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Advts: Classifieds | Employment | New Delhi
By Anjali Dhal Samanta
NEW DELHI, MAY 22. As Manmohan Singh took his oath as Prime Minister at Rashtrapati Bhavan here today, the Capital's Delhi School of Economics had a special reason to celebrate. For among the well-known luminaries associated with the celebrated school, the Prime Minister's name finds pride of place. As a professor of international trade at D-School during 1969-71, Dr. Manmohan Singh's stint may have been brief, but more than three decades later the association still remains strong. And though he may not be in the Department anymore, Dr. Singh, along with Amartya Sen and Jean Dreze, is one of only three honorary professors of the School. "He is very attached to this place. Over the years we have invited him for a number of lectures and functions and he has always come very willing. But more than that, he has also been a benefactor for the institute. During his tenure as Union Finance Minister we had trouble with the library, specifically with the journals' collection. We were running into huge deficits because of the international journals we get for the School's library. At that point in time, we approached him and he helped us out,'' recalls the Director of Delhi School of Economics, Badal Mukherji. Even as recently as last year, Dr. Singh extended a helping hand to the School. "We were running a huge deficit and he helped us out by speaking to the Finance Minister. Dr. Singh likes the place very much,'' he added. Financial assistance aside, faculty members also speak about Dr. Singh's involvement. "I remember him joining us for some of the Department meetings. We used to consult him whenever we had to take any important decision,'' says Prof. B.L. Pandit of D-School. Though his stay was brief, for Dr. Singh it was obviously more than just a job. "He really wanted to teach at D-School. At the time when he got the offer, he had finished his Ph.D from Oxford and had been working with UNTACD. But as soon as he was offered a post here, he wanted to take it up. All our friends dissuaded him saying that he should not give up his job with an international organisation for this, but he did not take their advice,'' says Dr. Singh's wife, Gursharan Kaur. Whether Dr. Singh enjoyed his experience or not, his students still remember him. "I still remember very clearly what he taught us. He was very organised and systematic. The way he put everything together made the subject very fascinating. He was very well read and his experience of working in UNTACD helped us understand the subject much better,'' recalls Neera Aggarwal who is now a professor at Delhi School of Economics. Remembering Dr. Singh's days as a teacher at D-School, Lalita Chakravarty, wife of late Sukhomoy Charavaroty, says, "My husband was teaching at D-School before he went on to become the Chief Economic Advisor. We were already there when Dr. Singh joined. He was a good teacher and popular among the students. He has a lot of respect for learning''.
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