PROFESSOR K.N. Raj, the eminent Indian economist who passed away recently in Kerala, will be remembered, besides his seminal works in planning and development economics in the 1960s, for the creation of a network of academic and research institutes in India.

This network became a breeding ground for scores of internationally reputed economists, including a Nobel laureate, who now occupy prestigious academic posts in major western universities.

His impact on the economic profession in India, both in terms of debates on development strategies and his capacity to inspire students, colleagues and local as well as foreign policymakers, was profound and far-reaching. His contribution to economics covered a wide range of fields, from teaching and economic policy advice to institution-building and formulation of development strategies at the national and international level.

Glowing tributes to him for his contributions to Indian planning and development have already appeared in the press and more detailed assessments will surely be made by his Indian colleagues. This brief remembrance focuses on Dr Raj's global impact on the development discourse, particularly in Asia, with a personal note.

He expressed his concerns unambiguously, whether they be on policy or theoretical issues. Even in debates with colleagues he preferred candid disagreement to polite acquiescence. He openly disagreed with the views expressed by communist leader E.M.S. Namboodiripad in a debate on the politics and economics of intermediate regimes, despite the communist Kerala government's support for his institute.

After serving in the Planning Commission and assembling a star-studded faculty at the Delhi School of Economics, besides seeing out a brief and stormy stint as vice chancellor of Delhi University, Raj retreated to his home state of Kerala. There the communist government helped him build the Centre for Development Studies, which experimented with equitable growth strategies.

With the help of the United Nations, where he became a member of the first UN Committee for Development Planning in 1966, the CDS conducted a case study of selected issues with reference to Kerala. The results and recommendations of this study came to be known as the 'Kerala Model' of equitable growth which emphasised land reforms, poverty reduction, educational access and child welfare.

The Kerala Model brought a sea change in development thinking which was until then obsessed with achieving high GDP growth rates. Ideas of equitable growth, basic needs and poverty reduction started moving closer to centre stage, although the IFIs' infatuation with growth remained undiminished. However, two decades later, our own protagonist of 'growthmanship' Dr Mahbub ul Haq relented in his passion and turned towards the ideas implicit in the Kerala Model.

In collaboration with Raj's close colleague Amartya Sen, he persuaded the UNDP to carry out work on Human Development Indicators (HDIs) which started playing a larger role than GDP in the framing of development policies. Another decade down the road, the Millennium Development Goals, embracing many of the Kerala Model's features — with the notable omission of land reforms — became the new charter of development. Raj's seminal contribution to development policy thus had worldwide repercussions.

He had famous disagreements with the country's leaders, from Nehru to Narasimha Rao. Dr Raj criticised Nehru for his 'acquiescing role' in the overthrow of the first communist government in Kerala in 1959, right when it was implementing much-needed land reforms which Nehru had himself advocated. He also disagreed with Indira Gandhi when imports were hastily liberalised along with the rupee's devaluation under US and IMF pressure in 1966.

But the last straw was Indira Gandhi's emergency. It was during this time, in 1978, that Raj decided to go into exile by accepting an offer to head an ILO Asian regional team for employment promotion (ARTEP) in Bangkok. It was my good fortune to be picked by him as the first non-European member of the team (besides himself) while I was spending my sabbatical from Islamabad University working on a book at a Tokyo research institute.Dr Raj interviewed me at a small café outside the institute and offered me the job, assuring me that I could continue to work on my book. I never regretted joining ARTEP and the one year spent with Dr Raj was among the most productive and eventful periods of my professional life.

During his short stay at ARTEP — despite its best efforts ILO could not persuade him to stay longer than a year — he initiated two highly significant research projects. The first focused on labour absorption in Asian agriculture and showed that there were significant possibilities of labour absorption in many Asian economies. The second studied the export-led industrialisation experience in East Asia, which exposed the myth promoted by the IMF and the World Bank that the success of East Asian economies lay solely in their adoption of free-market policies. It is a pity that the programme later morphed into a routine UN programme.

Dr Raj visited Pakistan only once, when he came to Islamabad in August 1978 as head of ARTEP to inaugurate a seminar. He also came to Islamabad University to give a lecture on the Indian economy and talked about the then emerging problem of food surpluses in India amidst growing poverty. Dr Raj's other somewhat nebulous connection with Pakistan was that he occupied the first chair in Pakistan Economics at the Delhi School of Economics. Although it was partly an administrative contrivance, I am sure it also reflected his genuine interest in the Pakistani economy, an appeal which unfortunately could not be sustained.

Much earlier in 1969, Professor Raj had been instrumental in organising a conference on economic development in South Asia at Kandy, Sri Lanka. Until the slow melting of ice between Indian and Pakistani scholars a few years ago — although a heavy icebreaker is needed even now if they wish to clear the path to meeting each other — their rendezvous were limited to international fora or academic seminars in third countries.

The Kandy initiative provided a grand opportunity to exchange development experiences in South Asian countries. With conditions now slowly improving, it is perhaps time to have another such meeting in India or Pakistan in memory of Dr Raj and his contribution to development policy in the region.

smnaseem@gmail.com