By IANS
Nagpur : Eminent Gandhian thinker and former member of planning commission R. K. Patil died at his residence here Friday evening. He was 99.
Highly respected among Gandhains and old civil servants all over the country, Dadasaheb Patil, as he was known, was chosen on May 15 for the 'Maharashtra Bhushan' award – the Maharashtra government's highest award.
Born in a wealthy family in Warora in Chandrapur district on Dec 13 1907, he graduated in science from Benaras Hindu University, obtained his degree in law from the Nagpur University and Bar at Law from Middle Temple, England before passing the Indian Civil Service (ICS) exam in 1931.
A Gandhian to the core, Dadasaheb defiantly wore khadi even as an ICS officer. He refused to unfurl Britain's Union Jack on his official bungalow and resigned his job in 1943 to join the Indian National Congress and the freedom struggle it was spearheading.
Elected to the then Central Provinces and Berar assembly, Dadasaheb became food and civil supplies minister and was made a member of the first planning commission of independent India.
Quitting active politics soon after his stint in the planning commission, he plunged into the Bhoodan movement launched by Acharya Vinoba Bhave, donating to the movement hundreds of acres of agricultural land and other properties he owned.
Associated with Gandhian institutions and rural reconstruction activities, Dadasaheb wrote extensively on the issues of national importance – cordial India-Pakistan relations, communal harmony and land reforms being close to his heart.