Consider the following statements about P.C. Mahalanobis:
(A) He was an economist, and the Second Five Year Plan was based on his ideas.
(B) He established the Indian Statistical Institute in Calcutta and started the journal Sankhya.
(C) In 1945, he was made a Fellow of Britain’s Royal Society.
(D) He was educated at the Presidency College in Calcutta and at Oxford University in England.
(E) The economists he invited during the second plan did not include critics of its socialist principles.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → (B) and (C) only
(A) He was an economist, and the Second Five Year Plan was based on his ideas. — Incorrect. The Second Plan was based on his ideas, but he was a statistician, not an economist.
(B) He established the Indian Statistical Institute in Calcutta and started the journal Sankhya. — Correct. Both are highly regarded to this day.
(C) In 1945, he was made a Fellow of Britain’s Royal Society. — Correct. Only outstanding scientists are made its members.
(D) He was educated at the Presidency College in Calcutta and at Oxford University in England. — Incorrect. He studied at Cambridge University, not Oxford.
(E) The economists he invited during the second plan did not include critics of its socialist principles. — Incorrect. He did invite economists who were very critical of those principles; he was willing to listen to critics.
NCERT (2026-27): “Box 2.3: Mahalanobis: the Architect of Indian Planning Many distinguished thinkers contributed to the formulation of India’s five year plans. Among them, the name of the statistician, Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, stands out. Planning, in the real sense of the term, began with the Second Five Year Plan. The Second Plan, a landmark contribution to development planning in general, laid down the basic ideas regarding goals of Indian planning; this plan was based on the ideas of Mahalanobis. In that sense, he can be regarded as the architect of Indian planning. Mahalanobis was born in 1893 in Calcutta. He was educated at the Presidency College in Calcutta and at Cambridge University in England. His contributions to the subject of statistics brought him international fame. In 1945 he was made a Fellow (member) of Britain’s Royal Society, one of the most prestigious organisations of scientists; only the most outstanding scientists are made members of this Society. Mahalanobis established the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) in Calcutta and started a journal, Sankhya, which still serves as a respected forum for statisticians to discuss their ideas. Both, the ISI and Sankhya, are highly regarded by statisticians and economists all over the world to this day. During the second plan period, Mahalanobis invited many distinguished economists from India and abroad to advise him on India’s economic development. Some of these economists became Nobel Prize winners later, which shows that he could identify individuals with talent. Among the economists invited by Mahalanobis were those who were very critical of the socialist principles of the second plan. In other words, he was willing to listen to what his critics had to say, the mark of a great scholar. Many economists today reject the approach to planning formulated by Mahalanobis but he will always be remembered for playing a vital role in putting India on the road to economic progress, and statisticians continue to profit from his contribution to statistical theory.” |