EPW: A Unique Journal

The Economic & Political Weekly (EPW) occupies a unique place in the public sphere in India, providing informed debate on a diverse range of issues. It combines a scholarly analysis of issues along with commentaries and perspectives, not to speak of reporting on money matters, which might look strange at first, but over time has become a perfect amalgam for its readers the world over.

I am both an admirer and a beneficiary of EPW. I had no opportunity to know its remarkable founder Sachin Chaudhuri, whose portrait, with a cigarette between his lips, adorned the office shelf of K N Raj, the founder of the Centre for Deve­lopment Studies (CDS), Thiruvananthapuram and a close friend of Chaudhuri. It was almost like a daily reminder of the founding of EPW, having been a member of Raj’s team at the CDS. However, I did not know that Raj was a member of the Sameeksha Trust until Krishna Raj mentioned it to me during a conversation in the early 1980s.