Isher Judge Ahluwalia

Isher Judge Ahluwalia
Born	(1945-10-01)1 October 1945
Died	26 September 2020(2020-09-26) (aged 74)[2]
Spouse	Montek Singh Ahluwalia
Academic career
Field	Economics, public policy, urban infrastructure
Alma mater	University of Calcutta (B.A.) Delhi School of Economics (M.A.) Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Ph.D)
Doctoral advisor	Stanley Fischer[1]
Awards	Padma Bhushan (2009)

Isher Judge Ahluwalia (1 October 1945 – 26 September 2020) was an Indian economist, public policy researcher, and professor.^[3] She was Chairperson Emeritus, Board of Governors, at the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER).^[4] She had also served as the chairperson of the board of the International Food Policy Research Institute, and the chairperson of the Government of India's High-Powered Committee on Urban Infrastructure Services.^[5] She was awarded India's 3rd highest civilian award, Padma Bhushan, in 2009.^[6]

Ahluwalia's works spanned public policy, urban infrastructure, and sustainable urbanization. Her last book Breaking Through was a memoir and spoke about her career that broke many glass ceilings in the economics and public policy space.^[5][7]

Education

Ahluwalia completed her PhD in economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)^[8] with her research focusing on Indian macroeconomy and productivity during the country's economic period between 1951 and 1973, under the American economist Paul Samuelson, and Israeli American economist Stanley Fischer.^[9][10] She also had a master's degree from the Delhi School of Economics, and a bachelor's degree in economics from Presidency College, Kolkata, University of Calcutta.^[6] Her research focused on urban development, industrial development, macro-economic reforms, and social sector development issues in India.^[11]

Career

Dr. Ahluwalia with former Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh at the inauguration of the New Delhi office of the International Food Policy Research Institute. (New Delhi, March 2005)

Chairperson Dr. Ahluwalia presenting the report of the High Power Expert Committee for Estimating Investment Requirements for Urban Infrastructure Services to then minister Kamal Nath (New Delhi, March 2011)

Ahluwalia started her career as a policy economist at the International Monetary Fund in Washington, DC, before moving over to India.^[11] In India, she did her research focused on industrial growth and manufacturing productivity. She was a professor at the Centre for Policy Research, where she wrote two books  – 'Industrial Growth in India: Stagnation since the Mid Sixties', and 'Productivity and Growth in Indian Manufacturing' between 1989 and 1991.^[12]

She went on to become the chairperson of the board of governors at the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, and was earlier the director and chief executive at the same institute from 1998 to 2002.^[6] She was a Member of the Government of India's National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council.^[13] She was also a member of the Board of Trustees of the International Water Management Institute.^[11]

She was appointed chairperson of the High Powered Expert Committee on Urban Infrastructure and Services by the Ministry of Urban Development, and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Government of India, in 2008.^[14] She was chairperson, board of trustees of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), in Washington, D.C., from 2003 to 2006, and a member of the board from 2000^[15] She was a member of the Eminent Persons Group (EPG) which prepared a report on the role of the Asian Development Bank from 2006 to 2007, and Member of the Eminent Persons Group on India-ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations).^[16] She served as the Vice Chairperson of the Punjab State Planning Board from 2005 to 2007.^[12][15]

As an author her works spanned public policy, urban infrastructure, and sustainable urbanization, including challenges in delivery of clean drinking water and solid waste management. Her most recent book prior to her death was a memoir titled 'Breaking Through' published in 2020. The book was a reflection on her career in the economics and public policy management space.^[11]

Personal life

Ahluwalia was married to fellow economist, and former deputy chairman of the Indian Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia. They had two sons, Pawan and Aman Ahluwalia.^[17]

She died from grade IV glioblastoma on 26 September 2020, at age 74. She was suffering from brain cancer for the previous 10 months and had stepped down from her position at ICRIER due to her health concerns, a month prior to her death.^[18][12]

Awards

• 2009: Padma Bhushan for Literature and Education by the Government of India.^[19]
• 1987: Batheja Memorial Award for best book on Indian Economy, Industrial Growth in India: Stagnation Since the mid-1960s.^[20]

