Metro People: Former IIM-B professor’s writes on caste

Professor R Vaidyanathan launched his third book ‘Caste as Social Capital’ on March 29 at The Indian Institute of World Culture, Basavanagudi.

He is also the author of the books ‘India Uninc.’ and ‘Black Money and Tax Havens’.

Hailing from Chennai, Vaidyanathan has been settled in Bengaluru for about 30 years.

A well-known finance expert, he was a professor at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bengaluru.

Speaking to Metrolife, the professor shares the idea behind the book, “Caste is studied in a religious, social and political angle. So, I thought to work on how caste plays a role in the economic sphere, helping in finance, labour force etc.”

The idea for the book, he says, was conceived in 2003.

The professor is also planning to write another book on how the Indian economy is a feminine economy. But, he says that he is still thinking about it as the topic is time-consuming and that there are a lot of other projects he is involved in.

Currently, he is Cho S Ramaswamy Chair professor in public policy at Sastra University, Thanjavur. He is also a member of the National Security Advisory Board under National Security Council.