Mr. K. M. Bashir was born on 10th August 1925 in Paravur, a village in Kollam District, Kerala, India.

He had a distinguished educational career. He took M.Sc. degree in Mathematics and Statistics from Travancore University in 1947. He did post graduate research in agricultural statistics in Indian Council for Agricultural Research (I C A R) in 1951-52. Helater studied at George Washington University,U. S. A. (1962-63) and underwent advanced trainingin the U. S. Bureau of Labour Statistics and the IBMSchool.

He belonged to the Indian Statistical Service and occupied several responsible positions with the Government of India. He was the member Secretary of the Expert Committee on Cost of Living till 1967. He served as the Advisor to the Indian delegation to the twelfth session of the UN Statistical Commission held in New York in 1962.

In 1967 Sri. Bashir left for Geneva to take up a senior appointment in the Bureau of Statistics of the International Labour Organisation. He was with the ILO for more than 18 years. During this period he was responsible for the development of international standards and recommendations for the statistical measurement of employment, unemployment, wages and salaries, hours of work, house hold income and expenditure, cost of living and informal sector statistics. Mr. Bashir was an internationally recognised expert on labour statistics and his services were utilised with advantage by many institutions and countries in different parts of the world. He has several publications to his credit in his professional field. An integrated system of wages statistics 'A Manual on methods' prepared by him was published by I LO in 1979. He retired as Chief in theBureau of Statistics of the ILO before returning to India in 1986. He has led several delegations and travelled extensively. In December 1986 he headed a multi-disciplinary mission of the ILO to SaudiArabia at the request of the Saudi Government.

He was one of the founder members of theKerala Statistical Institute and also functioned as its Executive Director for a period. He also served in the committees of several organisations. His simplicity, charming manners, generosity and dedication to work has won him a lasting place in the hearts of many.

Back to the home land, he was never inclined to lead an idyllic retired life. With a keen perception of the problems facing the society, a rare acumen for analysing the issues and an accumulated wealth of experience to rely on for solutions, he wished to actively contribute to the welfare of his fellow men. He integrated all his ideas in the formation of VMFT which he thought would also be a fitting memorial to another luminary of the century. He left this world abruptly. But his high ideals and undaunted spirit will lead the Institution he dreamed towards fulfillment of the goals he cherished.