He was bestowed with Padma Vibhushan in 1968 in recognisation of his immense contributions. Professor Mahalanobis’s technical contributions in the field of theoretical and applied statistics were no less. These include, the famous Mahalanobis D2 (D-square) – a multivariate distance function for classification of populations – and the methodology for design of large scale sample surveys.
Commenting on his contributions to sampling techniques, Harold Hotelling wrote, “No technique of random sample has, so far as I can find, been developed in the United States or elsewhere, which can compare in accuracy with that described by Professor Mahalanobis”. Of course, his contribution to public policy, particularly the Second Five-Year Plan of industry-led growth, is well known.