Laxmanrao Kashinath Kirloskar
A commemorative postage stamp on the Birth Centenary of Laxmanrao Kirloskar, an Indian businessman, founder of the Kirloskar Group :
Issued by India
Issued on Jun 20, 1969
Issued for : The Posts and Telegraphs Department joins hands with modern industrial India to pay its tribute to this great son of India, Shri Laxmanrao Kirloskar – pioneer, industrialist, patriot and social reformer.
Description of Design : The design of the Stamp is horizontal and depicts a portrait of late Shri Laxmanrao Kirloskar. A mechanised plough with the depiction of a hut and an ear of corn is shown at the right side.
Type : Stamp, Postal Used
Colour : Suede Grey
Denomination : 20 Paise
Overall Size : 3.91 X 2.90 cms.
Printing Size : 3.56 X 2.54 cms.
Perforation : 13 x 13
Watermark : Printed on unwatermarked paper
Number Printed : 35,00,000
Number per issue Sheet : 35
Printing Process : Photogravure
Designed and Printed at : India Security Press
Name : Laxmanrao Kashinath Kirloskar
Born on Jun 20, 1869 at Gurlahosur, Belgaum, Karnataka, India
Died on Sep 26, 1956
About :
- Kirloskar Industries are among the leading industrial enterprises in India. They have been responsible for transforming agricultural production in India through its products. Shri Laxmanrao Kirloskar the founder, was a pioneer with vision and zeal. He revolutionized Indian agriculture by introducing iron ploughs in place of the traditional wooden ploughs.
- Laxmanrao Kirloskar, founder of the Kirloskar Industries was born on 20th June, 1869, in a small village, Gurlahosur in Belgaum District (now in Mysore State). He started his life as a school teacher and later on, opened a cycle repair shop in Belgaum. But his ambition and mission could not be satisfied by a small workshop at Belgaum. He established a small unit in the former Aundh State for production of chaff-cutters and manufacture of iron ploughs. In the early days, Shri Kirloskar had to meet with opposition from farmers who believed that iron ploughs would poison the land and make it useless. Superstitious farmers were extremely hard to convince. Laxmanrao Kirloskar took two years to sell the first six iron ploughs.
- When the Municipality of Belgaum ordered Kirloskar to vacate their place, Laxmanrao Kirloskar could not find a suitable place for his workshop. But thanks to the timely help of the Ruler of Aundh who offered him a place and a loan of ten thousand rupees, he started his factory in an arid waste land by the side of a remote railway station, named Kundal Road. This factory later blossomed into the famous Kirloskar Industries and the station came to be called Kirloskarvadi.
- Shri Laxmanrao Kirloskar was not only an industrialist but also a great social reformer. When blind orthodoxy was rampant in rural areas, he advocated the removal of untouchability and banned untouchability in the township that he had established at Kirloskarvadi. He believed in social reform and trusted in the goodness of man. He employed ex-convicts as night watchmen. They so revered him that under his guidance, they changed their ways of life, gave up drinking and crime and lived a life useful to the community. Shri Laxmanrao was a patriot who loved his country and helped those who were engaged in the freedom struggle during the 1942 movement. So much so, that he was accused by the British Administration of hiding underground political workers; and more than once the Kirloskar factory was raided by the then Government.
- From humble beginnings in a little hut, Kirloskar Industries have developed into a mighty industrial complex. Now eleven Kirloskar companies and subsidiaries and associates spread over four States are producing several varieties of products. A subsidiary of the Kirloskar Oil Engines Ltd., Poona – F.H. Schule Gmbh, is in Hamburg, West Germany. Kirloskars’ employ 30,000 men and they play an important role in the development of rural India. Kirloskar engines and pumps irrigate thirsty fields; Kirloskar electric motors run factories and farms; Kirloskar machine tools feed big and small factories; in fact, Kirloskar have a wide range of products and compete successfully in the international market. They earn over a crore of rupees of foreign exchange for the country. Shri Laxmanrao Kirloskar, the founder of this dynamic organisation at the turn of the last century, now a major organisation working in the service of the nation, is no more with us. He passed away on the 26th September, 1956.
[…] Kirloskar story began in 1888 when Laxmanrao Kashinath Kirloskar set up a small bicycle repair shop at Belgaum. Laxmanrao and his brothers set up a model industrial […]