Mohinder Singh Randhawa or M. S. Randhawa (2 February 1909 – 3 March 1986) was an Indian historian, civil servant, botanist, and author. He played major roles in the establishment of

agricultural research Agricultural science (or agriscience for short) is a broad multidisciplinary field of biology that encompasses the parts of exact, natural, economic and social sciences that are used in the practice and understanding of agriculture. Professiona ...

in India, the

Green Revolution in India The Green Revolution in India was a period that began in the delhi and bhoj converted into a modern industrial system by the adoption of technology, such as the use of high yielding variety (HYV) seeds, mechanized farm tools, irrigation facil ...

, resettling Punjabis uprooted by the

partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...

as the Director-General of Rehabilitation, establishing the city of

Chandigarh Chandigarh is a city and union territory in northern India, serving as the shared capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana. Situated near the foothills of the Shivalik range of Himalayas, it borders Haryana to the east and Punjab in the ...

, and documenting the arts of

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

and 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 Jatt Sikh family at Zira,

Ferozepur district Firozpur district, also known as Ferozepur district, is one of the twenty-three districts in the state of Punjab, India. Firozpur district comprises an area of . Firozpur (Ferozepur) is the capital city of the district. It is situated inside t ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, to Sher Singh Randhawa and Bachint Kaur, who came from an affluent family belonging to the village Bodal(Garna sahib)Dasuya

Hoshiarpur Hoshiarpur () is a city and a Municipal corporations in India, municipal corporation in Hoshiarpur district in the Doaba region of the Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab. It was founded, according to tradition, during the early part of the ...

district. He received his matriculate from Khalsa High School,

Muktsar Sri Muktsar Sahib ( ), often referred to as simply Muktsar, is a historical city and district headquarters in Punjab, India. The 2011 census of India put the total population of Sri Muktsar Sahib municipality at 117,085, making it the 14th larg ...

in 1924 and his F.Sc., BSc (Hons.), and MSc (Hons.) in 1926, 1929, and 1930, respectively, from

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

. In 1955, he was awarded a Doctorate in Science by the

University of the Punjab The University of the Punjab (UoP) is a public university, public research university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan. Founded in 1882, its international influence has made it one of the most prestigious universities in South As ...

for his work on

algae Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthesis, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular ...

, especially on the

Zygnemataceae The Zygnemataceae are a family of Algae#Morphology, filamentous or unicellular, uniseriate (unbranched) green algae. The filaments are septum, septated and reproduction is by Sexual conjugation, conjugation; ''Spirogyra'' is commonly used in scho ...

Career

Randhawa joined the

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British Raj, British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 3 ...

in 1934, then served in various capacities at

Saharanpur Saharanpur is a city and a Municipal corporation (India), municipal corporation in Uttar Pradesh, India. It is also the public administration, administrative headquarters of Saharanpur district. Saharanpur city's name was given after the Sain ...

Fyzabad Fyzabad is a town in southwestern Trinidad, south of San Fernando, west of Siparia and northeast of Point Fortin. It is named after the town of Faizabad in India. Colloquially it is known as "Fyzo" by many people. History Fyzabad was founde ...

Almora Almora ( Kumaoni: ') is a municipal corporation and a cantonment town in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Almora district. Almora is located on a ridge at the southern edge of the Kumaon Hills of the ...

Allahabad Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...

Agra Agra ( ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the ...

, and Rai Barelli until 1945, when he became secretary of the

Indian Council of Agricultural Research The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is an autonomous body responsible for co-ordinating agricultural education and research in India. It reports to the Department of Agricultural Research and Education, Ministry of Agriculture. Th ...

(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

. In 1946, he was appointed as the

deputy commissioner A deputy commissioner is a police, income tax or administrative official in many countries. The rank is commonplace in police forces of Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, usually ranking below the Commissioner. Australia In all Aust ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

, when

was on the eve of independence. In 1947 he was in charge of the entire function where

Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...

delivered his famous '' Tryst with destiny'' speech. As deputy commissioner, he helped persons uprooted by the

Partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...

resettle, and then in 1949 he was sent as the additional director-general (rehabilitation) and subsequently made the director-general (rehabilitation),

. Randhawa then went to Ambala Division in the

as the commissioner. He was brought back to the task of rehabilitating people in 1953 as the development commissioner and

commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to incl ...

rehabilitation and custodian, evacuee property,

. During this time he was in charge of allotting land to those who had left behind lands in

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

and allotting land to them in Indian Punjab. In 1955 he was made the vice-president of the

(ICAR) and additional secretary to

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

, Ministry of Food and Agriculture, New Delhi. He then served the

as advisor, Natural Resources Planning Commission from 1961 to 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 A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth of Nati ...

Punjab Agricultural University Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) is a public funded agricultural university located in Ludhiana district of Punjab. It is a central agricultural university in India established under Harayana and Punjab Agricultural Universities Act 1970 ...

in the 1970s. Randhawa was a key promoter of tree planting and was behind what became the establishment of the national tree planting week known as

Van Mahotsav Van Mahothsav, is an annual one-week tree-planting festival in India which is celebrated in the first week of July. It is a great traditional Indian festival that reflects Indian culture and heritage to honor and love mother earth by planting trees ...

. Randhawa was chairman of the committee to plan the city of

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 Ludhiana () is the most populous Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab.164.100.161.224 http://164.100.161.224 › filesPDF Ludhiana State: Punjab Business & Industrial Centre, Tier 2 1 ... The city has an estima ...

. He also introduced many species of avenue trees to

and founded the

Rose Garden A rose garden or rosarium is a garden or park, often open to the public, used to present and grow various types of garden roses, and sometimes rose species. Designs vary tremendously and roses may be displayed alongside other plants or grouped ...

in Sector 16 in

, the

, the Government Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh, and the Anglo Sikh War Memorial near Ferozepur which was completed in February 1976. 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

Death and afterward

Dr. Randhawa died on 3 March 1986 in his farmhouse in Kharar. The library at

is named in his honour and maintains a collection of his works and laboratory instruments used by him.

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) *
Beautifying India
' (1950) *
Out of the Ashes; an account of the rehabilitation of refugees from West Pakistan in rural areas of East Punjab
' (1954) *
Flowering Trees
' (1957) *
Agricultural Research In India
' (1958) *
Basohli Painting
' (1959) *''Zygnemaceae'' (ICAR Monographs on Algae) (1959) *
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) *
Agriulture And Animal Husbandry In India
' (1962) *''Natural Resources of India'' (1963) *''Chamba Painting'' (1967) *
Travels In The Western Himalayas
' (1967) *
Evolution of Life
' (1969) *
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'
volume 1234
(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

External links

Indian National Science Academy biography

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