Renowned economist and Dalit thinker M Kunjaman found dead at home

Kunjaman’s life is a remarkable journey of a Dalit amid caste oppression and poverty in the initial period of post-independent India to a well-known academician.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, in his condolence, said, “Kunjaman has been an economist who had his own perspective towards the development of Kerala. His autobiography, Ethiru, was a true reflection of the realities of life. His death is a big loss to Kerala.”

A native of Vadanamkurissi in Palakkad, Kunjaman was born to the Dalit community of Panan. His parents were farm workers. He lived in abject poverty. Oppression remained a shadow throughout his journey.

Recalling his childhood days, Kunjaman had once narrated how he had to grapple with dogs for daily meals. He grew up eating the leftovers of the rich landlords. Kunjaman struggled all his way to higher education while elementary education was rare for peers in his community.

In 1974, he won the first rank in MA in Economics. He then became the second Dalit after late president K R Narayanan to bag first rank in post-graduation. But poverty continued to haunt the Dalit rank holder. He was forced to sell the gold medal, day after it was conferred to him, to buy provisions for his home.

After MA in Economics, he joined MPhil at the Centre for Development Studies (CDS) in Thiruvananthapuram and later went on to obtain doctorate in Economics from Cochin University of Science and Technology.

Even then, Kunjaman was initially denied the job of a teacher despite emerging as the top scorer in the merit list under the general quota. He was denied a job for being a Dalit. But well-wishers identified the brilliant academician in the Dalit youth, who began his career with the University of Kerala in 1979.

He served as a faculty at the Economics Department for 27 years. For a brief period, he had been a member of the UGC. In 2006, he quit the University of Kerala and joined as a Professor of Economics at TISS.

In 2021, his autobiography ‘Ethiru’ had been selected as the best autobiography by the Kerala Sahitya Academy. But Kunjaman refused to accept the honour.

In his autobiography, Kunjaman had depicted the Dalit life in Kerala. He had authored several studies on land reforms, reservation and the Dalit crisis. His major works include ‘Development of Tribal Economy, State Level Planning In India, Globalization: A Subaltern Perspective, Economic Development and Social changing’.

Kunjaman had been considered for several posts in the academic and planning arenas of Kerala but caste had apparently remained a major barrier.