Pitamber Pant completed a master's degree in physics during which time he was involved in the
Quit India Movement and imprisoned by the
British. This allowed him to get acquainted with
Jawaharlal Nehru,
J. B. Kripalani and several other independence activists and he worked as a secretary to Nehru, while in jail. After the
Indian independence, Nehru, who had been impressed by Pant's preoccupation with
economic planning, asked him to meet
Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, an
applied statistician of repute, and the two became friends and long-time associates. Pant accompanied Mahalanobis on the latter's overseas trips. Later, he joined
Indian civil service and was entrusted with the task of studying the
system of measurement. After a detailed study, he submitted a report, proposing the
metric system which was reported to have influenced the government's decision to adopt metric system. Later, he was entrusted with a study on statistical systems; the report Pant prepared along with N. T. Mathew under the title
Report on the Present Statistical Organization in Provinces and States in 1949 served as the blueprint for the establishment of the Central Statistical Unit, which, over time, evolved into the present-day
Central Statistics Office. In 1956, Pant joined the
Planning Commission of India as a staff member, taking up the position to the secretary of the Chairman, (Nehru, as the prime minister, was the chairman) and headed the Manpower Planning Division of the commission. In 1958, he moved to the newly created Perspective Planning Division as its head and held the position till he retired from official service in 1970. After retirement, he was selected as the chairman of the National Committee on Environmental Planning and Coordination (NCEPC) but his tenure was short-lived due to his death on February 26, 1973, succumbing to prolonged illness.
Manpower and educational development in India, 1961–1968 and
Urbanization and the long-range strategy of economic development. The Government of India awarded him the
Padma Bhushan, the fourth highest civilian honor, in 1973, shortly before his death. The
Ministry of Environment and Forests have instituted an annual award, the
Pitambar Pant National Environment Fellowship Award, in his honor. The
Economic Survey of India (FY 2020–21) has mentioned his advocacy for the idea of "
minimum needs". == Bibliography ==