“I migrated to the USA in 1949 for higher studies,” mentions Dr Bassi who taught at the prestigious New York University and Kent State University. “I first came back to India in 1963 as a consultant to the Planning Commission of India. In fact, on behalf of the Ford Foundation, I also worked as senior economic advisor to the government of Saudi Arabia,” the elderly gentleman is crisp with details. He’s also the first Indian to have been appointed Provost of an American University (Alaska Pacific) until his retirement in 1999. “I took early retirement for this,” says Dr Bassi handing out a pamphlet of the Village Life Improvement Foundation, of which he’s the founder.

For the uninitiated, the Foundation works towards, what Dr Bassi calls, a “bottom up” process of development. “Today, I see village people being marginalised...the disparity between the poor and the rich is increasing at such rapid pace that we need to start at the grassroots level,” Dr Bassi explains the purpose of his Foundation. “I knew we had to do something and at the same time it had to be an integrated development project and in this regard Villagelife has been working closely with the Government of Punjab,” says Dr Bassi who kick-started the program from his ancestral village in Kharaudi in Hoshiarpur district. Today, it’s a model village, one that even had former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam pay a visit.