V. K. R. V. Rao

Vijayendra Kasturi Ranga Varadaraja Rao (8 July 1908 – 25 July 1991) was an Indian economist, politician and educator.

Early life and education 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.