In Memoriam
 
 
Arjun Sengupta in January, 2008
Born June 10, 1937
Kolkata, Bengal, British India
Died September 26, 2010
New Delhi, India
Occupation Member of the Parliament of India (Rajya Sabha), academic, civil servant, diplomat
Nationality Indian
Ethnicity Bengali Hindu
Citizenship India
Education Ph.D.
Alma mater Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Subjects Economics
Spouse(s) Jayshree Dutt Sengupta
Children Mitu Sengupta (Daughter)
Relative(s) Achintya Kumar Sengupta (Uncle)

 

 Arjun Sengupta
(June 10, 1937 – September 26, 2010)

Arjun Sengupta was the Founding Chairman of CDHR. He was born in Kolkata in 1937. He received his undergraduate and master’s degrees from the Presidency College, Calcutta, and a doctorate in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA. His career included eminent posts such as Special Secretary to the Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi (1981–1984), Executive Director and Special Adviser to the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (1985–1990), India's Ambassador to the European Union (1990–1993), Member Secretary of the Planning Commission (1993–1998), and Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha (2005 until his death).

His academic career included teaching at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi School of Economics, London School of Economics and Harvard University. Arjun Sengupta served as the UN's Independent Expert on the Right to Development and the UN's Independent Expert on Human Rights and Extreme Poverty. He was a member of the United Nations Development Program's Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor.

Work on the Rights-Based Approach to Development

In 1999, Arjun Sengupta became the Independent Expert on the Right to Development (RTD) for the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. He produced six reports on the Right to development between 1999 and 2004. These reports elaborated on the 'Declaration of the Right to Development' adopted by the UN in 1986 (the United States cast the lone dissenting vote). He also wrote several academic papers on the subject, and with the support of Harvard University, implemented two large projects in South Asia. In his subsequent role as the UN's Independent Expert on Human Rights and Extreme Poverty, he wrote as many as six reports, including a mission report on extreme poverty in the United States.

According to Ravi Srivastava, Professor of Economics and Jawaharlal Nehru University, "Sengupta's contributions to the right to development constitute... a very significant contribution to the ongoing debate in India on the rights-based approach" (Ravi Srivastava, "Making the Case for a Rights-Based Approach," Economic and Political Weekly, October 16, 2010). Srivastava says that Sengupta's reports provide a "formidable basis" for arguing that positive rights and collective rights are possible. Indeed, Sengupta argued that the enforceability of collective rights via the implementation of development programs was possible even without their being converted into legal rights (though he recognized that justiciability did remain a superior course of action).

The right to development was linked to a path of development in which national governments were obliged to ensure that human rights were progressively realized. But international organizations were also seen as having an important role. In a seminal article published in 2001, Sengupta argued that: "When development is seen as a human right, it obligates the authorities, both nationally and internationally, to fulfil their duties in delivering (or in human rights language, promoting, securing, and protecting) that right in a country. The adoption of appropriate policies follows from that obligation. Nationally, the government must do everything, or must be seen as doing everything to fulfil the claims of a human right. If the right to food, education, health are regarded as components of a human right to development, the state has to accept the primary responsibility of delivering the right either on its own or in collaboration with others. It has to adopt the appropriate policies and provide for the required resources to facilitate such delivery because meeting the obligation of human rights would have a primary claim on all the resources - physical, financial and institutional - that it can command" (Arjun Sengupta, "Right to Development as a Human Right," Economic and Political Weekly, July 7, 2001 ).

Work as Chairman of the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector

Upon his passing, various published tributes to Dr. Arjun Sengupta indicated that his most significant contribution was the final report he produced as the head of the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector (NCEUS), a cabinet-rank position that he held from 2005-2009. This report, released in April 2009, revealed that, despite many years of economic growth, 77 percent of India's population continues to live on less than Rs. 20 per day, and that as much as 86 percent of India's workforce is in the unorganized sector. The report also revealed that the vast majority of India's 'Poor and Vulnerable' are from groups that face social discrimination, such as lower castes and Muslims. According to the report: "These groups emerge as a sort of a coalition of socially discriminated, educationally deprived and economically destitute" while "less than one fourth" of India's population is enjoying the fruits of high economic growth. Under Sengupta's Chairmanship, the NCEUS produced a total of ten reports in addition to submitting a number of proposals and working papers on selected issues, such as the global economic crisis, the informal economy, Special Economic Zones, and street vendors. Critical of existing government policy, the NCEUS pointed out that although enormous funds had been allocated and spent on social development programs, the benefits largely bypassed the poorest of the poor. It suggested designing special schemes for the vulnerable sections of Indian society through better targeting and social engineering. The commission's recommendations on social security resulted in the enactment of the Unorganized Workers Social Security Act, 2008.

