Kumarappa reflected Gandhi’s economic policies like a mirror: Judge

Hailing yesteryear economist J.C. Kumarappa as one who reflected Mahatma Gandhi’s economic policies like a mirror, Madras High Court judge V. Ramasubramanian on Saturday said that failure to follow those policies is the reason for the ills plaguing the society at present.

“Kumarappa confronted neo-economists who argued in favour of mechanisation. He was against producing more than required and forcing it on consumers. He opposed the idea of replacing bulls with tractors and argued that machines could neither produce milk nor provide dung,” the judge said.

Mr. Justice Ramasubramanian was addressing a gathering at Gandhi Museum here after releasing a Tamil book penned by M.P. Gurusamy on the thoughts of Kumarappa. The first copy of the book was received by P. Devendra Boopathy, Joint Commissioner, Commercial Taxes Department.

Stating that it would be difficult for people to read all the literary works of Kumarappa and understand his views on moral values, social standards and spiritual appraisal, the judge said the author of the book, released by him, had done an extraordinary job by compiling them together in a concise form.

K.M. Natarajan, president, Tamil Nadu Gandhi Memorial Fund; M. Padhamuthu, president, Sarvodaya Ilakkiya Pannai; J. John Peter, president, Tamil Nadu Sarvodaya Sangam and T.R. Dinakaran, president of Gandhi Museum also spoke.