Prof. AbhijitSen is currently Member of the Planning Commission of the Government of India, with the rank and status of Minister of State. He is on deputation from the position of Professor at the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

Born on November 18, 1950, Prof. Sen has a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Cambridge, England. Prior to joining Jawaharlal Nehru University in 1985, Prof. Senheld teaching posts at the Universities of Sussex, Cambridge, Oxford and Essex in the UK. He has also served on the Senate or Executive Council of several academic institutions in India, such as Indian Institute of Technology (Delhi), University of Allahabad and the University of Delhi. He has been awarded an honorary doctorate by the Bidhan Chandra KrishiViswaVidyalaya (Agricultural University), West Bengal.

Prof. Sen has been involved with a number of official policy making bodies over the years. He was the Chairman of the Commission on Agricultural Costs and Prices between 1997 and 2000. He was a Member of the Prime Minister’s Task Force on WTO in 2000-01. He was the Chairman of the High-Level Committee of Experts on Long Term Grain Policy, which submitted its report in 2002. He has been Chairman of the Committee on the Wholesale Price Index which submitted its report in 2008. During 2007-08, he chaired the Expert Committee on Impact of Commodity Futures Trading in India.

Prof. Sen has also served as Adviser or Consultant to a number of international organisations, such as the United Nations Development Programme, New York; the International LabourOrganisation, Geneva; the Food and AgricultureOrganisation, Rome; the OECD Development Centre, Paris; the UN University World Institute of Development Research, Helsinki; the International Fund for Agricultural Development, Rome; the Asian Development Bank, Manila.

Prof. Sen is married to the economist JayatiGhosh and has a daughter, Jahnavi.

Prof. Sen has been awarded the PADMA BHUSHAN, the third highest civilian award in India, in recognition of his distinguished service in Public Affairs in 2010.