Reminiscence of the

Engineer-Statesman
Learned Society
Sir M Visvesvaraya Initiatives

L V Muralikrishna Reddy, PhD

Former President
The Institution of Engineers (India)
 Reminiscence of the

Engineer-Statesman
Sir M Visvesvaraya

L V Muralikrishna Reddy, PhD

FIE, FIET(UK), FIIChE, FISTE, FIIPE, IEEE-HKN, IntPE, CEng(UK)
Former President, The Institution of Engineers (India)
President, Indian Technology Congress Association
mlingireddy@yahoo.com
+91 98452 24134
 © 2018 All rights reserved.

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Authored and Edited by Contributors

Dr. L.V. Muralikrishna Reddy Dr. Enti Ranga Reddy
Former President, The Institution of Engineers (India) Dr. K. Gopalakrishnan
President, Indian Technology Congress Association
#3, 4th Floor, First Main, BDA Layout, Er. D.V. Nagabhushan
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president@itca.org.in Prof. R.M. Vasagam
www.itca.org.in/lsipublications
Dr. Wooday P. Krishna

Published by
Foundation for Education Excellence
Publishing Organization for Indian Technology Congress Association

This publication is released in Bangalore, India on 15 September 2018 to commemorate 50th

Engineers Day and 150th Birth Anniversary of Sir M Visvesvaraya.
ITCA is envisaged to be a platform for Technologists (Researchers and Professionals),
Entrepreneurs, Academia, and Investors to identify contemporary and emerging technology
issues and develop best practices. This collaborative platform will foster a culture of
innovation, progress, and excellence with an emphasis on continuous improvement. To
facilitate the collective growth of the engineering profession, ITCA will endeavor to
stimulate interdisciplinary research, promote knowledge transfer to the member fraternity,
profession, and build effective cross-disciplinary synergies. ITCA would also conceptualize
and promote activities that would progress the interests of the technology profession.
ITCA intends to bring out publications on Engineering interests to outreach under the
Learned Society Initiatives.

Printed at: JAP Systems, Bangalore

1 Reminiscence of the Engineer-Statesman, Sir M Visvesvaraya

Reminiscence of the
Engineer-Statesman
Sir M Visvesvaraya

Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya is India’s legendary Engineer

and Karmayogi whose birthday is celebrated across the country
on 15 September. The year 2018 marks the 50th anniversary of
the Engineer’s Day in India and 158th Birth anniversary of Sir
MV. An engineer par excellence, brilliant, charismatic and
globally recognized as a leader of the engineering profession of
that era, Sir MV’s birthday has been designated by the nation to
acknowledge the contributions of the engineering fraternity for
national development.

A distinguished engineer of pre-to-post independent India, MV

has contributed immensely to engineering for over seven
decades encompassing all arenas for human development. He
was knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of the
Indian Empire (KCIE) by Great Britain for his contributions to
the public good and is renowned for his role in transforming the
country into a modern India. A multi-faceted personality, Sir M
Visvesvaraya was recognized as a great Engineer, an efficient
Administrator, and a visionary Statesman. His contribution as an
Educationist, Economist, and a Social Reformer have been
 Reminiscence of the Engineer-Statesman, Sir M Visvesvaraya 2

significant, and recalled with affection by renowned leaders of

the day.

The extraordinary Indian doyens of that epoch, Swami

Vivekananda (born, 1863), the prodigious philosopher; Mahatma
Gandhi (born, 1869), the Father of the Nation; Nobel laureate
Rabindranath Tagore (born, 1861), renowned litterateur; and Sir
M Visvesvaraya (born, 1860), the engineer-Statesman were
contemporaries in their respective fields; and their ideology and
philosophy significantly influenced the structuring of the Indian
developmental agenda. Sir MV belonged to that small group of
eminent Indians whose ideas and achievements laid the
foundation for the creation of a post-Independence resurgent
India. While his contemporaries gained individual recognition
and accolades for their fields of activity, the greatest engineer Sir
MV did not get the recognition he deserved even though the
engineering profession contributed significantly to nation
building.