Government and Politics

Arjun Sengupta joined the Government of India in the early 1970s, assisting eminent policymakers such as P.N. Dhar and Sukhomoy Chakravarty to build an alliance with the nascent state of Bangladesh. Later in the 1970s, he worked in Commerce Ministry under then Commerce Minister, Pranab Mukherjee. During his stint at the Prime Minister's Office in the early 1980s, Sengupta was reportedly unhappy about India's 1982 loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and wanted more to be done for agriculture and small farmers. At this time, he also steered two important groups: the Narsimham Committee, which created the architecture of disbanding quantitative controls and replacing them with tariff and fiscal steps, and also the Sengupta Committee on public sector reform. Sengupta was a proponent of the need for an arms-length relationship with the political authority in public sector units (PSUs). However, while Sengupta was a market reformer, his vision was different than what was in currency at the time in the international financial institutions. Yoginder Alagh, a former Union Minister and Sengupta's long-time colleague and friend, said that the reforms championed by Sengupta at the time "were our own, not big bang IMF/World Bank reform initiatives" (Yoginder Alagh, "The Humane Economist," The Indian Express, September 28, 2010).

Upon his return to India in 1993 (from the US, where he was with the IMF, and Brussels, where he was posted as India's Ambassador to the EC), Sengupta was appointed as the Member Secretary of the Planning Commission (India), under then Deputy Chairman, Pranab Mukherjee. Following a five year hiatus from the government, Sengupta returned as the Chairman of the NCEUS in 2004, and was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2005.
   
     
Final Report of the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector (NCEUS)
On September 20th, 2004, the Government of India established a National Commission on Enterprises in the Unorganized/Informal Sector (NCEUS) as an advisory body and watchdog for the informal sector, with the late Dr. Arjun Sengupta heading it as Chairman. The Commission’s terms of reference included (i) reviewing the status of the unorganized/informal sector in India, including the nature of enterprises, their size, spread and scope, and magnitude of employment; (ii) reviewing the existing arrangements for estimating employment and unemployment in the informal sector; (iii) suggesting elements of an employment strategy focused on the informal sector; (iv) reviewing the social security system available for labour in the informal sector, and make recommendations for expanding their coverage, and (v) identifying the constraints faced by small enterprises with regard to freedom of carrying out the enterprise, access to raw materials, finance, skills, entrepreneurship development, infrastructure, technology and markets, and to suggest measures to provide institutional support and linkages to facilitate easy access to them, etc. The NCEUS produced a number of reports during its term.

Attached is final report of the NCEUS, which was submitted to the Prime Minister of India on April 20th, 2009.
Volume I Volume II

Arjun Sengupta – Publications

Selected publications 2000-2005:

First Report on the Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, submitted to Human Rights Commission, Geneva, February 7, 2005

“Reflections on the Right to Development” (Edited), Sage Publications, New Delhi, October 2005.

“Poverty Eradication as Human Rights”, edited by Thomas Pogge, UNESCO Publication, 2005.

“Right to Development and its Implications for Governance Reforms in India”, Human Rights, Criminal Justice and Constitutional Empowerment, Oxford University Press, 2005

“Implementing the Right to Development”, International Law and Sustainable Development: principles and Practice, edited by Nico Schrijver and Friedl Weiss, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2004

“The Human Rights to Development”, Volume 32, No. 2, Oxford Development Studies, June 2004.

“Poverty Eradication and Human Rights”, Harvard School of Public Health and Human Rights, Working Paper Series No. 20, 2004

“Managing Globalization”, Economic and Political Weekly, 2004

“Development Cooperation and the Right to Development”, Harvard School of Public Health, Working Paper Series No. 12, 2003 “Human Right to Development”, Journal of The National Human Rights Commission, India, 2003

“The Human Right to Development”, Nobel Symposium, Oslo, 2003.

“The First Four Reports of the Independent Expert on the Right to Development and reflections on them”, The Right to Development, Franciscans International, Geneva, 2003.

