Over three and a half decades ago, a man, then in his mid-thirties, challenged the convention and decided to change the way management education was taught in India. Despite various roadblocks, Dr. Chaudhuri walked the talk and went on to establish The Indian Institute of Planning and Management in New Delhi in 1973. With no aid from the government, no sprawling campus or an infrastructure to boast of, the man was driven by a passionate zeal and self-belief to offer the most intellectually stimulating management curriculum ever designed in India. His dream and his vision have given shape to a phenomenon called IIPM - which today stands tall across18 Indian cities and is regarded as the most globally networked  in the country, having academic engagements with National University of Singapore, University of Virginia, University of California at Berkeley, University of Texas at Austin, amongst others.

A PHILIOSOPHY FOR PROGRESS AND A VISION FOR DEVELOPMENT

Dr. M. K. Chaudhuri, the founder director of IIPM is known amongst his colleagues and thousands of inspired students for his iconoclastic development models – a pro poor agenda with a three pronged strategy to ensure overall economic growth – education for all, distribution of national income among the mass to increase purchasing power and improving quality of life by ensuring social security.

Born in a small city of Assam , an eastern state of India , Dr. Chaudhuri was always focused on education as a stepping stone for knowledge. Recalling the days while graduating from Presidency College in Calcutta ("We had a very visionary system of teaching"), the former IIM Bangalore & XLRI Jamshedpur professor also recommends that the reason for existence of every individual should be to support survival of the weakest, rather than survival of the fittest.

Before founding IIPM, he was Senior Fellow, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla. He also served as a Professor of Economics at XLRI, Jamshedpur and IIM, Bangalore. His research paper - Theory of Economic Justice - Production of skills by means of skills, deals with the measurement of contribution of each individual to the process of production and thereby seeks to answer the question of just reward for an individual’s contribution in the society.

He believes that integrating the concepts that emerge from IIPM's national economic planning research would create barefoot managers, committed to eradicating poverty. His second book, The Great Indian Dream, outlines a series of steps that the Government of India must undertake to allocate resources towards this end.

"Rather than attempting to ape China and equal its national income, India should own up to its deficiencies and try to now reach the economic levels of probably a country like Malaysia," says Dr. Chaudhuri,"Because I believe that with its present policies, India can never reach anywhere near China, even in the next 100 years..."

A MAN STEEPED IN ACADEMIA

Dr. Chaudhuri studied in Presidency College, Kolkata and in The Berlin School of Economics. He did his MSc in National Economic Planning and management. He was awarded 'excellent' and is a co-record holder. His Ph.D thesis was on the 'Role of Small-scale, Village and Cottage industries for solution of the Unemployment Problem in India'. His D.Sc thesis was on 'Reform plans of the International Monetary System'.

He worked in private sector organizations like Hindustan Lever, Kuljian Corporation and WS Atkins. He also worked in City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) - a public sector organization engaged in the development of Navi Mumbai.

THE SOCIAL VISION OF IIPM

Dr. Chaudhuri states: “Though Capitalism has contributed to tremendous growth of productivity, has enriched material life of man, has expanded scope of freedom, yet it has not meant abolition of war, poverty and perversion. Unbridled colonial exploitation and internal class conflict has sullied the ideas of equality, liberty and fraternity. Therefore, Capitalism is not made of colours one can dream of. Communism, as practised in so called Communist countries has lead to totalitarianism and loss of democratic rights, though the rate of growth of national economy in these countries have been much higher than Capitalism ever achieved. Rapid rise of Soviet Union in the past and recent unparallel growth rate of GDP in China amply demonstrates the inherent strength of planned national economic growth. Distributive justice in these countries also forced Capitalism to introduce welfare states. Historical experience therefore compels us to think of possibilities of combining higher growth rate with distributive justice while not sacrificing democratic rights of the people. Indeed, sustained high growth rate in GDP is not possible in the long run if distributive justice is not there.”

IIPM's Social Vision follows from the above mentioned historical evidence. IIPM wants to contribute to the creation of a movement, backed by proper education and research which will create a society where exploitation of man by man does not exist, where each individual has the scope to achieve his / her potential to the fullest extent. Distributive justice in this society will ultimately mean “to each according to his need” a transition from “to each according to his contribution”. In other words, universal humanism is the social vision of IIPM.

RESEARCH AND SOCIAL INITIATIVES

Dr. Chaudhuri is credited with formulating the concept of Life Style Parity that is different from the concept of Purchasing Power Parity and looks at how two individuals living in different countries need not purchase the same items to get an equal level of satisfaction. His endeavours in developing the rural belts of India have developed into the most famous and massive network of Aurobindo Smriti Manavata Vikas Kendra (earlier known as Manab Seba Kendra – Human Development Centres). With more than a hundred such centers running in various rural belts of India, Dr. Chaudhuri has provided a stepping stone to future promises as mentioned in his best selling book, The Great Indian Dream.

AWARDS INSTITUTED BY THE FOUNDING DIRECTOR

In order to cultivate an interest, love and appreciation for art, culture and literature, amongst the students at IIPM and the common mass, who these days have grown averse to such involvement, IIPM has made several contributions in these areas apart from other academic fields.