Dr.Abhijit Sen added the Padma Bhushan to his list of recognitions in the year 2010. He was awarded this honour in the field of Public Affairs, and it was his work in rural economy with special focus on farmers, that put him firmly in the limelight, and put India on the road to better agricultural economics.

The beginning
Sen was born in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand in 1950. His prowess in economics surely must have been shaped at an early age because his father, Samar Sen was an economist and worked with the World Bank. Sen got his PhD in economics with the thesis, ‘The Agrarian Constraint to Economic Development: The Case of India’ in 1981. Dr.Abhijit Sen passed away in 2022.

From the preliminary stages of education and career, his association with agriculture grew from strength to strength with major highlights being:

• Leading the Commission on Agricultural Costs and Prices in 1997

• Chairperson of the high-level committee on Long Term Grain Policy

• Advocacy of a universal public distribution system

• Lending his wisdom to organisations like International Fund for Agricultural Development, and Food & Agriculture Organisation

Contribution to agriculture
As the chair of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, the Tenth Plan Subgroup on Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, Sen was able to bring in factors like unpaid family labour, and capital asset costs when it came to calculating MSP or minimum support price.

Dr.Sen was also a distinguished member of the National Commission on Farmers. His work in this area resulted in the Swaminathan formula which computes the MSP differently, with one of the key differences being that MSP should be 1.5 times the input costs of a farmer.

As an agriculture economist, Sen’s work and knowledge was not limited to India alone. International organisations such as United Nations Development Program, the International Labour Organisation, the UN University World Institute of Development Research, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and others sought his wisdom and counsel.

Dr.Sen also changed many a young life with his work in academics. He taught at a few universities in the United Kingdom – University of Essex, Oxford University, and University of Cambridge. And he was also at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He was faculty at the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning (CESP) from 1985 to 2015.

Policymaking, education, economics - Dr.Abhijit Sen’s contributions to diverse fields including agriculture in India has changed the landscape quite a lot. Dr. Sen is remembered for his deep commitment to the agricultural sector and his efforts to address the systemic issues that affect Indian farmers. His work has had a lasting impact on agricultural policies and reforms in India.