Ashok Mitra
Encyclopedia
Early life and Education
After completing his graduation from the University of Dacca, he came to India following the partition of IndiaPartition of India
The Partition of India was the partition of British India on the basis of religious demographics that led to the creation of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India on 14 and 15...
in 1947. Although he attended postgraduate classes in economics at the University of Calcutta
University of Calcutta
The University of Calcutta is a public university located in the city of Kolkata , India, founded on 24 January 1857...
, he was refused admission there. He moved to Banaras Hindu University
Banaras Hindu University
Banaras Hindu University is a public university located in Varanasi, India and is one of the Central Universities of India. It is the largest residential university in Asia, with over 24,000 students in its campus. BHU was founded in 1916 by Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya under the Parliamentary...
where he earned an M.A. in economics. He joined the newly established Delhi School of Economics
Delhi School of Economics
Delhi School of Economics , commonly referred to as DSE or D School, is a centre of post graduate learning of the University of Delhi. The centre is situated in the university's North Campus in Maurice Nagar, and is surrounded by a host of other prestigious academic institutions of the country...
in the early 1950s. Later, he attend the Institute of Social Studies
Institute of Social Studies
The International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam in The Hague is a unique, independent and international graduate school in the social sciences...
in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. Under the guidance of Professor Jan Tinbergen of the University of Rotterdam
Hogeschool Rotterdam
- About :The Hogeschool Rotterdam is a University of Applied Sciences located in the city of Rotterdam, The Netherlands. It was created in 1988 by a large-scale merger of 19 higher education schools followed by a merger with the Hogeschool voor Economische Studies . It holds class at ten locations...
, he was awarded a doctorate in economics there in 1953.
Career
He taught as a Lecturer in Economics at the University of LucknowUniversity of Lucknow
The University of Lucknow is a university in the city of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is affiliated to University Grants Commission; Association of Commonwealth Universities ; Association of Indian Universities ; Distance Education Council...
for two years before proceeding to the Netherlands to complete his Ph.D. thesis. He taught at the UN Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East
United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
The Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific , located in Bangkok, Thailand, is the regional arm of the United Nations Secretariat for the Asian and Pacific region. It was established in 1947 to encourage economic cooperation among its member states...
in Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
before returning to Delhi in 1961. He joined the Economic Development Institute in Washington, DC, as a faculty of economics during the early 1960s. He also worked for the World Bank and then accepted the Professorship in Economics at the newly established Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta. He was the Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India, and then Chairman of the Agricultural Prices Commission of the Government of India.
He was the former Finance Minister
Finance minister
The finance minister is a cabinet position in a government.A minister of finance has many different jobs in a government. He or she helps form the government budget, stimulate the economy, and control finances...
of West Bengal
West Bengal
West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
from 1977-87. In the mid-1990s he became a Member of Rajya Sabha
Rajya Sabha
The Rajya Sabha or Council of States is the upper house of the Parliament of India. Rajya means "state," and Sabha means "assembly hall" in Sanskrit. Membership is limited to 250 members, 12 of whom are chosen by the President of India for their expertise in specific fields of art, literature,...
and was Chairman, Parliament's Standing Committee on Industry and Commerce.
Scholarship
He has authored the Calcutta Diary in Economic and Political WeeklyEconomic and Political Weekly
The Economic and Political Weekly is a left-leaning Indian magazine published from Mumbai by the Sameeksha Trust, a charitable trust. The magazine was first published in 1949 as the Economic Weekly and since 1966 was re-christened the Economic and Political Weekly. It was edited by Krishna Raj...
and "Terms of Trade and Class Relations". He contributes articles regularly to the Calcutta based national daily newspaper, The Telegraph. He has also written short stories in Bengali.
Views
As one of India's most respected and committed Marxist economists, he has always been an intrepid critic of authoritarianism. Never the one to accept the illegitimate show of power, he has famously criticised the policies of Prof.Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
V.K.R.V. Rao, when the latter was the Director of the Delhi School of Economics and Political Science
DSE
-Stock exchanges:* Dar-es-Salaam Stock Exchange* Dhaka Stock Exchange, the main Stock Exchange of Dhaka, Bangladesh* Damascus Securities Exchange, the main Stock Exchange of Damascus, Syria-Other:...
, and those of the former Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
of India, Mrs.
Mrs.
Mrs or Mrs. is a honorific used for women, usually for those who are married and who do not instead use another title, such as Dr, Lady, or Dame. In most Commonwealth countries, a full stop is not used with the title...
Indira Gandhi
Indira Gandhi
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists...
, and the former Chief Minister
Chief Minister
A Chief Minister is the elected head of government of a sub-national state, provinces of Sri Lanka, Pakistan, notably a state of India, a territory of Australia or a British Overseas Territory that has attained self-government...
of West Bengal, Sh. Jyoti Basu
Jyoti Basu
Jyoti Basu was an Indian politician belonging to the Communist Party of India from West Bengal, India. He served as the Chief Minister of West Bengal from 1977 to 2000, making him the longest-serving Chief Minister of any Indian state. Basu was a member of the CPI Politburo from the time of the...
. He is also known for his criticism of some of the policies of the Left Front government of which he was the first Finance Minister.