Eulogy Tag

The 8th Vice-Chancellor (05-08-2008 to 18-05-2010) | Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning (Deemed to be University)

Hailing from the crest jewel of India, Kashmir, Prof. Vishwanath Pandit, a well-known Indian economist, assumed charge as the 8th Vice Chancellor of Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning (SSSIHL) on 5th August 2008. Fondly referred to by Bhagawan Baba as the ‘Delhi Professor,’ Prof. Pandit’s remarkable journey from serving as a Seva Dal at Prasanthi Nilayam in the 1980s to assuming the position of the 8th Vice-Chancellor of SSSIHL is truly commendable.

Prof. Pandit, regarded as the pioneer of ‘Macroeconomics Policy Modelling in India,’ completed his B.A. from Kashmir University and M.A. in Economics from the Delhi School of Economics. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, U.S.A., under the Nobel Laureate, Prof. Lawrence Klein, in 1971. He has been a colleague of some of the most eminent economists of India, including former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, former Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, and the Nobel Laureate, Prof. Amartya Sen.

After completing his doctoral research, he served as a Reader in econometrics at the Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi. During his four-decade-long stint at the Delhi School of Economics, he also served in various capacities such as Head of the Department of Economics and Director of the Centre for Development Economics. During this period, he held many visiting positions at his alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania (1984-85), as well as at the University of North Carolina as a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow (1970-71). Prof. Pandit also held a visiting faculty position at the University of Manchester, England, U.K. (1975-76), and later was also the Simon Fellow (1976-77) and Hallsworth Fellow (1983-84).

Throughout his illustrious career, he played several roles, including Consultant to the World Bank, Washington, USA (1975); Consultant to Rail India Technical and Economic Services, New Delhi (1978-79); Editor for the Indian Economic Review (1986); Macroeconomic Planning Adviser to the Government of Sri Lanka (1989-90); Chairman, Expert Group on Policy Modelling for LDCs, U.N., New York; Consultant to the Planning Commission, Govt. of India; and President of the Indian Econometric Society (2001-02). He served on selection committees for two prestigious awards, the Mahalanobis Memorial Medal (National and International) and the VKRV Rao Awards in Social Sciences. For his extraordinary contribution to the field of economics, he was conferred the Swami Pranavananda Saraswati Award by the University Grants Commission in 2004.

Prof. Pandit was an eminent academician with vast experience in teaching and guiding research. Several Ph.D. and M.Phil. scholars completed their research under his supervision. He published more than 100 research articles and papers in national and international journals and authored nine books on economics.

Professor Pandit has been associated with SSSIHL since 1984. He was one of the members of the expert committee that was instrumental in framing the syllabus and administrative/admission procedures in developing the Department of Management at SSSIHL in 1986. He used to deliver guest lectures in the Management & Commerce Department of the Institute. In June 1991, the B.Sc. (Hons) in Economics programme was introduced at the Prasanthi Nilayam Campus of SSSIHL with his assistance.

Post-2000, he joined SSSIHL as a regular faculty member. In 2001, he was instrumental in setting up the Department of Economics at the Institute. He held the position of Head of the Department of Economics and Dean of Humanities at SSSIHL. The M.A. (Economics) programme was introduced at the Prasanthi Nilayam Campus of SSSIHL in June 2001 under his leadership.

Prof. Vishwanath Pandit played a key role as Coordinator during the very first cycle of accreditation of SSSIHL by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) in 2002 when Sri S V Giri was the Vice-Chancellor. Prof. Pandit highlighted the importance of the Sri Sathya Sai Values-based Integral Education system to the members of the Peer Team from NAAC, who visited our Institute from 2nd to 4th December 2002. The NAAC granted accreditation at the A++ level (highest grade) in 2003-2004, thus placing the Institute at the top grade among Indian universities.

He was instrumental in commencing the B.A. (Hons) in Economics programme with History and Political Science as additional subjects at the Prasanthi Nilayam Campus of SSSIHL in the academic year 2004. This supplemented the existing B.Sc. (Hons) in Economics programme, which included Mathematics and Statistics as additional subjects. Additionally, in the same year, the M.Phil. programme was introduced in all subjects where postgraduate programmes already existed.

