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"An intellectual with a moral voice, consistency"

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: A compilation of columns written by prominent economist and former Finance Minister of West Bengal Ashok Mitra was released by Vice-Chairman of Kerala State Planning Board Prabhat Patnaik here on Sunday.

The book titled "The Protest Is Still On" is a collection of articles by Dr. Mitra published in "The Telegraph" over the past two decades on various issues of national and international importance. It comprises his articles on subjects pertaining to globalisation, liberalisation, agriculture, policies of organisations like International Monetary Fund and World Trade Organisation, public distribution system and taxation. His recent column, a criticism on the manner in which the concept of Special Economic Zones is implemented in India, also forms part of the collection.

Releasing the book, Dr. Patnaik termed Dr. Mitra as an intellectual with a moral voice. "There is an intellectual consistency in him. He never distanced himself from the organised Left," he said.

Dr. Patnaik recalled that in 1981 when India was about to avail itself of loan from IMF, Dr. Mitra had cautioned the Government about its repercussions. He had then pointed out that excessive borrowing was not in the country's interest. Dr. Patnaik said Dr. Mitra was a visionary whose writings were more relevant and widely appreciated today.

Speaking on the occasion, Malini Bhattacharya, former Member of Parliament and member of National Commission for Women, said Dr. Mitra always insisted on reaching out to the people to get their response. She recalled that once he had made her and her husband translate the entire budget paper into Bengali. She said though Dr. Mitra's articles were published in English newspapers, he laid stress on writing in vernacular papers so that the common people could read him.

Tapodhir Bhattacharya, Tagore Professor with the Department of Modern Indian Languages, Delhi University, said he had been reading Dr. Mitra's articles for the past several years and was impressed with the manner in which he expressed his thoughts. He said like Dr. Mitra, other intellectuals should also come forward to actively participate in bringing positive changes.

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