V. K. R. V. Rao

Rao was born in a Kannada speaking Madhwa Brahmin family on 8 July 1908 at Kancheepuram in Tamil Nadu to Kasturirangachar and Bharati Amma. He had his early schooling in Tindivanam and Madras (Chennai). He obtained a B.A and M.A. in economics from Bombay University (now Mumbai University) before earning another B.A. from Cambridge, where he was a member of Gonville and Caius College. He was awarded the Ph.D. of Cambridge in 1937; the title of his doctoral thesis was "The National Income of British India, 1931-1932". He studied with John Maynard Keynes. ==Career==

He served as a Union Minister for Education in 1971, elected as a member for Bellary in 1967 and 1971. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India in 1974. ==Institute builder==

The Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysuru, an office of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, is considered to be the brainchild of Rao. ==Publications==

Notable among his works are: Taxation of Income in India (1931), An essay on India’s National Income -1925-29 – (1936); The National Income of British India (1940); India and International Currency Plans (1945); Post-War Rupee (1948); Greater Delhi A Study in Urbanization 1940-1957 (1965); Gandhian Alternative to Western Socialism (1970); Values and Economic Development – The Indian Challenge (1971); the Nehru Legacy (1971); Swami Vivekananda – Prophet of Vedantic Socialism (1978); Many Languages and One Nation – the Problem of Integration (1979); India’s National Income 1950-80 (1983) Food, Nutrition and Poverty (1982); Indian socialism: Retrospect and Prospect (1982), etc. ==Positions held==

• Adviser for Planning, Food Department (1945–46) • Food and Economic Adviser, Government of India at Washington (1946–47) • Director, Delhi School of Economics, Delhi (1948–57) • Vice Chancellor, University of Delhi (1957–60) • Director, Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi (1960–63) • Member, Planning Commission (1963–66) • Union Cabinet Minister for Transport and Shipping (1967–69) • Union Cabinet Minister for Education & Youth Services (1969–71) • Director, Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore (1972–77) • National Professor, Government of India (1985-1990). ==Legacy==

He is commemorated by the VKRV Rao prizes in Social Science Research. == References ==