While India emerges as one of the major economies of the world, among the greatest challenges it faces is that the growth that is taking place is not based on economic justice, Vedagiri Shanmugasundaram, former Vice-Chancellor of Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, said on Wednesday.

In his acceptance speech at his centenary celebrations at D.G. Vaishnav College here, Prof. Shanmugasundaram said that India’s growth was primary based on economic strength and not economic justice.

“The strength should lead to justice and fairness, which is not happening,” he said.

He said that a recent phenomenon – an envy of the world but a matter of deep concern – was the rapid increase in the number of billionaires in India. “Their emergence is not to be despised, for after all, wealth creation is the basic purpose of Economics. But in the process of wealth creation, sometimes poverty on a large scale may happen. That process of wealth creation should be checked. For this, deep knowledge of economics is required,” Prof. Shanmugasundaram said.

The subject of Economics itself has undergone major changes, with the advent of macroeconomics, microeconomics, regional economics, and even national economics. “But economics as a discipline – the study of mankind in the ordinary business of life – is essentially the study of the ordinary man, not only the persons who are captains of industry, agriculture, and business,” he added.

He appealed to G. Viswanathan, Founder and Chancellor of Vellore Institute of Technology, to help develop certain types of research in economics, like economics of India, economics of Tamil Nadu, economics of districts of India, and economics of different classes of people, “so that our country will not be in the list of poor countries but in the list of rich countries of the world — rich countries of a new kind that share the wealth of creation with everybody.”

Dr. Viswanathan, who was also the chairperson of the centenary celebrations organising committee, said that Prof. Shanmugasundaram and his wife Yasodha Shanmugasundaram, former Vice-Chancellor of Mother Teresa Women’s University, were the only husband-wife duo known to him who have been Vice-Chancellors and are admired across the academic community.

The irony, he said, was the current scarcity of Vice-Chancellors in the State, as 17 of the 22 public universities in Tamil Nadu do not have Vice-Chancellors. “At the centenary celebrations of Prof. Shanmugasundaram, I request both the Central and State governments to put your issues aside for a moment, focus on the students, focus on their education,” he added.

‘Elder statesman’

C. Rangarajan, former Governor, Reserve Bank of India, described Prof. Shanmugasundaram as “the elder statesman of the profession of economics in Tamil Nadu”.

He classified his contribution to economics into three categories: as an economist and a teacher, as one who helped organise various organisations such as the Indian Economics Association, and as a contributor to policy-making in Tamil Nadu through his writings and his 15-year stint at the State Planning Commission. “With the expansion of specialisations of economics, the education system in Tamil Nadu should introduce appropriate changes in the school system so that teaching of mathematics becomes an integral part,” he added.

A biography of Prof. Shanmugasundaram authored by Prof. Yasodha was released on the occasion.

Among those who offered felicitations were K. Veeramani, President, Dravidar Kazhagam; Thamizhachi Thangapandian, DMK MP; Thol. Thirumavalavan, VCK MP; Vaiko, MDMK leader; R. Mutharasan, former State president of CPI; K.V. Thangkabalu, former Union Minister; Agri S.S. Krishnamurthy, MLA; A.D.N. Bajpai, former Vice-Chancellor and president of IEA, A. Kanagaraj, Chairman, Jaya Educational Trust; A.C. Shanmugam, Founder Chancellor, Dr. MGR Educational and Research Institute University; K. Chockalingam, former Vice-Chancellor, Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, S. Santhosh Baboo, Principal, DG Vaishnav College, and Dr. Yasodha Shanmugasundaram.