Dr Bibek Debroy, economist and chairman of Prime Minister Modi’s Economic Advisory Council, died on Friday. He was 69 years old.
In a statement issued by AIIMS Delhi, it was stated that he was suffering from an intestinal infection. He breathed his last around 7 a.m.
Debroy, a Padma Shri awardee, was a member of NITI Aayog. He wrote easy translations of all the Puranas in English for the new generation.
Dr. Debroy’s early education took place at the Ramakrishna Mission School in Narendrapur, Calcutta. After this, he completed his higher education from Presidency College, Calcutta, Delhi School of Economics and Trinity College, Cambridge.
The Prime Minister wrote about X- Debroy left an indelible mark on the Indian intellectual landscape
PM Modi posted on social media and wrote: Dr. Bibek Debroy ji was a brilliant scholar. He was well versed in economics, history, culture, politics, spirituality and other various fields. Through his works, he left an indelible mark on the Indian intellectual landscape. In addition to his contributions to public policy, he also enjoyed working on our ancient texts and making them accessible to young people.
Jairam Ramesh said – Debroy had special skills. Jairam Ramesh said that Bibek Debroy was an excellent economist. He has worked on various aspects of the Indian economy. He had special skills through which people could easily understand difficult economic issues through the articles and books he wrote.
Jairam Ramesh wrote that Debroy will be remembered as a true master of Sanskrit. His translations include 10 volumes of the Mahabharata, 3 volumes of the Ramayana and 3 volumes of the Bhagavata Purana. He also translated the Bhagavad Gita and Harivansh.
Jairam Ramesh said, “I have known Bibek Debroy for almost four decades. We talked about all sorts of topics. Recently, I sent him two books that I knew he would like. He will always be remembered.
Debroy’s academic career began in 1979
Debroy started his academic career at Presidency College, Calcutta from 1979 to 1984. He then joined the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune, where he worked until 1987. Then, from 1987 to 1993, he took the directorate of the Institute of Foreign Trade, Delhi. In 1993, Debroy became director of a project of the Ministry of Finance and the United Nations Development Program. This project focused on India’s legal reforms. He was its director until 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 of contemporary studies. , from 2005 to 2006, he worked at the Doctoral Chamber of Commerce and Industry, then at the Center for Political Research from 2007 to 2015.
There was controversy surrounding an article by Bibek Debroy who had written an article in the news website The Mint on August 14, 2023 regarding the amendment of the Constitution. On this subject, JDU declared that Debroy had written this article at the request of RSS.
Debroy had written in his article that our current Constitution is largely based on the Government of India Act, 1935. In 2002, a commission set up to examine the working of the Constitution submitted a report, but half-heartedly. We must start from first principles, as was the case during the debate in the Constituent Assembly.
Debroy further wrote in the article: What constitution does India need for the year 2047? Some amendments to the Constitution will not be enough. Now we need to go back to the drawing board and start from first principles. It is appropriate to discuss the current meaning of words like socialist, secular, democratic, justice, liberty and equality in the preamble of the Constitution. We must give the people, ourselves, a new constitution.