Beyond economics, Dr. Bibek Debroy’s take on current events

Shri Bibek Debroy was celebrated for his extensive contributions to economic policy and research.

New Delhi:

“A being with a thousand heads, a thousand eyes, and a thousand legs” surrounds the entire universe, “yet there is still more of him left.” Dr Bibek Debroy’s supreme commentary in one of his nearly 50 books almost sums up the legacy he left behind and reminds us of what humans are capable of.

The Padma Shri awardee, described by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a “prominent scholar”, has held many positions – an economist, political commentator, writer, translator, teacher and a television anchor.

However, his latest collaboration was a cheeky commentary on current affairs in a series of short poems titled ‘Mint Metric’. On October 30, he wrote on the bizarre incident when schoolchildren barged into an excise office in Kerala and asked officials there to light their beedis filled with marijuana.

“Entering the excise office by mistake,

The school children of Kerala froze in terror.

He asked for light for ganja beedi,

But an excise office was hardly perfect

To justify their will.”

A man finding centipedes in food served at the IRCTC VIP lounge “must cause some chaos in the railways”, he wrote, while another poem commented on New Zealand imposing a three-minute limit on farewell hugs at airports. Went. Mr Debroy gave a bizarre twist to incidents ranging from a man running a fake court in Ahmedabad for five years, a Greek man breaking into his neighbour’s house and sniffing his shoes and a UK minister helping obese people lose weight. To the point of wanting to give an injection for. They got back to work.

in today’s mint metric @livemint
Hyderabad Food Safety Team
There are conclusions that will make you scream.
Nearby hotels and eateries,
Rats and cockroaches are in abundance,
Apparently a parasite’s dream.

– Bibek Debroy (@bibekdebroy) 21 October 2024

Mr Debroy, chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India, died on Friday at the age of 69, celebrated for his wide-ranging contributions to economic policy and research. The Bengali boy from Shillong, whose parents came from Bangladesh, studied at the Delhi School of Economics and Trinity College, Cambridge.

As a theoretical and empirical economist, his contributions span game theory, income inequality, poverty, legal reform, and railway policy. From 1993 to 1998, he served as Director of the UNDP Project on Legal Reforms in the Ministry of Finance and in 1994–95, he worked with the Department of Economic Affairs. Since its inception, Debroy was an integral part of NITI Aayog, the government’s primary think tank.

Shri Debroy chaired the Finance Ministry’s ‘Expert Committee for Infrastructure Taxonomy and Financing Framework for the AMRUT Era’, an initiative to lift India’s economic status over the next 25 years.

He also served as the Chairman of the High Powered Committee of the Ministry of Railways on Restructuring the Lifeline of the Country.

At the think tank Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies (RGICS), where he worked between 1997 and 2005, a report published under him during the tenure of then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh placed Gujarat at the top in an index measuring economic freedom. Had kept. Amidst the uneasiness in the Congress and the heated debate over the Gujarat model of development, Mr Debroy moved to the Punjab Haryana Delhi Chamber of Commerce after a two-year-long stint at the Center for Policy and Research since 2007.

His teaching career included stints at Presidency College, Kolkata (1979–83), Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune (1983–87), and the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, Delhi (1987–93).

His bibliography includes three books focusing on economics, one of them being ‘Getting India Back on Track: An Action Agenda for Reform’. It highlighted the importance of competition and participation as a counter to “India’s primitive nationalism” for the construction of an “authentically and undeniably Indian” multi-layered political identity.

Based on the themes of spirituality and mythology, Mr. Debroy’s collection of approximately 50 written books includes 43 translations of various Indian texts, mostly with the aim of keeping them accessible and relevant to the youth. He translated an abridged version of the Mahabharata into English in a series of 10 volumes. In addition, he also translated the Puranas, the four Vedas, the Bhagavad Gita and 11 major Upanishads.

In fact, he wrote in his book The Bhagavad Gita for Millennials, “He who has not repeatedly heard and studied the Gita, yet desires liberation, children will make fun of him. But he who hears it and studies it They are not human beings.” They are definitely like gods.” However, his recent book moves away from the topic. Inked in India documents the entirety of the recognized fountain pen, nib and ink manufacturers in India.

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh called Mr Debroy a “thought-provoking commentator” on public issues beyond economics. Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan remembered his rich newspapers. Debroy also anchored the show ‘Itihasa’ telecast on Sansad TV. The series explored what “India” is, what “Indian” means and what it means in the context of India’s Sanatana tradition.