B.S. Bhargava, president, Centre for Community Organisation and Development, Thrissur, died in a private hospital in Bengaluru on Friday. He was 82.
Dr. Bhargava is known as the ‘Acharya of Decentralisation Studies’ among students, scholars and faculty of Political Science, Public Administration and Local Governance in India.
He started his academic career as a faculty in the Regional Institute of Technology, Jamshedpur, and worked there for about 13 years. In 1975, just after three years of the formation of ISEC, he was appointed as the Associate Professor in Development Administration Unit by VKRV Rao, the institute’s founder.
He guided a number of PhD scholars. Dr. Bhargava has nearly 100 published research works. He is the most cited researcher in the area of ‘Political Economy of Local Governance’ in India.
Dr. Bhargava was also the Chairperson, Board of Governors, Centre for Rural Management, Kottayam.
Dr. Bhargava received two awards for research in the area of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj – Panchayat Ratna and Shakuntala Sunderlal Puraskar. He is survived by his wife, son and daughter.
