‘India is proud,’ tweets PM Modi after meeting with Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Oct 22, 2019: Abhijit Banerjee, winner of the 2019 Economics Nobel, called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi this morning. The meeting took place in the middle of a huge debate spurred by the renowned economist’s critique of the government’s economic policies and sharp rejoinders from BJP leaders like Union Minister Piyush Goyal.

 

"Excellent meeting with Nobel Laureate Abhijit Banerjee. His passion towards human empowerment is clearly visible. We had a healthy and extensive interaction on various subjects. India is proud of his accomplishments. Wishing him the very best for his future endeavours," PM Modi tweeted after the meeting, NDTV reported.

PM Modi had congratulated Dr Banerjee after the Nobel announcement praising his work in poverty alleviation.

In an interview to NDTV, Dr Banerjee said he had worked in Gujarat when PM Modi was Chief Minister and had an "excellent experience".

"I am not partisan in my economic thinking. We work with any number of state governments, many of which are BJP governments. We worked with the Gujarat Pollution (Control) Board when Gujarat was under (Narendra) Modi, and we actually had an excellent experience. I would say that they were willing to engage with the evidence and they implemented policies that followed with that experience," Dr Banerjee, 58, told NDTV.

His comments were in response to Union Minister Piyush Goyal calling the Nobel laureate a "Left-leaning" person. "Abhijit Banerjee won the Nobel prize, I congratulate him. But you all know what his understanding is. His thinking is totally Left-leaning. He had praised the NYAY scheme effusively, but the people of India totally rejected his thinking," Mr Goyal said.

Dr Banerjee had assisted the Congress in formulating the NYAY scheme, ahead of the national election this year. The scheme promised to give Rs. 72,000 a year to each of the 20 per cent families in the poorest of the poor category.

Dr Banerjee shares the Nobel with Esther Duflo - they are married - and Michael Kremer.