India post issued a commemorative Postage stamp on Thangal Kunju Musaliyar on 26-10-2001. He was a pioneer in this field who build up a vast business empire through impeccable planning and the systematic implementation of more efficient production and transportation methods,while at the peak of his business career, Musaliar formed the TKM Educational Trust to cater for the educational needs of the people of Kerala.
History
The town of Kollam at the time was an undeveloped area. Cashew processing and trading was the only economic activity and an Englishman owned this business. No natives had till then had ventured into the business. Musaliar found it as field with great potential in Travancore which was blessed with cashew trees. He began purchasing raw cashew from small scale farmers, processed it and supplied the kernals to the industrialists. Very soon an independent factory of his own came up, which was the first full fledged cashew factory in Kerala. During the second world war the ships carrying cashew were denied insurance protection and naturally the industrialists refrained from exporting their goods. Musaliar took risk and reaped good profits. It was of course a turning point in his industrial career.
He owned 26 factories and gave employment to 25000 people. The American magazine Fortune mentioned the name of Musaliar as the only individual (not in the form of a company) in the world, who employed so many labourers under his own factories. He also owned a tile factory, sawmills, tin factory, workshops and Tug and Barge service. Cashew industry was no doubt, his main concern.
Propagation of knowledge was yet another passion for Musaliyar. He set up a publishing house namely, “Vignana poshini” which was also a publishing house for books of eminent writers like Vaikom Muhamed Basheer. When he started a news paper Prabhatham, (Dawn) it was a new step in the history of Malayalam press. Musaliyar gave complete freedom to his editors to formulate its editorial policy. Eminent person like late A A Rahim, the former central and state minister and later T A Majeed who became a minister in the Government. of Kerala were early associated with the Prabhatham. As it means literally, it stood for the dawn of an independent journalism.
Stamp Issue Date : 26/10/2001
Postage Stamp Denomination : 4.00
Postal Stamp Name : THANGAL KUNJU MUSALIAR
Stamp Currency : R
Stamp Type : COMMEMORATIVE
Stamp Language : English
Stamp Overall Size : 2.90 X 3.91 cms
Postal Stamp Print Size : 2.54 X 3.5 cms.
Number of Stamps Per Sheet : 40
Stamp Perforations : 13 x 13
Postal Stamp Shape : Vertical
Postage Stamp Paper : Imported un w/m stamp paper
Indian Stamp Process : Photo Offset
Number of stamps printed : 0.4 million
Stamp Printed At : Eagle Press Private Ltd
Indian Stamp’s Color : Multicolour
