Dr.Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar
Date of Birth : 1895
Date of Death : 1955
Place of Birth : Punjab
Dr.Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar was a distinguished Indian scientist who was born on 21 February 1894 at Shahpur, now in Pakistan. His father expired when he was only about eight months old. He spent his childhood in the house of his maternal grandfather who was an engineer. During his childhood he enjoy building mechanical toys, play with electrical batteries.
After completed his master in India, he headed to England for a research fellowship. There he got his D.Sc Degree from the London University in 1921. After return to India, he was awarded a professorship at the Benaras Hindu University. He was knighted in 1941 by the British Government for his research in science. In 1943, he was elected as a Fellow of the “Royal Society”. he also interest included emulsions, colloids and industrial chemistry.
Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was a proponent of scientific development, after the Independence in 1947, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) was set up and he was the Chairman. He becomes the first Director-general of the CSIR. He was known as the “The Father of Research Laboratories”, it is largely remembered for having established various chemical laboratories in India. He also developed a total twelve national laboratories, just a few name are Central Food Processing Technological Institute, Mysore, the National Physical Laboratories, New Delhi, National Chemical Laboratory, Pune, the Central Fuel Institute, Dhanbad, and the National Metallurgical Laboratory, Jamshedpur.
He also played an important part with Homi Jehangir Bhabha, Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai and others in building of post-independent S and T infrastructure and in the formulation of India’s science and technology policies. He founded the Director of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) later it became a major agency for research in India. He was also the Chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Bhatnagar was the Secretary of Ministry of Education and Educational Adviser to Government. He played a major role both in the Constitution and Deliberations of the Scientific Manpower Committee Report of 1948. He was a University Professor for more than 19 years, he first work at the Banaras Hindu University then he moved to Punjab University, there he had a reputation as a very inspiring teacher. His contribution in the areas of magneto chemistry and physical chemistry of emulsion were largely recognized.
He played an instrumental role in the establishment of the National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) of India, which bring gap between research and development. He was responsible for the initiation of the Industrial Research Association movement in India. Bhatnagar constituted the one-man Commission in 1951 to negotiate with oil companies for starting refineries and this ultimately led to the establishment of many oil refineries in different parts of the country. He induced many individuals and organizations to donate liberally for the cause of science and education. He exhibited high poetic talent particularly in Urdu.
Bhatnagar was also a recipient of “Padma Vibhushan” in 1954 and he was also knighted in 1941.
He died in 1st January 1955 at the age of 60 in New Delhi.