Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday met Abhijit Banerjee, the Indian-American who was one of the three winners of the Nobel Prize for Economics this year, and took to Twitter to state, "India is proud of his accomplishments.”
"Excellent meeting with Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee. His passion towards human empowerment is clearly visible. We had a healthy and extensive interaction on various subjects. India is proud of his accomplishments. Wishing him the very best for his future endeavours," Modi tweeted posting a photograph of himself and Banerjee on Twitter.
Excellent meeting with Nobel Laureate Abhijit Banerjee. His passion towards human empowerment is clearly visible. We had a healthy and extensive interaction on various subjects. India is proud of his accomplishments. Wishing him the very best for his future endeavours. pic.twitter.com/SQFTYgXyBX
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 22, 2019
Banerjee is a professor at the US' Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He and Esther Duflo, who are married, shared this year’s Nobel Prize for Economics with Michael Kremer for their “experimental approach to alleviating global poverty.” The couple is currently touring India to promote their new book 'Good Economics for Hard Times: Better Answers to Our Biggest Problems'.
Later, speaking to the media, responding to a question about his interaction with the Prime Minister, Banerjee said, “Prime Minister started by cracking a joke about how the media is trying to trap me into saying anti-Modi things. He has been watching TV, he has been watching you guys, he knows what you are trying to do.”
#WATCH Nobel Laureate Abhijit Banerjee after meeting Prime Minister Modi: Prime Minister started by cracking a joke about how the media is trying to trap me into saying anti-Modi things. He has been watching TV, he has been watching you guys, he knows what you are trying to do pic.twitter.com/sDgXnSBQqI
— ANI (@ANI) October 22, 2019
This comes after some BJP leaders, including some Cabinet ministers, have been critical of Banerjee's work. Addressing a press conference in Pune last week, Railways and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said Banerjee had "a Left-leaning mindset" and that his views had been rejected by India.
Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Banerjee was instrumental in framing Congress' Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY) or minimum income guarantee scheme. The party was routed in the polls.
Mumbai born Abhijit received his PhD from Harvard University in 1988 and is the Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is also an alumnus of Jawaharlal Nehru University and Presidency University. He is also the co-founder of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab.
Esther Duflo from France received her PhD in 1999 from MIT. She is the Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics at MIT as well as the co-founder and co-director of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab.