Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany
The Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany commemorates the name of its reverend
founder, Professor Birbal Sahni, one of the great sons of modern India. In
September 1939 a committee of palaeobotanists working in India was formed,
with Professor Sahni as Convenor, to coordinate palaeobotanical researches
and to publish periodical reports. The first report entitled ‘Palaeobotany
in India’ appeared in 1940 and the last in 1953. On May 19, 1946 eight
members of the committee, who then happened to be working at Lucknow (K.N.
Kaul, R.N. Lakhanpal, B. Sahni, S.D. Saksena, R.V. Sitholey, K.R. Surange,
B.S. Trivedi and S. Venkatachary), signed a Memorandum of Association to form
a Palaeobotanical Society. A trust bearing that name was created on 3rd June,
under the Societies Registration Act (XXI of 1860), with a nucleus of private
funds and immovable property, a reference library and fossil collections dedicated
by Professor Birbal Sahni and Mrs. Savitri Sahni, to the promotion of original
research in palaeobotany. This trust was assigned the job for the foundation
of a Research Institute. By a resolution passed on 10th September 1946, the
Governing Body of the Society established an ‘Institute of Palaeobotany’
and appointed Professor Sahni as its first Director in an honorary capacity.
Pending the acquisition of permanent place the work of the Institute was carried
out in the Department of Botany, Lucknow University, Lucknow. In September
1948, the Institute moved to its present campus received as a generous gift
of an estate comprising a large bungalow on 3.50 acres of land, from the Government
of the then United Provinces. Soon plans were made for erecting a building
for the Institute.
The Foundation Stone for the new building was laid on April 3, 1949 by the
Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Unfortunately after a week on 10th
April 1949 Prof. Sahni passed away leaving the responsibility to establish
the Institute to his wife Mrs. Savitri Sahni. Untiring efforts and zeal of
Mrs. Savitri Sahni led to the completion of the new building by the end of
1952. The Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru dedicated the building to
science on January 2, 1953, amidst a galaxy of scientists from India and abroad.
From December 1949 to January 1950, Prof. T.M. Harris of the University
of Reading, England, served as Advisor to the Institute. In May 1950 Dr. R.V.
Sitholey, Assistant Director was appointed as Officer-in-charge for carrying
out current duties of the Director under the supervision of the President
Mrs. Savitri Sahni. In 1951, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO) included the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany
in its Technical Assistance Programme, under which Professor O.A. Høeg
of the University of Oslo, Norway, served as its Director from October, 1951
to the beginning of August, 1953. A short time after Prof. Høeg’s
departure, Dr. K.R. Surange was made the Officer-in-charge, under the supervision
of the President, Governing Body of the Palaeobotanical Society. In October
1959 Mrs. Savitri Sahni, in addition to being the President of the Society,
also became the President of the Institute and incharge of administration,
and at the same time Dr. Surange was appointed as Director having charge of
academic and research activities. In the end of 1967 a stage came when it
was felt that the Palaeobotanical Society should function as a purely scientific
body and the Institute as a separate organization. In January 1968, Prof.
K.N. Kaul was elected as the President of the Society. A new constitution
was framed in the meantime, under which Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany
was registered as a separate body on July 9, 1969. Thus, the Palaeobotanical
Society in November, 1969, transferred and delivered the possession of Institute
to this new body whereby the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany came under
the management of a new Governing Body. Since then, the Institute functions
as an autonomous research organization and is funded by the Department of
Science and Technology, Government of India.
Aims
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Facilities
Fellowship
Programme