Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics
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The Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (GIPE) in Pune, Maharashtra was conceived in 1930 by the late Shri R R Kale as a centre for research and higher learning in Economics. From those days it has evolved into a premiere institute for advanced study in economics boasting of faculty and alumni who have distinguished themselves nationally and internationally as academicians, policy makers and consultants. Although GIPE was primarily a research institute, it was recognized as an institution for higher learning in the field of economics, and it awarded MA and PhD degrees in Economics under recognition from the University of Bombay. With the establishment of the University of Poona in 1949, GIPE became a constituent recognized institution of the University of Poona. In 1962, recognizing its contribution to research in agricultural economics, the University Grants Commission (UGC) selected the Institute as a Centre of Advanced Study in Agricultural Economics. The scope was broadened two years later when the UGC declared GIPE as a Centre of Advanced Study in Economics. In 1993, keeping in view its professional standing and scope for further development, the Government of India declared GIPE as ‘Deemed University.’
The Institute is located in the premises of the Servants of India Society, established in 1905 by the great Indian nationalist leader Gopal Krishna Gokhale (1866-1915).
The Institute campus is a mélange of old and new buildings spread over a large and lush green area. It provides just the right sylvan, solitary and peaceful setting required for learning and researching. After having undergone a recent landscaping, the campus attracts many a visitors as well. The austere and majestic buildings radiate the old charm characteristic of the Pune city. Gokhale’s bungalow still stands in the precincts of the campus. A massive and graceful banyan tree adds to the charm of the place. This is said to be the tree under which Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Mahatma Gandhi (who regarded Gokhale as his political guru) used to muse over political issues in their times.
A few meters away from the Institute campus is the residential campus of the GIPE family. The residential campus, again, is set in the midst of lush greenery and gives the place a uniquely quaint contour, especially in the rains. The residential campus comprises faculty and staff houses, and hostels for girls and boys.
[edit] GIPE Library
The Dhananjayarao Gadgil Library was established in 1905 as a public library under the aegis of Servants of India Society with late Gopal Krishna Gokhale as one of its founding members. With the establishment of GIPE in 1930, the Library has started to act as the library of the Institute. Presently the Library is housed in a majestic four-storey building, which is a rare combination of colonial and modern architecture. Besides, some of the Library collections are also housed in a separate building inside the campus of the Institute.
The Library has one of the largest collections of social science documents in India. It has a large number of publications on Economics and all allied social science subjects and successfully caters to the needs of scholars, academicians, policy makers and other users working in social science subjects in India and abroad. Though attached to GIPE, the library extends membership to outsiders also and thereby performs the dual function of an academic and a public library as well.
The Library is a depository library of the publications of the United Nations and its agencies, the World Bank, the European Economic Community, the International Monetary Fund, and the Government of Canada. The Library possesses quite a large number of rare books published before the advent of twentieth century and which may not be available elsewhere. The oldest book in the Library dates back to 1680. Besides, there are quite a few hundred books which were published during the 18th and 19th centuries.
