On 75th Anniversary - First 25 years - Mukund Mavlankar

 PM’s comments made at the IIT Kanpur convocation on Dec 28th has not gone unnoticed this time. Whether students heard him or not, alumni did. Modi deplored the “fact” that little was done in the first 25 years after independence to make India self-reliant. 

https://twitter.com/RajeevMatta/status/1480106570906103809

“25 years after Independence, we should have done a lot more to stand on our feet. There has been further great delay from then till now. The country has lost a lot of time. In between, two generations have passed. Now we can’t afford the loss of even two moments”.

However, is it a “fact” little was done in the first 25 years to make India self-reliant? Mukund Mavlankar, an illustrious alumnus of IIT Kanpur thinks it is not. 

He says of himself, “education in IIT Kanpur gave me a solid, scientific and technological foundation and helped me build a 43 year strong manufacturing career”, has written to PM to explain why. 

He mentions 12 key achievements of the first quarter century that India should not only never forget, but always be proud of. In the year we celebrate the 75th anniversary of Independence, these are the landmarks that are worth reminding ourselves of. 

First the political ones. India gave itself a Constitution to eternally boast of. It enshrines the values we cherish. That happened less than 3 years after Independence. 

Two years after that, the country held its first national election. Every adult, rich or poor, man or woman, had the right to vote. We take that for granted today, but it simply wasn’t at the time.

Next, come the educational institutions we built in those years. Between 1950 and 1964, five IITs were set up. Before 25 years were over, three Institutes of Management (IIMs) were also established. And let’s not forget prestigious research laboratories such as Indian Institute of Science, the Defence Research and Development Organisation.

The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and the Indian Space Research Organisation. They are world-class and the envy of our peers. 

Mavlankar’s letter mentions a lot more – Bhakra Nangal Dam, Hindustan Aeronautics, the Oil and Natural Gas Commission, Bharat Heavy Electronics, and an assortment of steel plants. And in this time of Covid-19, how can anyone forget the Indian Council of Medical Research and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)? The first was established in 1948. The second, in 1956.

The hundred acres on which AIIMS stands was donated by the then health minister Rajkumari Amrit Kaur. 

Mavlankar’s parting words: “Sir, the list could go on and on.Our democracy invested its energy, blood sweat and toll in the first 25 years to lay the foundation of this country which we are so proud of. All this was done in spite of poverty, great natural disasters, epidemics and four wars with our neighbours”

He adds: “I agree with you a hundred percent that the work of building the country is not over as yet.” 

The intent of his letter is to ask the PM not to forget or undervalue what politicians of the past have done. We need to add to their efforts, but that won’t happen by denigrating them. 

We collectively have been responsible for utter degradation of the environment we live in. CO2 level has been increasing relentlessly and in geometric progression since 1763.