Prof. Mohanakumar is a committed social scientist, a dedicated teacher and an environmental activist. He graduated in Economics from the University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram and took M.Phil in applied economics from the Centre for Development Studies (CDS), Thiruvananthapuram. His PhD thesis is an investigation of the class dynamics of rural wage formation for agricultural labours in India with special emphasis on Kerala. Prof. Mohanakumar started his career as a research investigator in the CDS, Thiruvananthapuram soon after his M. A. He worked as Scientist (Agricultural Economics Division) of the Rubber Research Institute of India, Kottayam (Rubber Board) for more than 16 years. He had worked as Associate Professor (Social Development) at the Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA, Thrissur, Kerala). Mohanakumar joined the Institute of Development Studies, Jaipur (IDSJ) in 2009 and worked as Professor and Director. He left IDSJ in August 2023 to join the PPRI. He has a post-graduation in Population Sciences from IIPS, Mumbai and undertook post-doctoral training at York University, Toronto, Canada. He was a recipient of the York Centre for Asian Research Fellowship by York University in 2013. Prof. Mohanakumar was designated as the National Expert on Indian Agriculture by the Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), Tokyo. He has closely worked with APO to produce the document on Smart Agriculture Transformation in India (SATI). During the first phase of People’s Plan Campaign in Kerala, he was actively involved in the movement as a state level key resource person and initiated several pioneering experiments in decentralised planning process at Pallichal and Vellanad Grama Panchayats in Thiruvananthapuram district, Kerala.

Prof. Mohanakumar has extensively worked on the political economy of agriculture development, labour-related issues, decentralised planning, rural development and dairying in India.   He has written extensively and published in academic journals and popular media. He has published books in English and Malayalam. Important courses taught are: Philosophy of Research Methodology, Political Economy of Development, Labour and Decentralisation, Plantation Crops and Natural Rubber, Regional Economies of Kerala and Rajasthan. He has supervised several PhD thesis.

Prof. Mohanakumar is visiting professor in IDSJ and Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam. He has a long research association with York University, Canada.

Tel(office) : +91-471-2491115
Mobile : +91- 918075543168
Email : director@ppri.org.in

mohanakumar.s@gmail.com