Abhijit Sen

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This article is about the economist. For the physicist, see Abhijit Sen (physicist).

Abhijit Sen
Sen in 2009
Born(1950-11-18)18 November 1950
Jamshedpur, Bihar, India
Died29 August 2022(2022-08-29) (aged 71)
New Delhi, India
Occupations
  • Professor
  • economist
SpouseJayati Ghosh
Academic background
Alma mater
ThesisThe Agrarian Constraint to Economic Development: The Case of India
Doctoral advisorSuzy Paine

Abhijit Sen (18 November 1950 – 29 August 2022) was an Indian economist who focused on studying

public distribution system
. Sen was a recipient of the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian honor, in 2010.

Early life

Sen was born on 18 November 1950[1][2] into a Bengali Baidya family in Jamshedpur, in the present-day Indian state of Jharkhand. His father Samar Sen was an economist with the World Bank. The family moved to New Delhi, where Sen studied at Sardar Patel Vidyalaya and later at St. Stephen's College where he studied for a physics honours degree.[3][1] He later went to the University of Cambridge and obtained a PhD in economics in 1981 as a member of Trinity Hall, with a thesis titled "The agrarian constraint to economic development: the case of India" written under the supervision of Suzy Paine.[1]

Career

Sen started his career teaching at many of the universities in the UK, including those at

Oxford University, University of Cambridge, and the University of Essex, before returning to New Delhi to teach at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). In 1985, he moved to the university's Center for Economic Studies and Planning.[1]

Public policy

Sen was appointed by the United Front government in 1997 to lead the Commission on Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP). The commission studied the cost structures of various agricultural products and was tasked with setting the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for farm produce. Sen was also the chairman of a number of official Commissions, including the High Level Committee on Long Term Grain Policy, Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, the Tenth Plan Subgroup on Agricultural Economics and Rural Development.[4] Sen's work computed MSP based on not only direct costs of producing the grains, but also included indirect costs like unpaid family labor, opportunity costs from rent and interest lost on owned land, as well as capital asset costs. This recommendation was captured in the eventual 'Swaminathan Formula' that was adopted to compute the MSP costs which pegged MSP at 50% higher than direct production costs.[5]

Sen was first appointed to the

poverty lines as determinants of grains and instead had the central government fix the uniform prices of rice, wheat and other grains. This was the basis for the then central government's disbursal of wheat and rice at ₹2 and ₹3 per kilogram, respectively.[5] As an advocate of the universal PDS system, Sen maintained that the cost of food subsidies was overstated and that a country like India could afford both a universal PDS system providing food grains at an affordable rate to its population, while also providing a minimum support price to its farmers.[5]

Sen also was adviser and consultant with international organisations, such as the United Nations' Development Programme, Food and Agriculture Organization and World Institute for Development Economics Research, International Labour Organization, OECD Development Centre, International Fund for Agricultural Development, and the Asian Development Bank.[4][6]

Sen received the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian award, for public service in 2010.[7]

Personal life

Sen was married to economist Jayati Ghosh whom he met at the JNU. The couple had a daughter, a journalist with The Wire.[7][8]

Sen had a heart attack and died in New Delhi on 29 August 2022,[2] at the age of 71.[7]

Select published works

References

  1. ^ a b c d Nandy, Chandan (30 August 2022). "Saluting Abhijit Sen, one of India's greatest experts on rural economy". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  2. ^ a b c "Economist And Former Planning Commission Member Abhijit Sen Passes Away". Outlook India. 30 August 2022. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  3. ^ Bhattacharya, A. K. (19 July 2011). "Dinner with BS: Abhijit Sen". Business Standard India.
  4. ^ a b c "Planning Commission, Government of India". Archived from the original on 20 January 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
  5. ^ a b c "Abhijit Sen – An Advocate Of MSP, Public Distribution System". Outlook India. 30 August 2022. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  6. ^ Mukherjee, Sanjeeb (30 August 2022). "Noted agricultural economist, former CACP chief Abhijit Sen passes away". Business Standard India. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  7. ^ a b c "Economist Abhijit Sen, advocate of public distribution system, is no more". mint. 30 August 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  8. ^ Damodaran, Harish (30 August 2022). "Abhijit Sen, one of India's leading agriculture economists and distinguished academics, passes away". The Indian Express. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
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