Meghnad Saha: A Physicist Parliamentarian

Abstract

Meghnad Saha (1893 – 1956) is a prominent architect of modern science in India. He was the physicist of international reputation. His theory of thermal ionization was a breakthrough in astrophysics. Each of his contributions – as a physicist, teacher, an active social thinker, educationist, scientific institution builder and Parliamentarian – is important in Indian history. His work a as a Parliamentarian is unknown even for the well educated people. Here I overview this dimension of his multi-faceted personality.

Full text

MEGHNAD SAHA: A PHYSICIST PARLIAMENTARIAN
Department of Physics, Veermata Jijabai
ARTICLE INFO
ABSTRACT
Meghnad Saha (1893
physicist of international reputation. His
astrophysics. Each of his contributions
educationalist, scientific institution builder and Parliamentarian
work as a Parliamentarian is unknow
dimension of his multi
Copyright © 2016, Pramod V. Naik. This
is an open access article distributed under the
distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
INTRODUCTION
Meghnad Saha was born on October 6, 1893 in Seoratali, a
small village near Dacca, which is now in Bangladesh.His
father
Jagannath had a small grocery shop in the nearby
Baliadi market area. Meghnad’s primary school teachers
realized talent of this boy and they persuaded his father for his
further education. He joined Presidency College in Calcutta
(now Kolkata) and passed o
ut M.Sc. in mixed mathematics. In
college Subhashchandra Bose was his junior.
Asutosh Mukherjee, a visionary educationalist of Bengal,
offered Meghnad a lecturership in mathematics at newly
founded University College of Science in Calcutta, where he
was a vice-
chancellor. Later on he was shifted to physics
department. Meghnad studied physics on his own and started
research career in it. His theory of thermal ionization was a
breakthrough in astrophysics. He was elected as Fellow of the
Royal Society (FRS
) of London at the age of 34. His name was
proposed for the Nobel Prize also but due to many complex
reasons it was not awarded to him (Friedman 2001).
Saha had a multidimensional personality –
a physicist, teacher,
an active social thinker, scient
ific institution builder and a
Parliamentarian (Naik 2016).
Social Concern
Saha was of the firm opinion that in a country like India, the
problems of food, clothing, eradication of poverty, education
*Corresponding author: Pramod V. Naik,
Department of Physics, Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute
(VJTI), Matunga, Mumbai - 400019, India.
ISSN: 0975-833X
Vol.
Article History:
Received 22nd August, 2016
Received in revised form
05th September, 2016
Accepted 20th October, 2016
Published online 30th November, 2016
Key words:
Meghnad Saha,
Physicist Parliamentarian.
Citation: Pramod V. Naik. 2016.
“
Meghnad saha: a physicist parliamentarian
RESEARCH ARTICLE
MEGHNAD SAHA: A PHYSICIST PARLIAMENTARIAN
*Pramod V. Naik
Department of Physics, Veermata Jijabai
Technological Institute (VJTI), Matunga, Mumbai
ABSTRACT
Meghnad Saha (1893
–
1956) is a prominent architect of modern science in India. He was the
physicist of international reputation. His theory of thermal ionization
astrophysics. Each of his contributions
–
as a physicist, teacher, an active social thinker,
educationalist, scientific institution builder and Parliamentarian –
work as a Parliamentarian is unknown even for the well educated people. Here I overview this
dimension of his multi
-faceted personality.
is an open access article distributed under the
Creative Commons Att
ribution License, which
distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Meghnad Saha was born on October 6, 1893 in Seoratali, a
small village near Dacca, which is now in Bangladesh.His
Jagannath had a small grocery shop in the nearby
Baliadi market area. Meghnad’s primary school teachers
realized talent of this boy and they persuaded his father for his
further education. He joined Presidency College in Calcutta
ut M.Sc. in mixed mathematics. In
college Subhashchandra Bose was his junior.
Asutosh Mukherjee, a visionary educationalist of Bengal,
offered Meghnad a lecturership in mathematics at newly
founded University College of Science in Calcutta, where he
chancellor. Later on he was shifted to physics
department. Meghnad studied physics on his own and started
research career in it. His theory of thermal ionization was a
