21/05/2026
I met Prof. Amitabh Kundu last night at Hotel Taj Deccan, courtesy of my good friend Satya Bolisetty, a renowned environmentalist. Prof. Ramachandraiah garu, an activist and media analyst, was also present.
It was a pleasure talking to Prof. Kundu, though we are ideologically poles apart. He is deeply concerned about, and actively involved in, the upliftment of the downtrodden sections of the Muslim community, which he is 100% convinced is being targeted and hounded. I, on the other hand, am worried about the plight and future of the majority community of hapless Hindus, which I am equally convinced has been abandoned by political India and by all secularly correct Hindus.
Prof. Kundu is a Bengali. There is very little in common between him and me, except that we are of the same age and share a mutual admiration for the great Indian hero, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Surprisingly, we spent nearly three hours in a cordial and intellectually stimulating exchange of views. Having agreed to disagree, it was indeed a pleasure interacting with such a great academician and distinguished economist.
Prof. Amitabh Kundu is based in Delhi and occasionally visits Hyderabad as a Visiting Professor at Maulana Azad National Urdu University. He was a Distinguished Fellow at Research and Information System for Developing Countries. He also served as Regional Advisor on Poverty at United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia during 2017, and as a Consultant to the Government of Sri Lanka in 2016. Until January 2014, he was Professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University. Currently, he is the co-chair of two labour force surveys being conducted by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, and is advising the governments of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh on their statistical systems and urban development. He has also served as Chairperson of the Post-Sachar Evaluation Committee and the Diversity Index Committee set up by the Ministry of Minority Affairs.
