Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar

Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar

S.S. Bhatnagar | Courtesy: Arago.si.edu

Sir Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar is a well known Indian scientist owing to the national award instituted for science & technology in his name. However, few of us know that the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) was established way back in 1942, much before India’s independence! Born in 1894, Bhatnagar got his B.Sc degree from Punjab University in 1913. He did his first research work for his MSc degree on the subject of surface tension.

Bhatnagar spent 16 years in Punjab University as a professor of physical chemistry and Director of University Chemical Laboratories. During this time, he did considerable work in applied chemistry, solving industrial problems such as developing process for converting bagasse into cattle feed, using Indian gum to lowering the viscosity of the mud in oil drilling operations and studying applications of magneto chemistry.

During the British Raj, the government was reluctant to set up a separate department for scientific and industrial research in India. However, Sir Arcot Ramaswamy Mudaliar, the last Diwan of Mysore kingdom, insisted on setting up a board. Due to the efforts of Mudaliar and Bhatnagar, the CSIR was established as an autonomous body in 1942. Under Bhatnagar’s able leadership, CSIR set up 12 national laboratories such as the Central Food Processing Technological Institute, Mysore, the National Chemical Laboratory, Pune, the National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi, the National Metallurgical Laboratory, Jamshedpur, the Central Fuel Institute, Dhanbad. His association with Pandit Nehru enabled him to set up so many institutes, which was termed as the ‘Nehru-Bhatnagar Effect’ by Sir C.V. Raman!