Biplab Dasgupta (2 January 1938 – 17 July 2005) was a Marxian economist, former member of

Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

and the Bengal state committee of the

CPI(M) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)) is a communist political party in India. It is the largest communist party in India in terms of membership and electoral seats, and one of the six national parties of India. ...

. He was the author of several books on the agrarian economy of India.

Biography

Dr. Biplab Dasgupta received his MA in economics from the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

. In 1967 he received the PhD of London University as a member of SOAS for the thesis "Oil prices and the Indian market, 1886-1964" where his supervisor was Edith Penrose. He also received an MSc degree in computer science from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. Dasgupta was a popular student leader of 1950s and became a member of CPI in 1955. He joined

in 1964. He was elected a member of the state committee in 1980. He became a central committee member of the CPI(M) in 1985. A teacher at London and Sussex universities, Dasgupta acted as adviser to UN bodies including

FAO The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; . (FAO) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition ...

, ILO,

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

, UNRISD and

UNEP The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the Declaration of the United Nati ...

between 1972 and 1978. He was also the editor of Nandan Patrika, the cultural monthly of

. He was elected to

in 1989.

Death

Biplab Dasgupta died from

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

at age 66.

Notable works

Books

*''The Oil Industry in India : some economic aspects'' (1971) *''The Naxalite Movement'' (1975) *''Patterns and Trends in Indian Politics'' (1976) *''Migration from Rural Areas'' (1977) *''Village Society and Labour Use'' (1977) *''Agrarian Change and the New Technology in India'' (1977) *''Village Studies in the Third World'' (1977) *''The New Agrarian Technology and India'' (1980) *''Naxalbadi Andolon (In hindi)'' (1980) * ''Urbanisation Migration and Rural Change'' (1984) *''Calcutta's Urban Future: Agonies from the Past and Prospects for the Future'' (1992) *''Urbanisation in India : Basic Services and People's participation'' (1993) *''Structural Adjustment, Global Trade and the New Political Economy of Development'' (1998) *''European Trade and Colonial Conquest (Anthem South Asian Studies)'' (2005) *''Globalization: India's Adjustment Experience'' (2005) He also wrote a number of books in Bengali on a variety of topics like his experiences as an administrator in CADC. His last book was a treatise the development of the Bengalis, their history, society, economics, culture and language. He was also widely travelled and he regularly contributed about his experiences in forty countries and inside India in various Bengali periodicals like Pratikshan and Nandan . His experience in various parts of Africa is compelled in 'Africa Omnibus' (in Bengali).

References

Obituary
at India Times
Obituary
at Express India 1938 births 2005 deaths Academics of the University of Sussex Alumni of the London School of Economics Alumni of the University of London Communist Party of India (Marxist) politicians from West Bengal Deaths from Parkinson's disease in India 20th-century Indian economists India MPs 1989–1991 Marxian economists Rajya Sabha members from West Bengal University of Calcutta alumni Lok Sabha members from West Bengal Indian agricultural economists Indian political writers Indian male writers 20th-century Indian non-fiction writers People from Kolkata district {{CPIndiaMarxist-politician-stub