He was amongst the early engineering practitioners to visualize

the challenges besetting the Engineering Profession in India and
globally. The numerous schemes and projects he conceptualized
and executed are a standing testimony to the faith of this great
man in the benevolent possibilities of engineering as applied to
the problems of human existence. As a patriotic son of Mysore
State (Karnataka State), Sir MV was anxious that his native state
should have all the benefits engineering profession could
provide for inclusive progress.
3 Reminiscence of the Engineer-Statesman, Sir M Visvesvaraya

His contributions are predominantly recognized in the context of

nurturing generations of disciplined engineers and made Mysore
engineers so renowned in the country during those years with
the building of dams, irrigation schemes, public works including
railway systems, power projects, and roads. His knowledge of
international happenings in engineering was remarkable, and
the irrigation projects in the erstwhile Mysore State were
recognized internationally for implementing the then global best
practices.

The strong credibility and reputation as an engineer across the

country was sufficient for the then Maharaja of Mysore to
appoint him to the coveted position of ‚The Dewan‛, equivalent
to the Prime Minister of the princely state. As the first engineer
to occupy this key position, MV had an encompassing landscape
of opportunity to deploy engineering and technology for societal
good. As an Engineer-Dewan, he was responsible for
conceptualizing and progressing numerous engineering projects
in the state, leveraging the success and learnings from projects
completed earlier, and all of these were successful in building
the brand for innovative Indian engineering at national and
international levels.

Ever since its establishment in 1920, the Institution of Engineers-

India (IEI) as the lead representative of Indian engineering
profession has taken the initiative to recognize Sir MV’s
ingenuity. IEI bestowed Sir MV the title, Honorary Life Member,
the highly regarded acme honor to the extraordinary engineer in
 Reminiscence of the Engineer-Statesman, Sir M Visvesvaraya 4

February 1944. The IEI from its early years had adopted Sir MV
as its role model and initiated many activities to commemorate
his life; and perpetuate and propagate his precepts in the minds
of current and future generations of engineers. The Mysore
Centre (Karnataka State Centre) and Bombay Centre
(Maharashtra State Centre) of the IEI were pioneering centres in
chronicling and proliferating Sir MV’s Engineering ideals to the
nation. Organising Sir MV’s centenary celebrations, crafting the
Engineers’ Day, instituting and presenting numerous Awards
and Rewards to motivate distinguished and young engineers,
unveiling portraits, statues, and busts of Sir MV throughout
India, creating competitions, and instituting Annual memorial
lectures were some of IEI’s initiatives to promote the postulates
of India’s finest engineer.

The annual Sir MV Lecture instituted at the Indian Engineering

Congress is a testimony to this recognition and highlights the
eminence the luminaries from the field of engineering have
associated to deliver these talks. In fact, this activity was
conceptualized by the Bombay Centre of IEI in 1957 to honor Sir
M Visvesvaraya during the “Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya
Lecture”, and this was then later incorporated into IEI's
mainstream activities as “Sir M Visvesvaraya Memorial Lecture”
and sets the context for chronicling to posterity India’s
engineering achievements through IEI's technical programmes.

He was always associated with learned professional bodies and

participated in deliberations to remain abreast with
5 Reminiscence of the Engineer-Statesman, Sir M Visvesvaraya

contemporary engineering knowledge of those years, and

encouraged fellow engineers to do the same. He was involved
with the Civil Engineers Association, Mysore since 1907 and saw
its growth and expansion as the Mysore Engineers’ Association
(MEA) during his tenure as the Chief Engineer and Dewan of the
erstwhile Mysore State. The MEA gained credibility as a
platform for strategizing the role of engineering and its
contemporary best practices for nation-building. This credible
MEA further enhanced the trustworthiness of the IEI following
its amalgamation in 1960. The National Design and Research
Forum established in 1960’s as a research wing of the IEI is an
outcome of the MEA consolidation of IEI’s efforts to drive India’s
R&D efforts in the collaborative mode and was based on the
lines of an Engineering Consultants’ Board to organise efficient
engineering services for the country. NDRF has contributed
significantly to India’s efforts to develop self-reliance in the
critical areas of micro and nano-air vehicles and biomedical
devices for societal applications. The IEI, grown along the
footprints of Sir MV is now marching towards its centennial in
2020 in a magnificent manner.