Prof. Pandit was also a part of the 25th Anniversary celebrations of the Institute in 2006, when a new Humanities Building at the Prasanthi Nilayam Campus was inaugurated by the Revered Founder Chancellor, Bhagawan Baba, on 26th August 2006 in the presence of Dr. Ashok K Lahri, the Chief Economic Advisor, Ministry of Finance, Govt. of India. He briefly served as Chairman of the Sri Sathya Sai Centre for Human Values run by the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust.

During his tenure as the 8th Vice-Chancellor of Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, Prof. Pandit spearheaded several milestone events. The Conference on “Ethics and the World of Finance” was organised by SSSIHL on the 28th and 29th of August 2009 under his leadership, where the keynote address was delivered by Dr. Duvvuri Subbarao, the then Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. This conference, held in the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2007–2008, focused on the need for revitalizing ethical practices in the financial sector. The participants included top executives from the financial sector, representatives from regulatory bodies like RBI, SEBI, and IRDA, CEOs of around 20 banks and financial institutions in India, bureaucrats, academicians, and many others who were part of the then financial echelon of India.

In 2008, Prof. Pandit hosted the UGC team headed by Prof. Moolchand Sharma, a distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Delhi and the Founder Vice-Chancellor of Central University of Haryana, along with eminent Professors/Vice-Chancellors of Indian Universities and Dr. (Mrs.) Renu Batra, Joint Secretary, UGC as the member Secretary, who visited the Institute to review the UGC X Plan and proposal for the UGC XI plan from 25th to 27th September 2008.

The initiative for starting the fourth Campus of SSSIHL at Muddenahalli, Chikkaballapur District, in consultation with the Govt. of Karnataka and the MHRD, New Delhi, and the starting of a new building for housing the MBA Department at the Anantapur Campus, happened during his tenure. Even for the second cycle of re-accreditation by NAAC in 2009-10, Prof. Pandit played a key role in the entire accreditation process, including the drafting of the reports.

The book “Man Management,” based on several Discourses on Management delivered by Bhagawan Baba and compiled by Prof. (Hon.) R Kumar Bhaskar was released under the leadership of Prof. Pandit. He was also associated with the Values Orientation programme for school teachers from all over India, between 2003-2006.

For Prof. Pandit, the most gratifying moment was joining the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning in Prasanthi Nilayam. He considered this his real blessing and said that the fact that Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba let him be so close to Him and be His instrument for starting the Department of Economics at the Institute, was in itself a source of fulfillment.

In addition to his professional career, Prof. Pandit was very active in the Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organizations in Delhi. Before joining SSSIHL, he was the “Activities in charge” at the Sri Sathya Sai International Centre, New Delhi.

His devotion to Swami and the rare humility to see everything as His ‘doing’ is something that students tried to learn from him, apart from his socio-economic wisdom. “My first memory of Prof. Pandit was when he took a class for us in our I MBA in 1987,” says Prof. N Sivakumar, Director of Brindavan Campus. “Our class was floored by his erudition. He was so thorough in his presentation that he would reel out statistical data and figures about the Indian economy just from memory. I used to note down every point he mentioned. By the end of each class, I would have copied easily 10 pages of notes. That was the level of erudition of Sir.”

A very silent and calm person, a genius mind with lofty thoughts that embodied leadership with gentle firmness and scholarly humility, a loving human being with a life full of purpose and intellectual achievements, who meant so much to so many, now rests at the Lotus feet of Bhagawan Baba. Prof. Vishwanath Pandit is survived by his wife.

The Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning pays its sincere homage to the towering personality of Prof. Pandit. The faculty, staff, and students of the Institute are immensely grateful to Bhagawan for having brought them face-to-face with such a brilliant academic, a humble leader, and a good human being. We pray that his soul may rest in eternal peace and pray for Bhagawan’s blessings on all his family members.

Sairam!