Veteran economist K N Raj dead
Veteran economist and teacher Dr K N Raj, who was closely associated with India’s development process for about half-a-century, died at a private hospital here on Wednesday of old-age-related health problems. He was 85.
Kakkadan Nandanath Raj shot to fame soon after Independence, when at the young age of 26 and fresh from the London School of Economics, he was asked by Pandit Nehru to join the Planning Commission as an economist. He played a significant role in preparing the country’s First Five Year Plan.
Raj was economic adviser to Prime Ministers from Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and P V Narasimha Rao. He was also vice-chancellor of Delhi University and was instrumental in setting up the Delhi School of Economics. Raj also had a brief stint as a journalist for an English daily in Colombo, during which time he covered the aftermath of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination in Sri Lanka.
In 1971, C Achutha Menon, the then chief minister of Kerala, asked Raj to set up an academic research institution. Raj took up the challenge and with Rs 30 lakh from the state government laid the foundation for the Centre for Development Studies (CDS), an institution which acquired an international reputation for applied economics and social science research.
The work that Raj and his colleagues did for the UN in the early days of the CDS helped shape what later came to be called the “Kerala model of development” — the co-existence of low per capita income and very high physical quality of life indicators. Raj was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in April 2000.
Raj was ailing for some time. His wife Sarasamma passed away in 2002. He is survived by sons Gopal and Dinesh. His last rites will be conducted here on Thursday with full state honours.
