One of the big challenges that India has faced while formulating economic policies over the last several years is that high quality economists simply refuse to live in and work in India. At best, they are willing to fly in and out of the country whilst residing in higher income countries. A notable exception to this grim rule for the last several decades is the remarkable Jean Dreze, the man who 22 years ago created the pathbreaking economic welfare policy of the NREGA. Both the UPA and NDA have been steadfast in adopting Jean Dreze’s policies regarding employment guarantees and food security.
Son of the noted economist, Jacques Dreze, Jean Dreze was born in and grew up in Belgium. Wikipedia describes his remarkable life: “Jean Drèze was born on 22 January 1959 in Leuven, Belgium. He is the son of Jacques Drèze who founded of the Center for Operations Research and Econometrics at the Université catholique de Louvain…
He studied mathematical economics at the University of Essex in the 1980s and did his PhD (theoretical economics of cost-benefit analysis) at the Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi.
He has lived in India since 1979 and became an Indian citizen in 2002, which meant renouncing Belgian citizenship.”
Given Jean Dreze’s commitment to India and the impact he has had on his adopted nation, it is only fitting that his contributions are now being recognised across the world: “Economist Jean Drèze was awarded the Global Inequality Research Award at the World Inequality Conference held at the Paris School of Economics on Friday.
Drèze was recognised for his work on poverty and inequality measurement in India, as well as his advocacy for the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and the National Food Security Act.
After winning the award, Drèze said: “This recognition is not something I achieved on my own. All the work I do is in collaboration with people and collectives working for change.”
“India has all possible varieties of inequality – not only astronomical economic inequality, but also the caste system, huge gender disparities, massive disparities in access to education, and so forth,” Drèze said. “The silver lining is that India also has a rich history of resistance to inequality. I’ve been very fortunate to be associated with some of these movements.”
The Global Inequality Research Award is presented every two years to researchers who have made significant contributions to the understanding of global inequalities.”
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