Nobel Prize winner Abhijeet Vinayak Banerjee was conferred the honorary Doctor of Letters (D.Litt.) by his alma mater Calcutta University at its annual convocation in Kolkata. The Vice-Chancellor of the University, Ms. Sonali Chakraborty presented the Doctor of Letters Degree to the acclaimed economist. Mr Abhijeet had completed his graduation and secured a first-class first rank at Calcutta University in 1981.
The Economist Banerjee said, “It is a moment of pride….to be bestowed the honour by this great university. I am happy to have been honoured by the 162-year old institution located in my own city”.
The CU Vice-chancellor, Ms Sonali Chakraborty said, “Prof Banerjee comes in a long lineage of Bengali and Indian intellectuals who have placed the ethical problem of poverty and inequality at the centre of their vision. We hope that our present and future students will carry this legacy forward to create a more equal society”.
Stating at the programme, Mr Banerjee dwelt on his economics theory “randomised control trials” (RCT) which involves carrying out randomized field experiments to study the effectiveness of policies and programmes at improving human well-being. The objective of RCT is to see how it impacts economics and the lives of the people, he said, adding the theory was put on trial in field projects in Rajasthan and Bihar in past.