“Implementing the Right to Development” in Sustainable Development and Human Rights edited by Nico Schrijver as International Law Association Publication in December 2002 by Kluwer Publishers.

“On the Theory and Practice of the Right to Development”, Human Rights Quarterly, Volume 24, November 2002

“Official Development Assistance” published in Economic and Political Weekly, on April 13, 2002, included in a book for the Group of 24 – IMF, on Restructuring International Finance.

Article on “The Right to Development as a Human Right” in honour of Mahbub ul Haq, in the book “The South Asian Challenge” - published by Oxford University Press, London – February 2002

“The Planning Regime since 1951” speech given at India International Centre on 16 July 1999 published in the book: Looking Back: India in the Twentieth Century” by National Book Trust, India in 2002.

“Globalization and the Right to Development” (in French) – published in the book What Globalization of Academie Universelle des Cultures, Paris in 2002

“Right to Development as a Human Right” – published in Economic and Political Weekly – July 2001

“The Utilization of Research Results : The case of Policy Reform in India” - published in Netherlands Development Assistance Research Council (RAWOO) publications – 21 of May 2001

“The Budget in the Context of Long-Term Development” – published in Economic and Political Weekly – March 2001

“Development Policy and the Right to Development” – Ninth Dharm Narain Memorial Lecture of the Institute of Economic Growth, New Delhi, in November 2000 - published in “Frontline” of March 2, 2001

“On Official Development Assistance”, Financing for Development, published by The OPEC Fund for International Development, Pamphlet Series-33, 2001

Reforms, Equity and the IMF - An Economist's World, Har-Anand Publications Pvt. Ltd. 2001

“Realizing the Right to Development”, Development and Change, Volume 31, Number 3, June 2000, Blackwell Publishers, ISS, The Hague, June 2000.

Selected writings and articles (1997-2000)

1. “Introduction: an Overview of the Exercise” – published in Development Strategy and Management of the Market Economy – Vol. I – (Jointly authored by Edmond Malinvaud, Jean-Claude Milleron, Mustapha K. Nabli, Amartya K. Sen, Arjun Sengupta, Nicholas Stern, Joseph E. Stiglitz, Kotaro Suzumura), Clarendon Press Oxford 1997.

2. “Fifty Years of Development Policy in India” published in the book “Independent India – The First Fifty Years” by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations – Oxford University Press, 1998

3. “Towards Realizing the Right to Development: The Elements of A Programme: Paper submitted to Human Rights Commission, Geneva in March, 1999

4. “Trade and Development and Intervention” delivered at the High Level Symposium on Trade and Development (WTO), Geneva, 17-18 March, 1999, published by WTO, Geneva

5. “Realizing the Right to Development” Paper published in Essays in Honour of Professor D.P. Chattopadhyaya by the Centre for Studies in Civilizations at New Delhi on 16-18 February, 1999

6. “New Paradigm of Development Cooperation: using Foreign Aid to Promote Private Financing of Development”, UNDP, New York, 18 June, 1999

7. “Study on the current state of progress in the implementation of the Right to Development” First Report of Independent Expert on the Right to Development submitted to the open-ended Working Group on the Right to Development, Human Rights Commission, Geneva, distributed by United Nations, Economic & Social Council, No. E/CN.4/1999/WG.18/2 dated: July 27, 1999

8. “Delivering the Right to Development ESCR and NGOs” keynote address delivered at the workshop on ESCR in Kathmandu, Nepal, September 26, 1999, published in Economic & Political Weekly in October 1999.

9. “Financial Management of Globalization of Developing Countries” paper prepared for Human Development Report 1998 - published as an Occasional Paper of UNDP, in November1999. Also published in Economic & Political Weekly in January 15, 2000.

Selected writings and publications (1989-1997):

1. “The LDC Debt Problem: Some Reflections on the Proposed Solutions”, published in “Papers and Proceedings of the Fifth EPA International Symposium on: Global Role of the Japanese Economy with Affluent Savings and Accumulated Wealth”, Economic Research Institute, Economic Planning Agency, Tokyo – 1989.

2. “Preferential Treatment of Exports of the Developing Countries: A proposal to extend GSP to Non-Tariff Barriers” published in The Future of the GSP – The European Institute for South and South-East Asian Studies, Brussels – November 1990.

3. “Multilateral Compacts, Supporting Economic Reforms”: published in The Companion Volume to the Report of the South Commission – 1992.

