• Born on May 13, 1924, in Thrissur District, Kerala to Shri. K N Gopalan and Smt. Karthiayini

Educational Background

  • St. Joseph’s Elementary School, Telllcherry (Kerala), June 1931 to October 1933
  • Little Flower High School, Salem (Tamil Nadu), June to September 1934
  • Madras Christian College High School, Madras (Tamil Narlu), October 1934 to 1939
  • Madras Christian College, Tambar (Tamil Nadu, India), June 1939 to April 1944.
  • London School of Economics (Cambridge, August 1944 to September 1945; London, October 1945 to May 1947)

Academic Degrees and Honours

  • B.A.(Honours), Madras University (1944)
  • M.A., Madras University (1945)
  • Ph.D (Eco.), London University (1947)
  • Corresponding Fellow, British Academy (elected, 1972)
  • Honorary Fellow, American Economic Association (elected, 1976)
  • Honorary Fellow, London School of Economics (elected, 1982)

Details of Professional Career

  • Assistant Editor, Ceylon Daily News, Associated Newspapers of Ceylon, Colombo, November 1947 to July 1948.
  • Research Officer, Balance of Payments Division, Department of Research, Reserve Bank of India, August 1948 to February 1950
  • Secretary to the Financial Representative of the Government of India in the United States and United Kingdom (February to March 1950)
  • Assistant Chief, Economic Division, Planning Commission, Government of India,April 1950 to September 1953.
  • Professor of Economics, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi (October 1953 to June 1973).
  • Visiting Professor, Department of Political Economy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, January to June 1958.
  • Visiting Fellow, Nuffield College, Oxford University (January to June 1960)
  • Vistting Lecturer, Economic Development Institute, World Bank (April 1967 to March 1968)
  • Vice Chancellor, University of Delhi (October 1969 to December 1970)
  • Member, International Labour Organisation Mission to Sri Lanka, April to May, 1971
  • National Fellow in Economics, University Grants Commission, (July 1971 to June 1973)
  • Honorary Fellow, Centre for Develop­m011t Studies, Trivandrum (April 1971 to June 1973)
  • Fellow, Centre for Development Studies, Trivandrum (July 1973 to May 1984)
  • Chief, Asian Regional Team for Employment, Inter­national Labour Organisation, January 1978 to January 1979
  • Consultant to Director General for Development and International Economic Cooperation, United Nations, New York, October 1983 to April 1984
  • Honorary Emeritus Fellow, Centre for Development Studies, Trivandrum, June 1984
  • Fellow in Economics, Indian Council of Social Science Research, November 1984

Membership of professional committees, panels, directorship of nationalised enterprises, etc.

  • Member, Economists’ Panel, Planning Commission (1955 to 1957)
  • Member, Expert Committee on Employment, International Labour Organisation (February to October 1960)
  • Chairman, Committee on Planning and Distribution of Steel, Ministry of Steel and Heavy Industries, Government of India (September 1962 to October 1963)
  • Member, Board of Directors, Hindustan Steel Ltd., 1964 to 1966
  • Member of the Group of Experts on International Monetary Issues and the Developing Countries, UNCTAD (October 1965)
  • Member of the Board of Governors, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex (1966 to 1970)
  • Member, Committee of Experts on Unemployment Estimates, Planning Commission (1968 to 1969)
  • Member, Cabinet Advisory Committee on Science and Technology, Government of India (1968 to 1970)
  • Chairman, Committee on Taxation of Agricultural Income and Wealth, appointed by the Ministry of Finance, Government of India (March to October 1972)
  • Member, Policy Advisory Group appointed by the U.N. Economic Commission for Asia and The Pacific (1974)
  • Member, U.N. Committee on Development Planning ( January 1969 to December 1977)
  • Member, Board of Directors, Steel Authority of India Ltd. .January to September 1975
  • Member, Central Board of Directors, Reserve Bank or India, 1979 to 1983
  • Chairman, Working Group on Savings appointed by the Dept. of Statistics, Ministry of Planning Govt of India (May 1981 to February 1982)
  • Member, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, Government of India (February 1983 to  February 1985)

Key factors

  • K N Raj joined the Reserve Bank of India in 1947 soon after finishing his PhD from the London School of Economics. He computed India’s Balance of Payment estimates for the first time for the Reserve Bank of India.
  • He was invited by the then Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to help draft India’s First Five-Year Plan (1950). Drafted sections of India’s first Five Year Plan, including the introductory chapter, when he was just 26 years old.
  • Joined Delhi University (1953), where he served as a Professor of Economics and later as Vice-Chancellor (from October 1969 to December 1970).
  • The Delhi School of Economics (DSE) founded by Prof.VKRV Rao reached its peak during Raj’s long stint as its director.
  • He participated in the ILO Meeting of Experts on the Employment Objectives of Economic Development in 1961.
  • In 1963, he was Chairman of the Committee on Steel Control, which made the path-breaking recommendation to de-control steel on the ground that the objectives of control were not being met.
  • Raj was also closely involved in setting up the Economic Weekly (which later became the EPW) founded by Sachin Chaudhuri. He became a trustee of the Sameeksha Trust (which publishes EPW) soon after it was set up in 1966, and remained on its board till his death in 2010.
  • He was appointed to the Committee of Experts on Unemployment Estimates, chaired by M L Dantwala and he contributed significantly to its influential report, published in 1970.
  • He was also a member of the famous ILO Mission to Ceylon in 1971 led by Dudley Seers.
  • After returning to Kerala in 1971, he established the Centre for Development Studies (CDS) in Thiruvananthapuram. The CDS gained international recognition for applied economics and social science research.
  • Raj’s work for the United Nations helped shape the “Kerala model of development,” which balanced low per capita income with high quality of life indicators like life expectancy and literacy rate.
  • In 1985, Raj, Laurie Baker, Achutha Menon and T R Chandra Dutt founded the COSTFORD, an organisation that gives technological assistance to people in alternative building technology.
  • He was honoured with the Financial Express Award for Economics in 1995.
  • He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 2000, the second-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna.
  • His wife Sarasamma passed away in 2002. His sons Gopal Raj (Journalist) and Dinesh Raj (late).
  • Prof. K N Raj passed away on 10 February 2010, in Thiruvananthapuram.