Economist and Chairman of Prime Minister Modi's Economic Advisory Council Bibek Debroy passed away on Friday. He was 69 years old.
A statement issued by AIIMS Delhi said he was suffering from an intestinal infection. He breathed his last at around 7 am.
Padma Shri awardee Shri Debroy has been a member of NITI Aayog. He wrote simplified English translations of all the Puranas for the new generation.
Dr. Debroy's early education was at the Ramakrishna Mission School in Narendrapur, Kolkata. After this he completed his higher education from Presidency College, Kolkata, Delhi School of Economics and Trinity College, Cambridge.
Prime Minister Modi expressed grief
Prime Minister Modi posted on social media and wrote – Dr. Bibek Debroy was a brilliant scholar. He was well versed in economics, history, culture, politics, spirituality and various other fields. Through his works he left an indelible mark on the intellectual landscape of India.
Jairam Ramesh said – Debroy had special skills Jairam Ramesh said that Bibek Debroy was an excellent economist. He worked on various aspects of Indian economy. He had a special skill that made it easy for people to understand difficult economic issues in the articles and books he wrote.
Jairam Ramesh has written that Debroy will be remembered as a true Sanskritist of great scholarship. His translations include 10 volumes of Mahabharata, 3 volumes of Ramayana and 3 volumes of Bhagavata Purana. He also translated Bhagavad Gita and Harivamsa.
Jairam Ramesh said that I knew Bibek Debroy for almost four decades. We used to talk about all kinds of topics. Recently, I sent him two books I knew he would like. He will always be remembered.
Debroy's academic career began in 1979
- Debroy began his academic career at Presidency College, Kolkata from 1979 to 1984. He then joined the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune, where he worked till 1987.
- After this, from 1987 to 1993, he held charge of the Foreign Trade Institute in Delhi. In 1993, Debroy became a project director of the Ministry of Finance and the United Nations Development Programme. The project focused on legal reforms in India. He was the director till 1998.
- From 1994 to 1995 he worked at the Institute of Economic Affairs, from 1995 to 1996 at the National Council of Applied Economic Research and from 1997 to 2005 at the Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies.
- After this, from 2005 to 2006, he held charge at the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, followed by the Center for Policy Research from 2007 to 2015.
There was a controversy over an article by Bibek Debroy Bibek Debroy wrote an article on constitutional change in the news website The Mint on 14 August 2023. On this JDU said that Debroy had written this article at the behest of RSS.
Debroy wrote in his article that our present constitution is largely based on the Government of India Act of 1935. In 2002, a commission set up to review the functioning of the constitution submitted a report, but it was an incomplete effort. As with the Constituent Assembly debate, we must first begin with principles
Debroy further wrote in the article – What constitution does India need for the year 2047? A few amendments to the constitution are not enough. Now we must go back to the drawing board and start with first principles. Now the preamble of the constitution should discuss what the words socialist, secular, democratic, justice, freedom and equality mean. We, the people, must give ourselves a new constitution.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