His conviction for engineering was legendary when he was at

the helm of affairs of the engineering profession stimulating
emergent engineering activities in the country. He was an
engineering evangelist encouraging Indian engineers to learn
from western progress and based his precepts and hypotheses
on data and statistical comparisons. Japan was one country he
always admired in the context of technological progression and
 Reminiscence of the Engineer-Statesman, Sir M Visvesvaraya 6

its penchant for collecting and maintaining metrics as a yardstick

to assess progress in annual production, etc.

The reflections from his ideas at the beginning of the 1900s and
their relevance are still pertinent and worthwhile to be pursued
and imbibed by the Indian engineering community. His
illustrations from his famous speeches and celebrated
publications are still germane in the current day’s digital era. The
importance he accorded to educating engineers, his exhortation
to perfect skills in data collection and analysis, documentation
and statistical tools and analysis, and the role of professional
bodies in continuous lifelong learning are highly respected and
pertinent.

He was very meticulous in keeping statistics, data and

information up-to-date on engineering projects especially those
related to public works. He was of the firm opinion that only by
possessing correct information and comparing the actions and
resources of one district with those of another; and the cost of
maintenance of one year with that of the previous years, the
engineer would have a firm grip on the territory under his
charge and be able to take decisions with significant impact for
public good.

He was a staunch adherent of education with a purpose and

believed that quality engineering education would help India
industrialize rapidly and compare favourably with the
industrialized nations. During his tenure as the first Indian to
preside over the Court of the Indian Institute of Science, new
7 Reminiscence of the Engineer-Statesman, Sir M Visvesvaraya

Departments like Power Engineering, Chemical Engineering,

Aeronautics, Internal Combustion Engineering etc. were
established.

The multi-faceted personality, a Civil Engineer by education,

enormously contributed to Indian industrialization progression
apart from progressing contemporary projects in railways,
engineering education, water supply, irrigation, and
development of massive infrastructure. At the age of 48, he took
voluntary superannuation to pursue a more significant and
meaningful role as an independent consultant for which he
travelled to Europe and other progressive countries extensively
to learn and imbibe global best practices for adoption in the
country’s fledgling industries.

His famous and oft-quoted dictum ‚Industrialise or Perish‛ is a

testimony to his intellectual conviction, and led to his
recognition as the Father of the idea of Planned Development
in India. A firm believer of transforming India from an agrarian
economy to industrialized economy, he leveraged science,
engineering and technology to develop and showcase artefacts
that had significant influence in modifying the societal and
economic fabric of the country, thereby leading to the nation’s
progress.

Sir MV had the passion for translating his ideas and experiences
into writing. From the earliest days, he wrote articles dealing
with economic and engineering progress. Sir MV was passionate
about engineering and was able to integrate economic principles
 Reminiscence of the Engineer-Statesman, Sir M Visvesvaraya 8

to build an effective public policy for the betterment of citizens.

His publications ‚Reconstructing India‛ and ‚Planned
Economy for India‛ established the baseline for Planned
Development in India and have been widely referred to while
drafting the first Five-year Plan.

The Mysore Economic Conference was a remarkable model

creation of Sir MV for the country’s renaissance through the
application of modern engineering-driven technology
interventions for agriculture, industry, and trade; and was the
harbinger for all-round development of the State and could be
considered as the foundation for nation building. This was at a
time when economic growth and prosperity were curtailed by a
lack of private enterprise, insufficient dissemination of technical
knowledge and business information. The MEC provided
pointers for the development of natural resources and leveraging
these for regional development. Later, he became the President,
Indian Economic Conference-a think tank for British India on
economic reforms through industrialization.

