Mahesh Neelkanth Buch was an Indian civil servant and

urban planner An urban planner (also known as town planner) is a professional who practices in the field of town planning, urban planning or city planning. An urban planner may focus on a specific area of practice and have a title such as city planner, town ...

, considered by many as the architect of modern Bhopal. The

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

honored him, in 2011, with

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

, the third highest civilian award, for his services to the nation.

Biography

Mahesh N. Buch was born on 5 October 1934, in

Sahiwal Sahiwal ( Punjabi and ur, ), formerly known as Montgomery, is a city in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the 21st largest city of Pakistan by population and the administrative capital of both Sahiwal District and Sahiwal Division. Sahiwal is appro ...

, pre-partition Punjab. He had his schooling in Lahore and later at Rajkumar College, Rajkot. He graduated in Economics from the St. Stephen's College,

Delhi University Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and is recognized as an Institute of Eminence (IoE) ...

in 1954 and moved to Pembroke College,

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

for his post graduate studies which he completed in 1956. In 1957, he joined the

Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. Considered the premier civil service of India, the IAS is one of the three arms of the All India Services along with the Indian ...

in the Madhya Pradesh cadre. During 1967–68, he served as the ''Parvin Fellow'' at the

Woodrow Wilson School The Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (formerly the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs) is a professional public policy school at Princeton University. The school provides an array of comprehensive course ...

of the

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

. In 2002, he was conferred the title

Doctor of Science Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...

(DSc) from the

Rajiv Gandhi Technical University Rajiv Gandhi Proudyogiki Vishwavidyalaya (RGPV), also known as State Technological University of Madhya Pradesh, is a state university situated in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. It is a multi-campus affiliating, research university offering di ...

. He held several important portfolios in his career such as Principal Secretary in Madhya Pradesh. Buch took voluntary retirement from the government service, as the Principal Secretary of the State Government, in 1984, and founded the

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

, the ''National Centre for Human Settlements and Environment'', Bhopal for which he served as the Chairman. Buch died on 6 June 2015 succumbing to a paralytic attack which followed cardiac problems. He was married to Nirmala, a government servant who worked as the adviser to the Chief Minister under the

Uma Bharati Uma Bharti (born 3 May 1959) is an Indian politician and former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh. She became involved with the Bharatiya Janata Party at a young age, unsuccessfully contesting her first parliamentary elections in 1984. In 1989, s ...

government and the couple had a son, Vineet. The family lived in Bhopal at the time of his death.

Positions held

M. N. Buch held several government positions of authority during his civil service such as the post of the District Collector, District Magistrate, Director, Government Secretary and the Commissioner of various departments such as Tribal Welfare, Housing, Forests and Town country planning. Some of the other positions are: * Vice Chairman - Delhi Development Authority * Director General of the National Institute of Urban Affairs * Vice-Chairman - National Commission on Urbanization * Chairman - Lutyens Bungalow Zone Committee of the Government of India * Chairman - Committee on the Heritage Zone of Mehrauli * Chairman - Empowered Committee for the New Vidhan Sabha building in Madhya Pradesh * Chairman - Board of Governors ABV – Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management, Gwalior * Dean - Centre for Governance and Political Studies * Chairman - National Centre for Human Settlements and Environment * Chairman - Atal Bihari Vajpayee Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management

Personal traits and legacy

Buch has been reported to be a straight-talking, no nonsense bureaucrat. He was credited with the initial efforts in the modernization of Bhopal. The organization he founded, the National Centre for Human Settlements and Environment, focusses on the sustainable development of settlements in a holistic manner.

Awards and recognitions

- 2011 * Man of Vision Award - the

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia. It was founded by Sunder Singh Ly ...

- 2003 * Aga Khan Award - 1998 * UNEP Award - 1995

Writings

M. N. Buch has written four books on urban planning. * * * * M. N. Buch has also been a writer of articles, which have been published in many leading publications; a few of the articles are: * Dr. M. N. Buch (Oct 2012)
"Is Verrier Elwin Still Relevant? –A Study of the Bhils of Jhabua"
''Vivekananda International Foundation.'' * * * * * *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Buch, M. N. 1934 births 2015 deaths Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in civil service Scientists from Bhopal Indian Administrative Service officers People from Sahiwal District Indian urban planners Writers from Bhopal 20th-century Indian non-fiction writers Indian social sciences writers 20th-century Indian architects