The Indian Political Science Association (IPSA) is the highest, the oldest and the largest academic and professional body of teachers and scholars of Political Science and Public Administration in India. This is the national association and non-profit registered organization. The aims and intellectual traditions of IPSA are- Advancement of Political Science; Scientific Study of Politics; Dissemination of Knowledge, and Rigorous Political Enquiry.
The Indian Political Science Association was established in December 1938 on the advice and invitation of Bharat Ratna Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya at Varanasi. Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant, the then Premier of United Province (presently Uttar Pradesh), was invited to preside over the inauguration of IPSA. The need to start an association had been felt for a long time and it was in May 1938 that it was actually decided. A circular was issued of the end of August 1938, inviting cooperation of scholars of Political Science for this auspicious journey. The first conference was held on 22-24 December 1938 with the singing of Vande Mataram song. Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, the Vice Chancellor, BHU welcomed the delegates and spoke briefly of the pressing political issues facing the country. Dr. A.S. Altekar took the delegates to Sarnath for excursion. Dr. P.N. Banerjee of Calcutta was elected as President and Sri Gurumukh Nihal Singh of Banaras was elected as Secretary and Treasurer. Dr. Beni Prasad of Allahabad and Dr. V.S. Ram of Lucknow became Vice Presidents.
In September 1939, the IPSA started publication of a quarterly journal entitled The Indian Journal of Political Science (IJPS). IJPS is continuing to be an academic platform and intellectual voice of the community of Political Science for last 84 years. In 2009, the IPSA started publication of a bi-annual journal in Hindi entitled Bhartiya Rajniti Vijnan Shodh Patrika. Prof. Sanjeev Kumar Sharma became its first Editor. The journal is being published regularly.
In its history of 85 years, IPSA has organised Annual Political Science Conferences regularly. Renowned political scientists of the country from all regions and institutions have held positions in IPSA Executive Committee and the Editorial Board. These include scholars like PN Bannerjee, Beni Prasad, VS Ram, Gurmukh Nihal Singh, Edy Asirvatham, JN Khosla, BM Sharma, M. Venkatarangaiya, SV Puntambekar, DK Garde, H.K. Sherwani, KNV Sastri, GD Sondhi, DN Banarjee, SV Kogekar, KP Mukerji, R Bhaskaran, Appadorai, AK Ghosal, MV Krishna Rao, A Awasthi, DN Pathak, JP Suda, AJ Dastur, VP Varma, SAH Haqqi, LP Sinha, MM Puri, Nirmal Bose, SP Varma, Chetkar Jha, Frank Thakurdas, SC Dash, RN Trivedi, Haridwar Rai, Rasheeduddin Khan, CP Bhambari, LS Rathore, KBY Thotappa, RS Gautam, AP Padhi, Raghuveer Singh, RB Jain, K Madhusudan Reddy, R Thandavan, CV Raghavulu, JR Siwach, JK Baral, KP Singh, Janardan Pandey, Hoshiar Singh, Daleep Singh, CP Barthwal, VT Patil, Harihara Das, JK Mahapatra, Cyriac Thomas, G. Gopakumar, Madhukar Shyam Chaturvedi, AS Narang, APS Chauhan, SS Tiwana, SK Chaturvedi, G. Gopal Reddy, JK Mishra, Muzaffar Assadi, RS Yadav, Sushma Yadav, R. Balasubramanian, BC Chaudhary, Jose George, Kaushal Kishor Mishra, K Jayaprasad, Madhurendra Kumar, P Madurai Veeran, RS Yadav, Manas Chakrabarty, G. Ram Reddy, Geetanjali Das, A Thanikodi, I Ramabrahman, Shantishree Pandit, Manoj Dixit and many more.
IPSA has held events throughout the country from Lahore (1940) to Trivandrum (1948), from Bombay (1941) to Calcutta (1950), from Waltair (1957) to Ahmedabad (1966). IPSA Conferences have been held more than once at Chennai (4), Mysore (3), Jaipur (3), Calcutta (3), Meerut (3), Lucknow (2), Hyderabad (3), Jodhpur (2), Agra (2), Aligarh (2), Poona (2), Ujjain (2).
The IPSA invites you to become the member of the association and actively participate in its activities.