In 1935, at the age of 75, he undertook his fifth tour abroad to

pursue his desire to set up an automobile factory in India. He
toured England (Coventry, Oxford, Birmingham) and Europe
(Italy, Germany and France) and was impressed by the Fiat
Model at Turin, Italy. He visited Ford Factory, General Motors
Corporation, Chrysler Corporation in the USA and got technical
and economic feasibility reports of setting up an automobile
plant in India and negotiated an agreement with them. It is
9 Reminiscence of the Engineer-Statesman, Sir M Visvesvaraya

under this agreement that the Premier Automobile Company

was established in India under the stewardship of Shri.
Walchand Hirachand.

The specific aim of the Mysore University was to develop and

build capacity of citizens and to afford training necessary to
prepare future manufacturers, merchants, businessmen,
economists, lawyers, scientists, engineers, policy-makers for the
country. Sir MV was passionate about technical education. He
donated the honorarium received as Chairman, Mysore Iron
Works to establish the Sri Jayachamarajendra Occupational
Institute at Bangalore which was started in August 1943. His
intent was to train personnel who could operate modern
machinery and educate several others, akin to today's 'train-the-
trainer' concept. Visvesvaraya was responsible for upgrading the
industrial school in Mysore to the Chamaraja Technical Institute
and for establishing District Industrial Schools. He was
responsible for establishing the University College of
Engineering (now known as the University Visvesvaraya College
of Engineering under the Bangalore University).

In the year 1944, at the age of 84, he brought out a publication on

‘Reconstruction in Post War India’, as the Founder President of
the All India Manufacturers' Organisation (AIMO), where he
put forth his ideas for a planned development of India following
the Second World War. He suggested three main advisory
agencies to work in close association with the Executive
Departments of Government, namely, a Reconstruction
 Reminiscence of the Engineer-Statesman, Sir M Visvesvaraya 10

Commission, an Economic Council and a National

Reconstruction Board.

In 1946, he led the AIMO Delegation on his sixth foreign tour to

UK, USA, Europe and Canada. They studied in separate batches,
textile, engineering, chemical and aircraft industries and
produced an exhaustive report containing many suggestions and
material of practical value for the rapid development of Indian
industries. In his foreign visits, one sees that he was guided by
one purpose, to understand and to know, and assist in the
promotion of economic prosperity of his own country.

There is a convergence between the views articulated by

Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, Bharat Ratna
Sir M Visvesvaraya and the Founding Fathers of the Indian
Constitution, who expounded duties including developing the
scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform.
These traits were essential for citizens to strive towards
excellence in all spheres of individual and collective activity so
that the nation steadily rose to higher levels of endeavor and
achievement. The nation-building ideals of the Founding Fathers
of the Indian Constitution and the epitomes of Engineer-
Statesman Sir MV who postulated ‚Think and Act
Institutionally‛ was the way forward for the Indian Engineering
Community so that by the cumulative efforts, collective strength,
shared vision and wisdom, the Indian Engineering Community
provided stewardship to deploy engineering and technology for
societal needs.
11 Reminiscence of the Engineer-Statesman, Sir M Visvesvaraya

Sir MV believed in the seven normal requirements of Industrial

Development in India that he called ‚7Ms‛ namely Money,
Market, Management, Machinery, Motive Power, Materials
and Men. He was a staunch supporter of mechanization and
industrialization and espoused power and machinery as the
levers for prosperity and growth. Enterprises today are in the
cusp of change. Information and Communication Technology are
disrupting and transforming business strategy of the enterprise
and the conventional value chains of yesteryears are being
systematically replaced by technology that drives down
transaction costs and facilitates timely and pertinent information
sharing about partnering organizations and competitors. The
availability of a plethora of technologies is leading to the
breaking-up of vertically-integrated businesses, as standards and
interoperability replace managed interfaces.

