Abhijit Sen (Economist) Age, Death, Wife, Children, Family, Biography & More

Some Lesser Known Facts About Abhijit Sen

• Abhijit Sen (1950-2022) was an Indian economist who served as a member of the Planning Commission of India from 2004 to 2014. He died on 29 August 2022 after suffering from a heart attack. ^[5]The Indian Express

• Before joining Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in 1985, Abhijit Sen worked as a professor and taught economics in renowned universities like Oxford, Sussex, Cambridge, and Essex.

• In 1985, Abhijit Sen joined Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) as a professor of economics, where he worked with other economists such as Krishna Bharadwaj, Prabhat Pattnaik, C.P. Chandrashekhar, Amit Bhaduri, and Jayati Ghosh to make JNU’s economics department as one of India’s finest.

• Apart from teaching economics, Abhijit Sen held several important government posts during the governance of different governments.

• In 1997, Abhijit Sen was appointed as chairman of the Commission of the Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) by the then-ruling United Front government. There, he authored several reports and remained the chairman of the commission till 2000.

• In July 2000, while serving as a chairman of the High-Level Committee of Experts on Long Term Grain Policy, Abhijit Sen submitted a report to the Indian government in which he made a few recommendations such as making the Commission of the Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) a statutory body, which would make the government legally bound to accept the recommendations made by it. The report also recommended that the government should increase the farmers’ Minimum Support Price (MSP) based on the “C2” cost of production formula. The formula includes consideration of the imputed costs related to family labour, imputed rent of owned land, and imputed interest on owned capital while calculating the MSP; however, this recommendation was countered by M S Swaminathan-headed National Commission on Farmers (NCF), which stated that the MSP for the farmers must be increased by at least 50 per cent more than the recommended “C2” rate. Later, Abhijit countered it by saying that M S Swaminathan’s recommendation should be applied only to the regions where crops are grown more efficiently.

• While serving as the chairman of the CACP, Abhijit Sen advised the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led Indian government to implement a uniform central pricing system for rice and wheat through a universal Public Distribution System (PDS).

• From 1999 to 2001. Abhijit Sen remained a member of the Expert Committee on Rural Credit, under the aegis of the National Bank For Agriculture And Rural Development (NABARD).

• From 2000 to 2001, Abhijit Sen became a member of the Prime Minister’s Task Force of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

• In 2004, Abhijit Sen became a member of the Planning Commission of India. He remained a member of the commission until it was dissolved in 2014 and replaced by the NITI Aayog by the Narendra Modi-led Indian government.
  

  The former Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh administering the oath to Abhijit Sen as a member of the Planning Commission of India

• From 2007 to 2008, Abhijit Sen was a part of the Expert Committee on the Impact of Commodity Futures Trading in India.

• In 2013, the UPA-led Indian government implemented Abhijit Sen’s Public Distribution System’s (PDS) recommendation through the 2013 National Food Security Act, which resulted in the government providing wheat at Rs 2 per kg and rice at Rs 3 per kg in the country.

• Throughout his career as an economist, Abhijit Sen has also acted as an advisor for international organisations such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), International Labour Organisation (ILO), the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), OECD Development Centre, the UN University World Institute of Development Research, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

• On 29 August 2022, Abhijit Sen passed away at his residence in New Delhi after suffering a heart attack at night while he was in his sleep. Talking about it, his brother said,
  

  After the heart attack, at around 11 pm or so, we immediately rushed him to the nearest hospital, but it was all over by the time we got him there in the hospital for a treatment.”

• Abhijit Sen has also been an executive member of the councils of several well-known Indian academic institutes like the Indian Institute of Technology (Delhi), the National Centre for Agricultural Policy, the University of Allahabad, and the University of Delhi.

• Abhijit Sen has also been a member of the State Planning Boards of West Bengal and Tripura.

• Apart from holding a PhD from Cambridge University, Abhijit Sen also holds an honorary doctorate, which was presented to him by the Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswa Vidyalaya, an agricultural university in West Bengal, for his contributions in the field of economics.

• Abhijit Sen has authored/co-authored more than thirty research papers related to agriculture, employment, economic reforms, and poverty.

• Abhijit Sen used to drink and smoke. ^[6]Business Standard