Selected bibliography

Books

• Ahluwalia, Isher (1989). Industrial growth in India: stagnation since the mid-sixties. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195624779.
• Ahluwalia, Isher (1991). Productivity and growth in Indian manufacturing. Delhi New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195627633.
• Ahluwalia, Isher; Little, I.M.D. (2012). India's economic reforms and development: essays for Manmohan Singh. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198082231.
• Ahluwalia, Isher; Kanbur, Ravi; Mohanty, P. K. Mohanty (2014). Urbanisation in India: challenges, opportunities and the way forward. New Delhi: Sage. ISBN 9788132119593.
• Ahluwalia, Isher (2014). Transforming our cities: postcards of change. Noida, India: HarperCollins Publishers India. ISBN 9789351362197.
• Ahluwalia, Isher Judge (2020). Breaking Through - A Memoir. New Delhi: Rupa Publications India. ISBN 978-9390260287.

Chapters in books

• Ahluwalia, Isher (2009), "Challenges of economic development in Punjab", in Kanbur, Ravi; Basu, Kaushik (eds.), Arguments for a better world: essays in honor of Amartya Sen | Volume II: Society, institutions and development, Oxford New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 303–326, ISBN 9780199239979.

References

1. Ahluwalia, Isher Judge (1976). A macro-econometric model of the Indian economy analyzing inflation during 1951-1973 (Ph.D.). MIT. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
2. "Economist Isher Judge Ahluwalia passes away after 10-month battle with brain cancer". The Indian Express. 26 September 2020. Archived from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
3. "Isher Judge Ahluwalia is new Chairperson at ICRIER". @businessline. 12 August 2005. Archived from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
4. "Board Of Governors | Think tank | ICRIER". icrier.org. Archived from the original on 24 September 2018. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
5. Mishra, Asit Ranjan (26 September 2020). "Noted economist Isher Judge Ahluwalia, who broke many glass ceilings, dies at 74". mint. Archived from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
6. "Noted Economist Dr Isher Judge Ahluwalia, Padma Bhushan, Dies". NDTV.com. Archived from the original on 26 September 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
7. "Renowned economist Isher Judge Ahluwalia dies aged 74". The Hindu. 26 September 2020. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
8. "India and MIT: A Conversation About the Future". The Tech. Archived from the original on 18 September 2019. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
9. Sitapati, Vinay (26 September 2020). "How Isher Judge Ahluwalia broke into the male-dominated, Anglicised world of economists". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
10. "MIT Libraries' catalog - Barton - Full Catalog - Full Record". library.mit.edu. Archived from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
11. Mishra, Asit Ranjan (26 September 2020). "Noted economist Isher Judge Ahluwalia, who broke many glass ceilings, dies at 74". mint. Archived from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
12. "Economist Isher Judge Ahluwalia passes away after 10-month battle with brain cancer". The Indian Express. 26 September 2020. Archived from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
13. "India rejigs manufacturing competitiveness council". CFO India. Archived from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
14. Ahluwalia, Isher Judge (2011). "High Powered Expert Committee (HPEC) for Estimating the Investment Requirements for Urban Infrastructure Services" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 November 2018.
15. "Isher Judge Ahluwalia". www.asiaglobaldialogue.hku.hk. Archived from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
16. "Eminent Persons See New Paradigm for ADB in Transformed Asia". Asian Development Bank. 2 April 2007. Archived from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
17. "Team Manmohan recalls its trusted hand: Montek". archive.indianexpress.com. 11 June 2004. Archived from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
18. Dhamsana, Indivsal (26 September 2020). "Economist Isher Judge Ahluwalia passes away after battle with brain cancer". Business Standard. Archived from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
19. "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
20. Smith, Stephen (27 September 1988). "Industrial Growth in India: Stagnation since the mid-sixties: Isher Judge Ahluwalia, (Oxford University Press, Delhi, 1985) pp. xxii + 235". Journal of Development Economics. 28 (3): 397–401. doi:10.1016/0304-3878(88)90008-9. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2020 – via RePEc - Econpapers.