T. Karunakaran
Born(1946-12-26)26 December 1946
Kanyakumari District, India
Died12 March 2019(2019-03-12) (aged 72)
Mumbai, India
NationalityIndian
Known forRural Economic Zone
Children3
Academic background
EducationThiagarajar College of Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
Doctoral advisorPrem Saran Satsangi
Academic work
DisciplineElectrical Engineering, Rural Economic Development

Thirumalayaperumal Karunakaran (26 December 1946 – 12 March 2019) was an Indian engineer, academic, social organizer and reformer who worked on rural development problems in India and other countries. He proposed a model of decentralized development called the Rural Economic Zone as an alternative to the Special Economic Zone model of development.[1] He served as Vice-Chancellor of two Gandhian Rural Universities, and served as the director of the Mahatma Gandhi Institute for Rural Industrialization (MGIRI) and founded the Agrindus Institute in Wardha.[2]

Early life and education

Karunakaran was born in Poovenkudiyiruppu village of Kanyakumari District of pre-Independence India.[3] He received a Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical Engineering from Thiayagarajar College of Engineering in 1969. He studied Mathematical System Theory from the Department of Electrical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi where he obtained a PhD in 1975 under Prem Saran Satsangi.[4]

Career and work

Karunakaran served for 19 years in four IITs in different research and academic positions.[3]

From 1987 until 1997, Karunakaran was the Director of the Rural Technology Centre at Gandhigram Rural Institute (GRI), Tamil Nadu.[3] He was the Vice Chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi Chitrakoot Gramoday Vishwavidyalaya in Madhya Pradesh from 1997 to 2004, and returned to GRI in 2004 to serve as Vice Chancellor.[5]

He then became the Director of MGIRI in Wardha from 2008 until 2011. Under his leadership, MGIRI launched solar-powered charkhas to increase the volume and quality of yarn that a farming household could produce.[6] This project was adopted and scaled up by the government of India to provide employment to 100,000 individuals in 50 sectors.[7]

Karunakaran was then founder-director of the Agrindus Institute[8] until his death in 2019. Agrindus trained children, primarily of farmers who had committed suicide, to become entrepreneurs and bring industrial value-added activities to the farm.[9][8] Karunaran's work at Agrindus built on Gandhian ideas of socio-economic development, including the work-based education principle[10] known as Nai Talim,[11] and Gandhi's vision of self-reliant village-centered economies. Karunakaran developed the latter economic approach into the Rural Economic Zone concept,[12] an alternate model of development to the Special Economic Zone.

References

  1. ↑ Karunakaran, T. (2010). Rural Economic Zone: Economics as if people and planet mattered (PDF). Innovation & Industrial Models Series. Vol. 1. MGIRI Publications.
  2. ↑ Agrindus. http://missionsamriddhi.org/agrindus/
  3. 1 2 3 Bakshi, Rajni (1998). Bapu Kuti: Journeys in Rediscovery of Gandhi. India: Viking Press. ISBN 0140278389.
  4. ↑ Karunakaran, T. (June 1975). Systems connections and categories (PDF) (PhD). Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi.
  5. ↑ "The Gandhigram Rural Institute (Deemed to be University)". www.ruraluniv.ac.in. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  6. ↑ Shrivastav, Snehlata (31 May 2011). "Solar-powered charkha to revolutionize yarn quality". The Times of India, Nagpur News. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  7. ↑ "::KVIC ::SOLAR MISSION". www.kviconline.gov.in. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  8. 1 2 "Agrindus – Mission Samriddhi". Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  9. ↑ Fueladream. "Dr T Karunakaran's campaign to fund the education of children of farmer suicide victims. by Agrindus | Crowdfunding India". Dr T Karunakaran's campaign to fund the education of children of farmer suicide victims. by Agrindus | Crowdfunding India. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  10. ↑ T.Karunakaran, Regi Thomas (2011). Liberating Education for a knowledge society (PDF). Nai-Talim Samiti Publications, Sevagram.
  11. ↑ T., Karunakaran (2013). NAI TALIM: TOWARDS A WORKABLE MODEL (PDF). SARVO Publications.
  12. ↑ T., Karunakaran (2010). Rural Economic Zone: Economics as though people mattered (PDF). MGIRI publications.
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