breakthrough in astrophysics. He was elected as Fellow of the
) of London at the age of 34. His name was
proposed for the Nobel Prize also but due to many complex
reasons it was not awarded to him (Friedman 2001).
Meghnad
a physicist, teacher,
ific institution builder and a
Saha was of the firm opinion that in a country like India, the
problems of food, clothing, eradication of poverty, education
Department of Physics, Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute
and technological progress can be solved only with proper
planning, using science and technology. In 1938, Congress was
in power in seven provinces. N
then president of congress, convened a meeting in Bombay
(now Mumbai) to discuss various issues about planning.
A National Planning Committee was appointed under the
Chairmanship of Jawaharlal Nehru.Saha was th
committee member as well as chairman of two sub
committees. He worked hard on preparing reports of National
Planning Committee.
After independence he was not included
in planning commission. He was opponent of
khadi and handloom. He
advocated large scale industrialization
and fast marching of USSR was his role model. From various
platforms, such as addresses, articles in periodicals, formal and
informal discussions and personal communications with
friends and colleagues, he promoted
economic development plans.
During first few years of
independence he realized that there was confusion about
priorities and planning in ruling party, the projects of national
importance were not executed properly, higher education w
neglected, administrative lapses hampered the progress etc. He
became restless. He thought floor of Parliament was the correct
place to address the nation about this.
Member of Parliament
For a university professor or a scientist it was not an easy
to contest for parliament. He was not a member of any political
party, therefore mobilizing resources, in terms of money and
manpower, was difficult. But he made up his mind and
contested in 1952 from Calcutta north
independent candidate.
Available online at http://www.journalcra.com
International Journal of Current Research
Vol.
8, Issue, 11, pp.41082-41083, November, 2016
INTERNATIONAL
Meghnad saha: a physicist parliamentarian
”,
International Journal of Current Research
z
MEGHNAD SAHA: A PHYSICIST PARLIAMENTARIAN
Technological Institute (VJTI), Matunga, Mumbai
- 400019, India
1956) is a prominent architect of modern science in India. He was the
theory of thermal ionization
was a breakthrough in
as a physicist, teacher, an active social thinker,
–
is important in Indian history. His
n even for the well educated people. Here I overview this
ribution License, which
permits unrestricted use,
and technological progress can be solved only with proper
planning, using science and technology. In 1938, Congress was
in power in seven provinces. N
etaji Subhashchandra Bose,
then president of congress, convened a meeting in Bombay
(now Mumbai) to discuss various issues about planning.
A National Planning Committee was appointed under the
Chairmanship of Jawaharlal Nehru.Saha was th
e core-
committee member as well as chairman of two sub
-
committees. He worked hard on preparing reports of National
After independence he was not included
in planning commission. He was opponent of
spinning wheel,
advocated large scale industrialization
and fast marching of USSR was his role model. From various
platforms, such as addresses, articles in periodicals, formal and
informal discussions and personal communications with
friends and colleagues, he promoted
national planning and
During first few years of
independence he realized that there was confusion about
priorities and planning in ruling party, the projects of national
importance were not executed properly, higher education w
as
neglected, administrative lapses hampered the progress etc. He
became restless. He thought floor of Parliament was the correct
place to address the nation about this.
For a university professor or a scientist it was not an easy
task
to contest for parliament. He was not a member of any political
party, therefore mobilizing resources, in terms of money and
manpower, was difficult. But he made up his mind and
contested in 1952 from Calcutta north
-west constituency as an
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
OF CURRENT RESEARCH
International Journal of Current Research
, 8, (11), 41082-41083.