Industry 4.0 is the current norm of industrial automation and

data exchange in manufacturing processes and heralds an era of
connectivity between the physical systems and the cyber world
as captured through computerization and digitization. Industry
4.0 has its basic focus on the production process while the
Internet of Things focuses on the integration and utilization of
connected devices and products. Industry 4.0 includes cyber-
physical systems, the Internet of things (IoT) and Cloud
Computing, amongst others in the technology stack.

His belief that collecting, maintaining statistics and data as a

yardstick to assess and establish progress in production can be
 Reminiscence of the Engineer-Statesman, Sir M Visvesvaraya 12

considered a precursor to the transformation taking place today

where data is considered the most valuable resource replacing
oil. To survive this paradigm shift, organizations will need to
treat data as infrastructure: centralized, scaled, and an
enterprise-wide general resource available for any departmental
application or process. Leveraging the potential of Big Data is
critical to the organization’s survival as it involves the seamless
integration of the organization strategy, transformation of
enterprise-wide processes and capabilities and the deployment
of scalable information technology systems, tools and solutions.

An assay of all the institutions started by Sir MV show that the

basic building blocks including the organization culture and
ethos have helped industries and the institutions built on the
mechanization paradigm survive the radical metamorphosis and
are presently leveraging their core competence to develop skills
and capabilities required for the future. The Indian Institute of
Science has been working on developing state of the art in cyber-
physical systems and is successfully implementing these in
collaboration with leading corporates to establish ‚future
factories‛. AIMO is working with leading industries to develop
roadmaps for deploying IoT systems, leveraging data analytics
tools to create differentiation and building capacity in digital
skills for expansion and growth. All these initiatives will help
today’s industries successfully navigate the competitive
landscape, and by doing so, pay homage to India’s Engineer-
Statesman in ensuring that a resilient and vibrant Indian
industry powers Indian economic progress.
13 Reminiscence of the Engineer-Statesman, Sir M Visvesvaraya

Bharat Ratna Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya is a legendary

Engineer-Statesman unparalleled by anyone in India in the last
century. Sir MV has carved for himself through his legendary
engineering works and exemplary way of life a place in the
hearts of millions of engineers in India across several generations
and will continue to be a role model and inspiration for the
future generations.

The Author of this article was a former president of the IEI and is the
President of the Indian Technology Congress Association (ITCA) and
was personally inspired by Sir MV’s ideology and philosophy of
engineering programs. In commemoration of India’s foremost engineer
and to inspire present and future generations of Indian engineers, he
has authored the publication “Engineer-Statesman: Bharat Ratna Sir M
Visvesvaraya” in 2010. He was instrumental in installing a life-size
statue of Sir MV in IEI-Karnataka Centre Campus and had fifteen busts
of Sir MV installed in various places of the country including the IEI
headquarters at Kolkata. He was also the Chairman for Sir MV’s
Sesquicentennial celebrations in 2010 held at Bangalore.

Acknowledgements

Special thanks are due to Mr. Srinivas Durvasula for research,

compilation and editorial support, Mr. S Shanmugam for publication
support, Mr. Chintamani Rachayanavar and Mr. Gautham
Balasubramanya for facilitating peer reviews, and Mr. K. Vijaya Reddy
for logistics support.
Learned Society Initiatives
Learned Society Initiatives of the Indian Technology Congress
Association (ITCA) emphasizes excellence and innovation in the
technology domain through publication of scholarly artefacts
on a plethora of technology and allied subjects.

Learned Society Initiatives of the ITCA endeavors to set and

maintain high standards of engineering and technology
publishing by identifying and sourcing contemporary
research, and structuring frameworks for comprehensive and
best-in-class peer reviews. These publications will foster a
culture of collaboration and networking, a prime driver for
the advancement of interdisciplinary Technology progression.

Foundation for Education Excellence

(Publishing Organization for)
Indian Technology Congress Association
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president@itca.org.in
www.itca.org.in/lsip