Amartya Sen, also called 'the Conscience of the profession', is a Nobel Prize winner widely known for his work in the field of economics. Sen was born in Santiniketan, 3 November 1933, West Bengal. Rabindranath Tagore gave Sen his name-which means 'immortal'. Sen studied at Rabindranath Tagore’s Visva-Bharati University School. He completed his graduation from Presidency College in Calcutta (now Kolkata).
He went on to study at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he completed his B.A. (1955), M.A. (1959), and Ph.D. (1959). After completing Ph. D, Sen was elected to a Prize Fellowship at Trinity College, which gave him four years of freedom to do anything he liked. He studied philosophy and that proved to be of immense help in his later research.
Teaching or carrying out research never occurred to Sen while he was studying in college. Yet all his life he has been primarily involved with teaching only. Between 1960 and 1961, Sen was a visiting Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was also a visiting Professor at UC-Berkeley and Cornell. He taught as Professor of Economics between 1963 and 1971 at the Delhi School of Economics, where he completed his magnum opus Collective Choice and Social Welfare. This is a period considered to be a Golden Period in the history of DSE.
As a nine-year-old boy, he witnessed the Bengal famine of 1943, in which a lot of people suffered. He was really moved at the unnecessary loss. Thus, in 1981, came his publication Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation, a book in which he argued that famine occurs not only from a lack of food' but from inequalities of different kinds.
In addition to his important work on the causes of famines, Sen's work in the field of development economics has had considerable influence in the formulation of the Human Development Report' published by the United Nations Development Programme.
Governments and international organizations handling food crises are largely influenced by Sen's work. His views encouraged policy makers to pay attention to not only alleviating immediate suffering but also to finding ways to replace the lost income of the poor. Sen devised methods of measuring poverty that yielded useful information for improving economic conditions for the poor.
Sen has been called "the Conscience of the profession" and "the Mother Teresa theory, of Economics" for his work on famine, human development theory, welfare economics, the underlying mechanisms of poverty, gender inequality, and political liberalism.
Jeffrey Sachs, director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University said, "Amartya Sen has helped give voice to the world's poor. And, that is no small matter, for the very lives of the world's poor may depend on having their voices heard…”
Sen is currently the Thomas W. Lamont University Professor and Professor of Economics and Philosophy at Harvard University. He is also known for being one of the strongest champions of rationalism, secularism, and egalitarianism in India. Among many awards and honors, Sen received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his work in welfare economics in 1998. And in 1999, he received the Bharat Ratna-the highest civilian award in India by the President of India.
Sen has written over 20 books including 'Argumentative India.' 'The Idea of Justice,' 'Collective Choice and Social Welfare', 'Inequality Reexamined,' and 'Identity and Violence', which are widely acknowledged.
Considering his duty towards society, Sen used his Noble Prize money for starting the Pratichi Trust which is committed to research for action in India and Bangladesh. Pratichi combats illiteracy, the lack of affordable basic healthcare, and the disadvantages from which women and young girls suffer. Currently, at 87, Sen is seen to be active in the reforms going on in India, especially in the political fields. With many achievements and honors to his name, Sen is a national treasure for India.
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