A large number of students, teachers, friends and colleagues
joined his campaign and he won with sweeping majority. He
took his oath as a Member of Parliament in May 1952.
National problems
The national problems; such as, higher education, river valley
projects, large scale industrialization, and atomic energy, were
his important concerns.His speeches, arguments and points he
raised in debates in Parliament are full of information, analysis
and inherent fervor about countrymen’s progress (Chatterjee
and Gupta 1993). In his very first speech in Parliament in
1952, while speaking on address by President he said that it
was regret to note in the President’s address, absence of any
reference to the problems of educational reform particularly in
the sphere of university and professional education. In 1948,
government of India had appointed university commission
headed by S. Radhakrishnan and Saha was one of its members.
He had first-hand information about sad state of education in
India. The commission had recommended the creation of an
autonomous university grant commission to allot grants to
different universities and professional institutes, according to
their needs and demands. Even after two years government had
not paid attention towards it. In the same session while
speaking in course of the debate on demands for grants for
union Education Ministry he stressed that the university
education should be concurrent subject. While working on the
education commission, they found that almost in all the
provinces the universities were pulling in different directions;
there was no unity of purpose. Sometimes they were following
policies which were highly provincial and detrimental to the
cause of unity.
Many of the universities were being made tools of state
policies. The commission was convinced that education should
be free from taints of provincialism; universities should train a
number of high class workers, in the interests of the country as
a whole. Therefore it was thought that it should be a central
subject, and if not wholly a central subject, at least a
concurrent subject. In the same speech he further said that the
contribution of India in science during the British regime
particularly after the First World War had been glorious. Many
scientists with very meager means had attained international
recognition. He expected that the coming generations should
become far bigger scientists. It was the nation’s duty to
provide them with the facilities; the laboratories and libraries
where they could get their training and they could serve their
country. Saha’s native village Seoratali remained literally
under flood waters for a period of 4 to 5 months in monsoon
almost every year. He was deeply concerned with the problems
associated with floods. He had given a lot of thoughts to this
problem. After independence government of India had
launched the Damodar valley project. To review its work,
Parliament had appointed the committee. The committee
pointed out irregularities. While speaking on capital outlay on
multipurpose river scheme, Saha criticized Damodar Valley
Corporation by giving details and insisted on overhauling
of whole administrative machinery.
He participated in discussions on diverse topics, such as,
finance bill, unemployment, progress report on five-year plan
for 1953-54, Indian tariff, soda ash and dye stuff industry,
peaceful uses of atomic energy, rehabilitation, oil exploration,
railway budget, states reorganization and so on. In Parliament
sometimes his questions or objections were difficult to answer
or explain, because they were based on thorough study of the
subject with scientific approach. On such occasions concerned
people used to make personal attack on him, forgetting that he
was also an elected Member of Parliament like other members.
Conclusion
Saha was not a politician. He entered Parliament for the national
cause. If he would have been included in Atomic Energy Commission
or given some important work of national reconstruction with due
freedom, he would not have thought of entering Parliament. His
career as a Parliamentarian from 1952 to 1956, till his sudden demise
was successful. He raised the questions about his dear subjects like
higher education or river valley projects and compelled the authorities
to rectify mistakes and remove administrative flaws in the interests of
nation. The range and the depth of topics he discussed in Parliament
shows his wide ranging interests, analysis, scientific approach and
above all ardor for progress of the country.
REFERENCES
Chatterjee, S and Gupta, J (ed.) 1993. Meghnad Saha in Parliament,
The Asiatic Society, Calcutta.
Friedman, R. M. 2001. The Politics of Excellence, behind the Nobel
Prize in Science, A W H Freeman Book, New York, USA.
Present author’s book Meghnad Saha: His life in Science and
Politics (to be published by Springer) has discussed this in details.
Naik, Pramod V. 2016. Meghnad Saha and His Contributions,
Current Science, 111 (1) p. 217-218
*******
41083 Pramod V. Naik, Meghnad saha: A physicist parliamentarian