Noted scholar and the first Finance Minister in the Left Front government in West Bengal Ashok Mitra passed away in a private hospital in Kolkata on Tuesday morning. He was 90.
The country has lost a great economist and intellectual in Ashok Mitra. May Day was to be the nonagenarian’s last and he leaves the world poorer.
Mitra was suffering for a long time and was admitted to the hospital in April.
As a chief economic adviser to Indira Gandhi, he was a member of the then PM’s inner circle. Intellectually, he was so honest that he became her government’s biggest critic. Besides serving the State Government, he also worked with the Central Government as the Chief Economic Adviser and was a member of Rajya Sabha.
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A teacher of Economics, who taught in UN Economic Commission, Mitra was also associated with World Bank for many years. He also edited a Bengali magazine till his last days. He was under watch during the Emergency and his articles were banned, but that never stopped him from articulating his views freely. He held a variety of significant posts in academia but remained a down-to-earth personality, dressed in a dhoti and carrying himself with the sheer weight of his intellectual prowess.
Mitra was the first Finance Minister in the Left Front government after it came to power in Bengal in 1977 but resigned later following his differences with the Chief Minister Jyoti Basu.
As West Bengal’s finance minister after the Left came to power in 1977, he was a fierce critic of the Centre though he was closely associated with Indira Gandhi’s “Garibi Hatao”.
He criticized CPI(M) led government’s land acquisition policy during the Nandigram-Singur agitation about a decade back and had warned the Left for annoying its traditional vote place, the peasants.
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A lifelong Communist, Mitra, during one of his last interviews with a leading Indian newspaper, said, “death is a great equalizer which finally erases the differences between the rich and the poor.”
The literary facet of his personality endeared Mitra to lovers of the English language. There was, perhaps, no more lyrical a person to bring out the nuances and semantics of great writing in Bengali, which would have been lost to a great many people if not for Mitra giving them a flourish with his admirable command of English. It’s moot whether his political economics is relevant at a time when it’s fading worldwide as the 200th birth anniversary of Karl Marx looms (May 5). But when it comes to the conviction in his beliefs there was possibly no man more steadfast in adhering to his intellectual integrity. Those of today’s generation who may not be familiar with his accomplishments as an economist would be well advised to read his articles and translations to understand literary greatness.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who was often criticized by Mitra, offered her condolence.
“Saddened at the passing away of the noted economist, former Finance Minister of Bengal and former Rajya Sabha MP, Dr Ashok Mitra. He had a long career with the World Bank, IIM Calcutta and as Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India. Condolences to his family & well-wishers,” Ms Banerjee tweeted.
Mitra authored many books of which a few, penned decades ago, continue to be in the bestseller list.
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