Alumni

The list of alumni of the Economics Department reads like a veritable Who’s Who. Many of its alumni have achieved international renown in the academic world. Although Amartya Kumar Sen, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1998, is possibly the most well-known alumni, others like Bhabatosh Dutta, Sukhamoy Chakrabarty, Mihir Rakshit, Amiya Bagchi, Amit Bhaduri, Pranab Bardhan, Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee, Debraj Ray, Sugata Marjit and Maitreesh Ghatak, to name only a few, have become stalwarts in the academic field.

The Centre for Economic Studies also attracted many young economists who later rose to prominence in the academic world. Among the early fellows was the late Amaresh Bagchi, who later became Director of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, and Sir Partha Dasgupta, currently the Frank Ramsey Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Cambridge. Among other fellows of the Centre were Abhirup Sarkar, Susmita Rashitt, Asis Banerjee, Ramprasad Sengupta, Bibek Debroy and Pranab Kumar Basu.

Simultaneously, many ex-students of the Department have risen to prominence and hold leadership positions in the domain of policy making. Sukhamoy Chakrabarty was an important member of the Planning Commission during the 1970s, and subsequently prepared a review of monetary and credit policy in India in the late 1980s. Not many Departments can boast of having two Governors of Reserve Bank of India among its former students—Bimal Jalan and Nirmalchandra Sengupta. Prof. Mihir Rakshit was a member of the Board of Directors in Reserve Bank of India. Bhabatosh Datta was member of the Fourth Finance Commission and also served in The World Bank. Another alumnus, Isher Judge Ahluwalia, was Chairperson, Board of Trustees of the International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington D.C. and a Member of the Eminent Persons Group which prepared a report on the role of the Asian Development Bank. Among other illustrious alumni who have served the Government in various capacities are Ashok Lahiri (former Chief Economic Adviser, Government of India), Tarun Das (former Economic Adviser, Ministry of Finance and Adviser, Planning Commission), Ashim Dasgupta (Finance Minister, Government of West Bengal) and Amit Mitra (currently Finance Minister, Government of West Bengal).

Ex-students of the Economics department have also carved out important niches in the private sector and non-academic world. The names of Satyajit Ray (one of the world’s great film directors), Shahidullah Kaiser (novelist from Bangladesh, who became one of the early martyrs in the fight for independence) Pandit Partha Bose (Sitarist) and Srijit Mukherjee (rising Bengali film director) may be mentioned in this context.