his gift to the successive generations. If Chandigarh is City Beautiful today, it is solely because Randhawa was so driven by the zeal to plant trees.

Even Nek Chand, the creator of Rock Gardens Chandigarh had Dr Randhawa’s unstinted support and patronage in the early years of this great creation. Many beautiful trees and plants now adorning roads and open spaces in Chandigarh were brought by Dr Randhawa. The city owes a lot to this great son of Punjab.

The concept of planting ornamental trees planted in a very systematic manner on both sides of the roads throughout the north of Chandigarh was to provide tree cover and ensure picturesque flowering round the year.

He inspected the watering of these plants at 4 am every day. He lived 30 km away from Chandigarh at his farmhouse in Kharar, but reached the city unfailingly at 4 every morning and went from road to road ensuring that all plants were watered and the dead saplings replaced. Today, one has a perfect view of white and golden silver oaks, jacarandas, lagerstormias, mahoganys, amaltas, gulmohars, bauhinias (kachnar), etc. Randhawa gave a green cover of majestic trees like pilkhan and Arjun.It was his vision that enabled a large number of writers, poets, painters and artists to own residential plots in Chandigarh at concessional rates.

Government Museum and Art Gallery is an important building designed by Le Corbusier, in the moving spirit behind its eventual construction in 1968 was Dr. M.S. Randhawa, Chandigarh's first Chief Commissioner, and himself an art scholar. All the manuscripts of Dr. M.S. Randhawa are also preserved here.

Zakir Rose Garden, named after India's President, Zakir Hussain, the garden was also established in 1967 under his guidance. The largest Rose Garden in Asia, it is spread over an area of 27 acres and has more than 17,000 plants representing some 1,600 varieties of roses as well as several fountains.

Contribution to Art

A bureaucrat, a farmer at heart, Randhawa was also an admirer of the arts. When he travelled to Kangra on horseback, in the course of his official duties, he was the first one to discover Kangra paintings. He bought these paintings from unknown artists and compiled a book called Kangra Paintings. He was the brain behind Roop Lekha, a magazine which published paintings. The well-known art critic W.E. Archer, a friend, guided and helped Randhawa in all his work on Kangra paintings.

He was the author of this beautiful book on the Kangra Paintings on Love, hardly needs an introduction to the scholarly world. He has to his credit more than thirty books in English, Hindi and Punjabi on such diverse subjects as social and scientific problems, art and culture. He combines in himself the critical acumen of a scientist (which he is by academic training) with sensitive aesthetic feelings. It is both rare and laudable that in the midst of his multifarious duties in his official career as a member of the Indian Civil Service he could find time to pursue his studies on art, literature and aesthetics. His books on these subjects-to mention a few--The Kangra Valley Paintings, The Krishna Legend, The Basohli Paintings, The Kangra Paintings of the Bhagavata Purana, and the present volume-reveal his deep love and knowledge of Indian miniatures and the related literature. He explains the significance of the paintings with scholarly detachment and artistic sensitiveness.

References

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2002/20020428/spectrum/book9.htm

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060409/mailbag.htm

http://sampark.chd.nic.in/pls/esampark_web/tourist_spots

http://www.exoticindiaart.com/book/details/IDG469/