4. “The Financial Sector and Economic Reforms in India” – Sir Purshotamdas Thakurdas Memorial Lecture, published in The Economic and Political Weekly, February 1995

5. “Economic Reforms of Mrs. Indira Gandhi” – Lecture delivered at and published by Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies, New Delhi, November 1995

6. “Sustainable Economic Reform” – Professor A.K. Dasgupta Memorial Lecture: Indian Economic Association, published in The Indian Economic Journal – 1996

Selected Writings (1985-1989):

1. “Recovery, Interdependence and the Developing Economies,” Finance and Development, September 1985, Washington.

2. “The Allocation of Special Drawing Rights Linked to the Reserve Needs of Countries”, Finance and Development, September, 1986, Washington

3. “The Functioning of the International Monetary System: A critique of the Perspective of the Industrial Countries,” World Development, 1986, Oxford.

4. “Augmenting Resources for Structural Adjustment of SAF – Eligible countries – A Note on Interest Subsidy Facility”, - Note circulated to Members of the IMF Executive Board, July 1987.

5. “Adjustment with Growth: Comments”, Published in the volume on Growth Oriented Adjustment, IMF, 1987

6. “The Allocation of Special Drawing Rights Linked to the Reserve Needs of Countries”, International Monetary and Financial Issues for the Developing Countries, UNCTAD – 1987.

7. “Adjustment with Growth – Changing Perceptions in International Balance of Payments Policy for Developing Countries”, Economic and Political Weekly – 1987, Bombay.

8. “The Role of the Fund in International Monetary System and the Developing Countries”, Multilateralism and the United Nations, Journal of Development Planning, United Nations – 1987.

9. “A proposal for a Debt Adjustment Facility – Draft for Discussion” – A Note circulated to the Members of the IMF Executive Board, 1988.

10. “A proposal for a Debt Adjustment Facility”, published in World Economy, 1988, London

11. “Recycling of the Japanese Surplus”, Finance and Development – September 1988, Washington.

12. “Remedy for the Debt Overhang”, published in The International Economy, Washington, July/August 1988 .

         
         
         

Videos

Dr. Arjun Sengupta First Memorial Lecture at O.P. Jindal Global University

 
To remember and honour Dr. Arjun Sengupta, a memorial lecture titled “The Human Right to be free from Poverty’’ was delivered by Professor Thomas Pogge, Leitner Professor of Philosophy and International Affairs, Yale University on October 25th 2011 at O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, India.

Abstract:  Severe poverty and a massive disease burdens are human rights violations when they are the foreseeable effect of active conduct by human agents and an effect these agents could avoid without undue hardship. By this criterion, the failure of influential countries, corporations and citizens to assist very poor people abroad does not violate any human rights of the latter because the relevant conduct of the former is merely passive: they fail to help. Yet, the more powerful countries, corporations and citizens are violating the human rights of the global poor if and insofar as they do things that, for the sake of minor gains, foreseeably aggravate severe poverty and disease. One thing they do together, and with the help of the rulers and "elites" of poorer countries is design and impose supranational institutional arrangements that -- shaped to benefit the imposers -- are foreseeably much less avoiding of severe poverty and disease than they might be. This claim can be illustrated by reference to the regulation of trade (grandfathering of protectionist barriers), intellectual property, profit-and-loss reporting, banking deposits, environmental harms, labor standards, sovereign borrowing and resource exports, and international trade in arms. In view of the harms such supranational institutional arrangements foreseeably and avoidably inflict on the global poor, their imposition can easily qualify as the largest (though not the gravest) human rights violation in human history.

 
 
Special Issue of the Rights & Development Bulletin:
 
This issue of the Rights & Development Bulletin is a collection of tributes to Dr. Sengupta, the founding Chairman of CDHR, who passed away on September 26, 2010.  The tributes, written by friends, family, colleagues and former students, are of three kinds: one, those published in newspapers, such as The Pioneer and The Hindustan Times, and journals, such as Seminar and Economic and Political Weekly; two, those read out during official condolence meetings, and three, original submissions by several former CDHR research associates whom Dr. Sengupta mentored.  In addition, the introductory article, “Celebrating Arjun Sengupta,” contains excerpts from condolence messages and letters conveyed to the family by prominent personalities.  This tribute issue was published in December 2010. 
 
Arjun Sengupta Memorial Issue