Life Story

Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis was a renowned Indian scientist and statistician from West Bengal. He is known mostly for being the father of modern statistics and for being on the planning commission of free India. Born on June 29, 1893, he was very interested in physics and even taught physics classes. He was a scientist who was honoured with the Padma Vibhushan and Weldon Memorial Prize. He was also an officer of the Order of the British Empire and a fellow of the Royal Society. Some of his most renowned works are the Mahalanobis Distance that helped in the industrialization during the five-year plan, introducing innovative techniques for conducting large-scale sample surveys, calculating crop yields using the

Innovative: new & different Compare: to estimate

method of random sampling and fractile graphical analysis, which could be used to compare the socio-economic conditions of different groups of people. In December 1931, he kept the foundation of the Indian Statistical Institute in Kolkata. He was a scientist who served as chairman in the United Nations sub commission of samplings and honorary statistical adviser to the government of India.

National Same Survey (NSS), NSSO and Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) were his brainchild.