M. S. Ramaiah

Mathikere Sampige Ramaiah (Kannada: ಎಂ. ಎಸ್. ರಾಮಯ್ಯ; 20 April 1922 – 25 December 1997) was an educationist, philanthropist, and industrialist, involved in infrastructure projects in India.

Mathikere Sampangi Ramaiah was born on 20 April 1922, in Madhugiri to Sampangappa and Narasamma.

He completed his primary education in Mathikere, which was then in the outskirts of Bangalore city and then moved on to agriculture due to paucity of funds.

Later he went to work for the Indian Railways for about two years.

As a contractor, he started off as a supplier of bricks for military camps in Bangalore during World War II. His immense success in the field of civil works was marked by the construction of some of the major projects in the state, such as the canals of the Ghataprabha Project, Talakalale Dam and the Dharma Project.

In 1956, he acquired Thainadu, then the oldest Kannada daily in Mysore State, and not only led for it to thrive, but he also started Gokula, a Kannada weekly, and Kailasa, a monthly.

These became a herald of a neo-tri-colour nationalist era and are considered as model publications even today.

The setting up of M. S. Ramaiah Charities Trust led to the assistance of impecunious and meritorious students to pursue a bright career.

This trust provides a scholarship of around 25 lakhs to exemplary and backward class students annually.

It also supports scholarships for candidates appearing for civil service exams such as the IAS and IPS.

Realising the importance of development in any society, Ramaiah was responsible for the construction of housing facilities for poor and middle-class families to live at reasonable and affordable prices.

Earlier a suburb, the locality has now turned into a modern downtown of a quarter million population.

In 1962, Ramaiah established the Gokula Education Foundation, which marked the beginning of the Ramaiah Institute of Technology (MSRIT, Bangalore).

In 1979, the M.S. Ramaiah Medical College was set up and as a requisite for medical education, the M.S. Ramaiah Teaching Hospital was founded.

With a vision of a multi-specialty center, the M.S. Ramaiah Institute of Nephro-urology, M.S. Ramaiah Institute of Oncology and M.S. Ramaiah Institute of Cardiology was set up; the founding of M.S. Ramaiah Medical Teaching Hospital in 1985 added on to his list of milestones.

Institutions founded by M.S. Ramaiah:

Ramaiah was a deeply religious man and left an indelible mark in all his activities as the President of Karnataka’s ancient shrine ‘Kaiwara.

In renovating the Ashram of Yogi Nareyana Yatindra, the space provided sanctity to a huge number of devotees along with the provision of free food everyday.

He organised for the giving away of alms at religious congregations, particularly Sadhu Sangama.

With M Vishweswariah as a role model, Ramaiah believed in industrialization and was its pioneer.

The industries he promoted include:

Being a multi-faceted personality with a political opinion, Ramaiah developed a deep interest in journalism.

Being the Chairman of the Reception Committee, he organised the Kannada Sahithya Sammelana at Kaiwara in 1990.

This hosted the perfect suburban setting for the neoteric and literary minds of Kannada literature to convene.