Former Planning Commission member Abhijit Sen passed away.
A former member of the Planning Commission and one of the country’s foremost experts on rural economy, Abhijit Sen, died on Monday night. He was 72 years old.
Dr Pronab Sen, his brother, said: “He suffered a heart attack around 11 PM. We rushed him to the hospital but it was over by the time we arrived.”is brother.
The former chair of the Commission of Agricultural Cost and Prices held several important government positions during a career spanning over four decades, including teaching at Oxford, Cambridge, and New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University.
While Manmohan Singh was prime minister, he served on the Planning Commission from 2004 to 2014.
As a result of his public service, he was awarded the Padma Bhusan in 2010.
In 2014, the NDA appointed Sen to head a task force to develop a “long-term grain policy”. Sen advocated a universal system for the distribution of rice and wheat.
A universal PDS and a fair price for farmers’ produce were both guaranteed by him. He argued that the burden of food subsidies on the exchequer was often exaggerated.
As well as UNDP, Asian Development Bank, Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the UN, International Fund for Agricultural Development and OECD Development Centre, Sen had worked for several global research and multilateral organizations.
The son of World Bank economist Samar Sen, Sen studied physics at New Delhi’s St. Stephen’s College before transferring to Cambridge University to pursue a doctorate in economics.
The COVID-19 pandemic aggravated Sen’s breathing problems, which he suffered from for years, said his brother, Pronab.
In addition to his wife, Jayati Ghosh – also a well-known economist – he is survived by his daughter, Jahnavi.