P. R. Brahmananda

Palahalli Ramaiya (P.R.) Brahmananda (27 September 1926 – 23 January 2003) was an Indian economist known best for his contributions to the field of monetary economics and Indian development policy.

After earning his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Mysore, he moved in 1946 to Mumbai to pursue a master's degree in Arts degree in economics from Mumbai University (then University of Bombay).

He joined the Department of Economics at Mumbai University as a research assistant to Professor CN Vakil in 1949.

Despite securing a high rank, he did not take up a career in the Indian Administrative Services (IAS).

Brahmananda, who joined the Mumbai University in 1949 as a research assistant, obtained his PhD in 1953 with his thesis "Studies in Economics of Welfare Maximisation" under the guidance of Prof D.T Lakdawala.

The book was later published by the Bombay University Press.

He became a lecturer in 1954, a reader in 1956, the RBI Endowment Reader in Monetary Economics in 1957, the RBI Endowment Professor in Monetary Economics in 1962 and was the Director of the Department of Economics in 1976 till he retired in 1986.

In his last year of association with Mumbai University, he was also a visiting professor at the Delhi School of Economics.

Post retirement, he was a UGC National Fellow and ICSSR National Fellow.

The wage goods model devised by Brahmananda and CN Vakil in 1956 is considered relevant to this day.

In late 1956, Brahmananda and CN Vakil published a book called "Planning for an Expanding Economy" criticising the focus on capital goods and heavy industries in the Second Five Year Plan.

DM Nachane called it  Brahmananda's ‘ lasting contribution to Indian Economics’.

Brahmananda and Vakil believed that this strategy was inequitable and in a capital scarce country like India this would lead to limited investment in other more crucial sectors.

It will also lead to inflation as demand for consumer goods would increase with increasing incomes.

So, as an alternative to the Mahalanobian strategy of the Second Five Year Plan, Brahmananda and Vakil devised the Wage Goods Model.

This strategy advocated giving highest priority to wage goods meaning goods and services that are commonly consumed like foodgrains, milk and milk products, fish, eggs, meat, salt, sugar, soaps, medicines, and also essential needs like basic education, healthcare facilities, and electricity.

Vakil and Brahmananda believed that prioritising these sectors would eliminate the demand and supply gap for these goods which would be essential to remove poverty, unemployment and disguised unemployment.

However, in a meeting of the Panel of Senior Economists, 20 of the 21, approved the Mahalanobian five-year plan and the government adopted it.

This strategy continued to influence the future five year plans.

In a later interview, Brahmananda said that their fierce criticism of the Second Five Year Plan led to him and Vakil being blocked out of all official meetings related to planning.

"Anyone who attacked the Mahalanobis model at that time was condemned as an anti-national or worse a CIA agent."

He is also believed to have influenced the anti-inflation policies announced in July 1974 when India was seeing inflation rates as high as 29%.

Through his career spanning more than five decades, he published 36 books and more than 700 papers and articles.

He was the president of the Diamond Jubilee Conference (1976) and the chairman of the Platinum Jubilee Committee(1993–94) of the Indian Economic Association.

He was a member of the panel of economists to the erstwhile Planning Commission and Finance Ministry and was an honorary economic advisor to the Government of Maharashtra after its formation.

He continued working there for 37 years till he retired in 1986 during which he held various positions within the university.

In 1996 he was awarded The Outstanding Economist award by the Financial Express.

In 2002 he was made the Honorary President of the International Economic Association.

Eminent economist Dilip M Nachane, in an obituary said that Brahmananda's was a versatile spirit which virtually ranged over all areas of economics with promiscuous abandon.

His contributions can be broadly classified into the following four areas:

He continued to be an Honorary Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Social and Economic Change (ISEC) and an Honorary Professor at the Indian Statistical Institute in Bengaluru till his death in 2003.

Through the course of his career, he has also held various prestigious positions.

I. G. Patel, the former chief economic advisor to the Government of India in 2004 said that few can rival Brahmananda in terms of sheer scholarship and deep understanding of the whole vista of economic knowledge.

Brahmananda was the eldest of the 4 children of former MLA and Kannada journalist PR Ramaiya and former deputy mayor of Bengaluru P R Jayalakshamma.

He was born in the erstwhile state of Mysore and grew up in Bengaluru along with his siblings and extended family.

The nationalistic politics of his father and uncles deeply influenced young Brahmananda as he poured over the biographies of prominent freedom fighters such as Mahatma Gandhi, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Jawaharlal Nehru.

He had his early education in Bengaluru at the Fort High School in Chamrajpet before moving to Mysore for his undergraduate education at Maharaja's College.

At Maharaja's College, he was an active student leader In addition to organising protests, sit-ins and lectures, he also played basketball and was keenly interested in cricket.

It was at Maharaja's College that he began developing an interest in economics.

His teachers at the college, including SL Rama Rao, Tirumalachar, MH Gopal and SLN Simha have been credited for creating a Brahmananda's desire to acquire more in-depth knowledge in economics and to creatively adapt theories for the Indian context.