The Trendsetter

Just a medical practitioner from Udupi, he transformed a barren piece of land to a sprawling medical university. Today, his group is one of the largest healthcare providers of India

Late Dr Tonse Madhava Ananth Pai (1898-1979) Founder, Manipal Group

Born on April 30, 1898 at Kallianpur of Udupi District of Karnataka, Dr Pai obtained Degree in Medicine and Surgery in 1925 from Madras Medical College.

Before an entrepreneur

In 1925, Dr Pai started his career as a medical practitioner in Udupi and Kadekar Village near Udupi in the then undivided Dakshina Kannada district till 1955. He had a small nursing home and he was also giving training to nurses. In 1955, he handed over his practice to Dr K Mohandas Pai, his brother's son-in-law who had just passed from Stanley Medical College. "He was a successful practitioner as he could fluently speak the local languages and could diagnose the prevalent diseases common to the district," informs his son Dr Ramdas Pai, who is now the Chairman of Manipal Group.

Why an entrepreneur

He was a self-made man who could understand the local problems and his desire to serve the people motivated him to find out ways and means to commensurate with the conditions prevailing in those days. His mother was the motivating factor to make him settle down in his native place to provide healthcare to the local people which made him drop his plan to go to Hong Kong for practice for which he had already purchased some equipment.

“He felt if we were to wait for the Government to develop the healthcare sector, we may have to wait for generations, denying the younger generation these facilities. He felt the private sector must step in to fill the gap. My father knew there was need to take up the challenges and took upon himself the role of an entrepreneur rallying around him community leaders who had a similar urge to serve the society," informs Dr Ramdas Pai.

The first move

In 1933, Dr Pai bought 107 acres of land on top of a rocky hill near Udupi. The place then called ‘Mannapalla’ in the local Tulu vernacular, meaning mud pond, became Manipal, the modern name for the region atop the hill.

Having his sway over the intelligentsia and the common folk, Dr TMA Pai suggested ways to surmount the community ills and problems. While the Government also responded to his requests for grant of land to carry on his educational and healthcare activities, he too donated his private land for the establishment of Kasturba Medical College.

Persuading the parents of students to bear the cost of their education, Dr Pai started the Kasturba Medical College on a self-financing basis in 1953.

Over the years

He realised that to provide full-fledged medical education in Manipal, a hospital with adequate facilities was a necessity. Therefore, he established the Kasturaba General Hospital in 1961. Now Manipal also has colleges in Pharmacy, Dental Science, Nursing, Hotel Administration, Management institutes and numerous other institutes which train students in specialised courses.

Awards

The Government of Mysore had honoured Dr Pai by conferring him the Public Service award in 1962. In 1965, the Government of India bestowed upon him the prestigious Padmashree. In 1974, Mysore University honored him with Doctor of Science (Honoris-Causa) and in 1979 he was honored with Vidyathirtha award by Gokarna Parthangali Mutt.

Overcoming hurdles

Hurdles came in the shape of Government lethargy and lack of support of the bureaucracy, but his capacity and determination to overcome the hurdles especially in the starting of Kasturba Medical College could earn for him the appreciation and support needed.

He was very keen to make Manipal campus a university seat and presented the case to both the State and Central Governments but due to the paucity of funds, the Central Government could not push through the proposal, though the visiting inspecting team recommended grant of a University status.

"He had written to the then Prime Minister Morarji Desai in August 1977 agreeing to hand over on behalf of the Academy of General Education the institutions lock, stock and barrel and without any compensation and with admissions to be made on merit with no limitations of territory, race or religion. The university became a reality 14 years after his death," informs Dr Ramdas Pai.

Mistakes made

"He had no regrets of making any mistake because he knew his efforts were aimed at making the community happy through the various projects he undertook which were in the right direction," says Dr Ramdas Pai.

Tips for entrepreneurship passed down by him

"I was in close contact with my father and he would explain to me the various projects and the means to make them work. He had confidence in my initiative to work up his schemes," says Dr Ramdas Pai.

The road ahead

When Dr Pai passed away in May 29, 1979, healthcare had become his dominant field of work and he desired to extend the healthcare facilities to a larger section of the society by opening up healthcare centres in places other than Manipal. "He was convinced that his aspirations will bear fruit with the energetic co-operation and initiative of his successors. I have been endeavouring to carry forward his vision of expansion of education and healthcare facilities," says Dr Ramdas Pai.

The Manipal campus was accorded a deemed to be university status by the Government of India in 1993, the long cherished desire of Dr TMA Pai. "The University's activities have gone beyond Indian shores and we have now branch campuses in Nepal, and Dubai and twinning programmes with institutions in Malaysia and Antigua besides tie-up ventures with many foreign universities. In India, we are running a medical college and an engineering college for the benefit of the students of the North-East region — a fine example of public-private partnership. The distance education programme conducted by this University has become very popular," says Dr Ramdas Pai.

The expansion plan of the group include the opening of a PIO/NRI University at Bangalore exclusively for the children of the 27 million people of Indian origin and NRI settled abroad — the first of its kind in India permitted by the Government of India. It will start functioning from next year with engineering and management disciplines in the first stage and later will include health science and other subjects. "We are also opening a branch campus in Rajasthan with the concurrence of the Rajasthan Government and similar branches in Gujarat are in the pipeline," says Dr Ramdas Pai.