Sparks from Memory

Background: Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation was formed in 1964 and had  limited development, during  the following  ten years. Chakrapani was working as the chief mechanical engineer of RSRTC at that time.  A decision was taken in 1975 to nationalize most of the major bus routes of the state, by inducting 1000 new busses in … Read more

Background: There was a time, when sixty five  percent of the major industries  of the country were owned by people, who rose from four districts of Rajasthan, viz Churu, Sikar, Jhunjhunu and Nagaur.  They were resourceful and gritty people, who settled down at the port towns of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras and provided the initial … Read more

Varnashram of Aryans: The Aryans divided the community into four functional groups, viz. Khastriya, Brahmin, Vaish and Shudra. Khastriyas were responsible for  the administration and safety and security of the community. Brahmins were responsible for meeting the educational and religious needs of the people. Vaish were concerned with the promotion of trade and commerce.  Shudra … Read more

(Transcript of a note dated 1.1.1975) Introductory: During the last three decades, India has built dams, powerhouses, steel plants,  roads, railways and industries and a host of other things, leading to the development of an infra-structure and technological capability, usually associated with top few developed countries of the world. It is really an anomaly,  that, … Read more

The Credibility Gap: Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru often remarked in utter exasperation, that, the central secretariat was an administrative jungle. With all his power, charisma, mass appeal and intellect, he was unable to rid himself from the clutches of the bureaucrats. Ironically, he always played in the hands of the very people, whom he shunned … Read more

Polytechnics: The directorate of technical education was established in Rajasthan in 1957 followed by the establishment of three state government polytechnics at Jodhpur, Udaipur and Ajmer in 1958. Kota Polytechnic  had started functioning in 1960 followed by polytechnics at Bikaner and Alwar in 1961. There was an acute  shortage of technical manpower at that time … Read more

Background: MBM Engineering College was the first government engineering college established at Jodhpur by Principal Vinayak Govind  Garde. Directorate of Technical Education Rajasthan  started functioning at Jodhpur in 1957, with Principal Garde as the ex-officio Director of Technical Education and Chairman of the Board of Technical Education. The services of Principal VG Garde, as principal … Read more

Emergency: Internal emergency was clamped in the country on the night of 25 June 1975. Emergency is a serious, unexpected and potentially dangerous situation needing immediate action. It is very difficult to say, whether, the emergency declared by Indira Gandhi in 1975 was good or bad. Her election to the parliament in 1971  from Rai … Read more

Lal Bahadur Shastri:  India became independent, when Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, the first prime minister of India,  raised the national  flag on the ramparts of red fort on 15 August 1947. He was responsible for initiating the process of industrialization and planned development of the country. Chinese aggression on the northern border in 1962 was … Read more

Admissions to the Polytechnic: I had joined Jodhpur Polytechnic in July 1962. The process of admissions for that year was over by then.  At that time, there was tremendous rush for admissions in the polytechnics  and a large number of  students from neighbouring states of United Provinces and Punjab had applied  for admission to Jodhpur  … Read more