Dr. Malay Chaudhuri, founder director, IIPMWhy did you name this award in the memory of Rabindranath Tagore?
Why did you name this award in the memory of Rabindranath Tagore?
I would like to take this opportunity to make your readers aware that Rabindranath Tagore’s influence was far beyond the world of literature, dramatics, painting and other performing arts. He was also concerned with rural economics and poverty of the peasants. Indeed, with the money he obtained from his Nobel Prize, he set up a bank to help rural people. He not only set up handicraft units in Sriniketan (West Bengal), but also sent his son, Rathindranath, to study agriculture in USA. Therefore, when we thought of instituting a prize in People’s Economics, we decided to dedicate it to his memory. Since 2011 is his 150th birth anniversary, we thought it proper to award the first prize in People’s Economics in that year.
What was the philosophy behind instituting this prize?
When we started our institute in 1973, it was supposed to be named Indian Institute of National Economic Planning and Management but we adopted the name Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM) to make it simple. The core of our course, since the founding years, has been National Economic Planning (NEP). NEP is not only concerned with coordinating the growth of different sectors of the national economy, but also coordinates the growth of people’s purchasing power matching with the growth of production of mass consumption goods, which ensures the sale of these goods as they come out of the factories – and in turn ensures that there is no crisis from time to time as it happens in the capitalist mode of production. Therefore, the rate of growth under NEP is obviously more than the capitalist growth of economy, which progresses through crisis and boom. So, from our point of view, when we look at the names of the recipients of Nobel Prize in economics, we find that most of the recipients have been in the area of econometrics while one group of economists who have been left out are Marxist economists (e.g., Maurice Dobb, Oskar Lange, Joan Robinson, etc). These economists have always been concerned with the distribution of national income, so that the benefits of national economic growth percolate down to the poorest, and this does not necessarily happen in the framework of market economics. By instituting this prize in the areas of people’s economics, we emphasized the need to reorient studies and researches in economics towards the benefit of the underprivileged, ultimately leading to an economic system where there is no exploitation of man by man.
So, is this prize exclusively for People’s Economics or are there any other categories?
The prize will be primarily given in the field of People’s Economics/Management. If we can mobilise more funds, we shall extend it to the fields of Literature and Peace. We have noticed that the Nobel Prize in Literature have a bias towards Western countries. Nobel Peace prizes have also been awarded to people who should be better tried as war criminals rather than felicitated as peace brokers.
How do you see the popularity of this award growing over the years?
If our selection is proper and research based, the awards will be coveted by people all over the world over a period of the next few decades.
Why did you name this award in the memory of Rabindranath Tagore?
I would like to take this opportunity to make your readers aware that Rabindranath Tagore’s influence was far beyond the world of literature, dramatics, painting and other performing arts. He was also concerned with rural economics and poverty of the peasants. Indeed, with the money he obtained from his Nobel Prize, he set up a bank to help rural people. He not only set up handicraft units in Sriniketan (West Bengal), but also sent his son, Rathindranath, to study agriculture in USA. Therefore, when we thought of instituting a prize in People’s Economics, we decided to dedicate it to his memory. Since 2011 is his 150th birth anniversary, we thought it proper to award the first prize in People’s Economics in that year.
What was the philosophy behind instituting this prize?
When we started our institute in 1973, it was supposed to be named Indian Institute of National Economic Planning and Management but we adopted the name Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM) to make it simple. The core of our course, since the founding years, has been National Economic Planning (NEP). NEP is not only concerned with coordinating the growth of different sectors of the national economy, but also coordinates the growth of people’s purchasing power matching with the growth of production of mass consumption goods, which ensures the sale of these goods as they come out of the factories – and in turn ensures that there is no crisis from time to time as it happens in the capitalist mode of production. Therefore, the rate of growth under NEP is obviously more than the capitalist growth of economy, which progresses through crisis and boom. So, from our point of view, when we look at the names of the recipients of Nobel Prize in economics, we find that most of the recipients have been in the area of econometrics while one group of economists who have been left out are Marxist economists (e.g., Maurice Dobb, Oskar Lange, Joan Robinson, etc). These economists have always been concerned with the distribution of national income, so that the benefits of national economic growth percolate down to the poorest, and this does not necessarily happen in the framework of market economics. By instituting this prize in the areas of people’s economics, we emphasized the need to reorient studies and researches in economics towards the benefit of the underprivileged, ultimately leading to an economic system where there is no exploitation of man by man.
So, is this prize exclusively for People’s Economics or are there any other categories?
The prize will be primarily given in the field of People’s Economics/Management. If we can mobilise more funds, we shall extend it to the fields of Literature and Peace. We have noticed that the Nobel Prize in Literature have a bias towards Western countries. Nobel Peace prizes have also been awarded to people who should be better tried as war criminals rather than felicitated as peace brokers.
How do you see the popularity of this award growing over the years?
If our selection is proper and research based, the awards will be coveted by people all over the world over a period of the next few decades.
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