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“Statistics must have a clearly defined purpose, one aspect of which is scientific advance
and the other human welfare and national development.”
Professor Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis
Professor Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis was a physicist by
training, a statistician by instinct and economist by conviction.
It is most interesting and surprising to know that his achievements
were in fields in which he had no formal training and degree.
That is why the famous biologist J. B. S. Haldane praised
Mahalanobis by saying the following:
“I consider it desirable that a man’s or woman’s major
research work should be in a subject in which he or she
has not taken a degree. To get degree one has to learn a
lot of facts and theories in a somewhat parrot like manner.
It is rather hard to be highly original in a subject in which
one has learned with a view of obtaining first class honours
in an examination.” ---- J. B. S. Haldane, FRS
Mahalanobis was born on 29th June, 1893 in Calcutta. Even at a very early age he came under the influence
of Rabindranath Tagore who took a liking to young Mahalanobis, being particularly impressed by the
combination in him of a love of literature with a flair for logical analysis.
Mahalanobis graduated from Presidency College and received B. Sc. Honors in Physics from Calcutta
University 1912. In 1914, he took Part I of the Mathematical Tripos but changed over to Physics and passed
the Natural Science Tripos, Part II, with a first class in 1915 from King’s College. It was at Cambridge
Mahalanobis met the famous mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan. In 1915, he completed his Tripos in
Physics. He also worked for a short duration at Cavendish Laboratory with C.T.R. Wilson, a Nobel Laureate
in Physics. It was during this time he took a short break and came to India. He then met the Principal of
Presidency College who invited him to take classes in Physics. It is here he analyzed examination results
using the statistical methods. He enjoyed this work so much that he left physics and fell into love with
facts, figures, graphs and charts. Upon returning to England, he was introduced to the journal Biometrika.
The journal interested him so much that he purchased the complete set and took them to India. On his
way back to India, he discovered the utility of statistics to problems in meteorology, anthropology and
began working on the same. Statistics later became his lifelong love and passion and he pursued statistical
work in India mentored by Acharya Brajendranath Seal. Before Mahalanobis arrived on the scene, statistics
was virtually unknown in India.
Professor P. C. Mahalanobis’s contribution to the subject of statistics is incredibly varied. Mahalanobis had
held the position of Statistical Advisor to the Government of India and Member, Planning Commission.
After independence he was appointed Statistical Advisor to the newly formed cabinet. He drafted India’s
Second Five Year Plan in 1955, which envisaged rapid industrialization to eliminate unemployment.
Mahalanobis received many awards from academic societies all over the world for his contributions to
statistics and economic planning. He received the Weldon Medal from Oxford University in 1944 and was
elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS), London, in 1945 for his fundamental contributions to statistics,
particularly in the area of large-scale sample surveys. The Government of India honoured him with the
Padma Vibhushan, in 1968. He was appointed Chairman of the United Nations Sub-Commission on Statistical
Sampling. As the Chairman of the UN Statistical Commission, he also helped in the spread of robust and
extremely useful statistical ideas to other countries.
The work of Mahalanobis clearly demonstrates that statistics is not simply a collection of complicated
techniques but adds value to the process of management and decision making. Without the ability to think
statistically and to understand and interpret data, managers have to resort to gut reactions, which are
invariably misguided and unreliable. The ability to think statistically is an essential and important skill of
any successful manager. Because of this reason conferences are regularly held in USA on the theme of
“Making Statistics More Effective in Schools of Business”.
And for this we salute the father of Indian statistics, P. C. Mahalanobis who breathed his last on 28th June
1972, at the age of 79.
As a mark of our respect,
Dr. P. C. Mahalanabish School of Management
is our humble tribute to him!
76 | Prospectus 2013
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