J C Kumarappa -an intro to the lesser known Gandhian

J C Kumarappa

J C Kumarappa
A photo while he was in Gandhi Niketan near Madurai

Kumarappa - a short bio

Joseph Chelladurai Cornelius Born Jan 4, 1892 (Thanjavur, Tamilnadu) Died Jan 30, 1960 (Madurai, TamilNadu) Studied economics and CA in UK in 1919 Studied economics and business administration in USA (Syracuse and Columbia Universities) 1927 29 Met Gandhi in 1927 and was a Gandhian

 Worked as professor of economics in Gujarat Vidyapith Supported Gandhi's notion of village industries Rejected socialism's class war and force of implementation Rejected emphasis on material development and competition in free market economics Gandhi and Kumarappa envisioned an economy focused on satisfying human needs and challenges while rooting out socio-economic conflict, unemployment, poverty and deprivation.

 Helped found 'All India Village Industries Association in 1935 Supported small scale projects against large scale dams Supported organic manure against chemical fertilizers. One of the earliest environmentalists in India Wrote the book "Economy of Permanence" Went to prison several times during British rule because of his fiery writings in Young India

 Kumarappa was a close associate of Gandhiji and a firm believer in the theory that the village must be made the focus of economic planning. Aware of the dangers of unchecked industrialisation,

Kumarappa advocated that human beings should

collaborate with nature to meet their needs.

 Was convinced that making villages selfsufficient through small-scale industries was the key to the regeneration of national life. Advocated against the use of tractors in fields because of the overall losses and unemployment.

An illustration by Kumarappa
The lopsided nature of expenditure was illustrated by Kumarappa in a comparison. In 1925-26, America spent 48.8 % on Debts, Military and

Administrative expenditure whereas British India

spent a whopping 93.7 % of revenues on

the same, leaving practically nothing for public

works.

Work
For Kumarappa, work has two important components the creative element which makes for the development and happiness of the individual, and toil or drudgery. For Kumarappa, the strong have always attempted to divide work and allocate the heavy part to the worker and retain to themselves the higher and the

 Indeed, this violence at the individual level also operates at a much larger level and punctuates the rise and fall of entire civilisations: Greek, Roman etc.

Money
The bargaining power of a seller of perishables -

bananas or fish- is not on a par with that of the

buyer, the holder of imperishable gold. The growth of money exchange has smothered all conditions of equity and justice.

Books by Kumarappa (short list)

Economy of Permanence The Practice and Precepts of Jesus (1945) Christianity: Its Economy and Way of Life (1945). Cow in Economy Public finance and our poverty Clive to Keynes

Centers
KIGS - Kumarappa Institute of Gram Swaraj,
Jaipur www.kigs.org Institute, Jaipur

KNHPI - Kumarappa National Handmade Paper

 Source of information: Various websites in internet