Dr. K.P. Agarwal (1930-2020), M.Com., LL.B., Ph.D., D.Litt., was the first person in Northern India to be awarded D.Litt. in Commerce faculty in 1960. He was selected by Union Public Service Commission for Class I Post of Reserve Bank of India in 1956 —which he did not opt. From 1957-59, he served as Secretary, Employer’s Association of Northern India, Kanpur. From 1969-73, he served as General Manager, The Swadeshi Cotton Mills Group of Industries (consisting of 6 cotton mills, 2 sugar mills and coal mines).
From 1973-83, he was the Managing Editor of The Pioneer Ltd., Lucknow and Chief Editor of The Pioneer and The Swatantra Bharat newspapers. He used to write signed articles and editorials in both the papers. He has the credit of turning around the loss-making, The Pioneer Ltd. (which was on the verge of being closed down in 1973) and making it a prosperous venture. From 1983-85, he was the Chief Coordination Manager of the Times of India group of Papers, New Delhi.
Dr. Agrawal was also Visiting Professor, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar in the Department of Commerce and Business Administration for many years. Considered a serious student of Guru Granth Sahibji, Quran and Bible as also Hindu Scriptures, he authored a widely acknowledged work on Guru Granth Sahibji. He also wrote a book Imanwale which was published in 2002.
Dr. Agrawal was honoured with many awards including that of ‘Bharti Tilak’ by Rang Bharti. The award was presented by Hon’ble Governor of U.P. Shri Ram Naik on 23-01-2018 in a public ceremony held at Malviya Hall, Lucknow University.
