Dr Amartya Kumar Sen, a world-renowned economist and a Nobel laureate, was born on November 3, 1933, in Santiniketan, West Bengal, to Ashutosh Sen, Chairman of the West Bengal Public Service Commission, and Amita Sen. Rabindranath Tagore, who was a close family friend of the Sens, gave Amartya Sen his name, which means ‘not from this Earth’.
Indeed, Dr Amartya Sen’s contributions to welfare economics, social choice theory, social and economic justice, and economic theories of famines are indicative of his brilliant mind, which is definitely out of this world.
Dr Amartya Sen was intrigued by social inequality and social welfare from a young age, which propelled him to pursue B.A. in Economics from the University of Calcutta. His hard work and diligence paid off when he graduated with a First Class degree. Later, he proceeded to Trinity College, Cambridge, for further studies and graduated with a B.A., M.A., and a Ph.D. in Economics.
Even before the completion of his Ph.D., Dr Amartya Sen was given professorship and made founding Head of Department of Economics at Jadavpur University. In fact, Dr Amartya Sen remains the youngest person, at the age of 23, to be appointed a professor or head of department in India.
In 1981, Dr Amartya Sen published Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation, where he argued that famine is not a result of lack of food, but because of the inequalities present in the distribution of food. In this book, he presented his case very well, stating that the Bengal famine was a result of urban economic boom that increased the price of food, making it difficult for the poor and rural workers to afford food.
Likewise, he published many articles and books, throwing light on inequalities that exist in the Indian society and beyond. Dr Amartya Sen believes that governments can improve social and economic well-being of the citizens by putting in place proper regulations, as shown in some of his works.
For his remarkable contribution to the welfare of developing nations, in particular India, Dr Amartya Sen was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1998. One year later, the Indian government bestowed Bharat Ratna upon him.
In the last few decades, Dr Amartya Sen has received more than 90 honorary degrees from reputed universities around the world. Today, Dr Amartya Sen is a Professor of Economics and Philosophy at Harvard University and a member of the Advisory Board of Incentives for Global Health.
In the last four decades, Dr Amartya Sen’s books have been translated into more than thirty languages and distributed throughout the world. Given his wisdom, wealth of knowledge, and intelligence, Time Magazine listed Dr Amartya Sen as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2010.
Apart from appreciating Dr Amartya Sen’s contributions to our society, we ought to learn some lessons from his great man and incorporate them into our daily lives. Dr Amartya Sen became successful because he was determined to change the lives of the poor with his economic theories and concepts.
In his years of research, he identified problems faced by developing countries and provided apt solutions. This is the reason why he is highly respected in the society. Apart from rising high in career, one should gain the trust and respect of the people and this is possible if we put our education to good use for the benefit of the society.