Isher Judge Ahluwalia, 74, arguably India’s most famous economist, who until recently served as chair of the Delhi-based think tank ICRIER, died on Saturday. She suffered from brain cancer.
Ahluwalia is survived by her husband Montek Singh Ahluwalia, former Vice Chairman of the Planning Commission, and their two children. Ahluwalia recently published her memoir “Breaking Through”, a testimony of a career that broke many glass ceilings.
After starting her career at the International Monetary Fund, Ahluwalia returned to India, where she authored two landmark books: Industrial Growth in India: Stagnation since the mid-1960s and Productivity and Growth in Indian Manufacturing. She was a professor at the Center for Policy Research and later director and later president of ICRIER. Over the past decade and a half, she has made ICRIER a leading global think tank.
Yamini Aiyar, who currently heads CPR, tweeted: She was the first female academic at CPR in the 1980s and paved the way for generations of us. Proud to lead an institution that was once her home.
Ahluwalia has served as Chairman of the Board of the International Food Policy Research Institute and Chair of the High Level Committee on Urban Infrastructure Services established by the Government of India in 2008. In the latter part of her life, she has written extensively on challenges related to sustainable urbanization with special emphasis on the supply of drinking water and solid waste management.
He graduated from Presidency College and the Delhi School of Economics, and received his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Ahluwalia also received the Padma Bhushan.
Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram tweeted: “Deeply saddened and shocked by the passing of Dr. Isher Ahluwalia, a close friend of nearly 25 years. She was a distinguished economist whose life, work and contribution to the economy are beautifully captured in her recently published autobiography, a must read for every economics student. “
Former Trade Union Minister and Congressional Leader Jairam Ramesh said: “Isher Ahluwalia, who has just passed away, was one of India’s most distinguished economists, a PhD from MIT and author of an influential book ‘Industrial Growth in India’ . think tank. She had her own distinctive identity in addition to being Montek’s wife. “
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