Valedictory Address

Mr. Chairman and mends, it is indeed a great honour for me to be asked to deliver the valedictory address at the end of this national level workshop: I remember looking at the Gokhale Institute with a great deal of awe when I was an undergraduate student in the neighboring college in the early 50s. It was a well-known place with high reputation in academic and government circles. We were told how difficult it was to get entry into the Institute as a student or a faculty member. Those who got in must be really bright, we thought. Occasionally, we had a glimpse of young people who were engaged in Ph.D. research in the Institute including Professors N. Rath. N R Inamdar and M P Mangudkar. We used to listen to them with great respect, whenever they said something. Later on in the early 60's, when I was working on the Co-operative sugar factories in Maharashtra, I used to meet Professor D R Gadgil. This was one of his major interests. He was the chairman of the National Federation of the Co-operative Sugar Factories during those days.