In 1978 he was appointed Director of the Madras Institute of Development Studies, a national centre for social science research, holding this position for ten year.
In 2013 the Division Bench of the Kerala High Court, consisting of Chief Justice Chellur and Justice Vinod Chandran, ordered the state government to submit a statement regarding the high-profile rape case against the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, P. J. Kurien.