Politician from south India born in Chennai & member of parliament five times.ex porf of econom at IIt Delhi?
This outspoken politician from south India was born in Chennai and has been a member of parliament five times. Before taking up politics full time, he was professor of economics at IIT Delhi. He was also a visiting professor at Harvard. A few months back he released a book about threats to Hinduism. Who is he?
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- Dr. Subramanian Swamy
Born on September 15, 1939, Dr. Swamy is today a nationally known leader, who is widely respected for his conviction and commitment to furthering democracy and market economy. Currently he is the President of the JANATA PARTY, He is a political leader with a difference. Presently he represents the historic city of Madurai in Lok Sabha, his faith term in Parliament, elected in 1998.
Academic Background:
Dr. Swamy has impressive scholarly credentials, having earned a doctorate in economics from the prestigious Harvard University in 1964, after having worked with Nobel Laureate Simon Kuznets, and jointly authored papers with another Nobel Laureate, Paul.A Samuelson.
At Harvard, Dr. Swamy taught Economics for a number of years (1963-69, 1971, 1985-86). From 1969-91, that is, for 22 years, Dr.Swamy was professor of Economics at the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, till he resigned the post in 1991, while he was Cabinet Minister for Commerce, Law & Justice. Dr. Swamy is a linguist and is proficient in Tamil, Hindi, English and Chinese. Before going abroad for Ph.D. at Harvard, Dr.Swamy completed his Master in Statistics at the Indian Statistical Institute, Calcutta. It is here, that he challenged the authenticity of research done by ISI director Prof. Mahalanobis. For his scholarship, he was invited to enroll for Ph.D research at Harvard.
Contribution as an Economist:
Some of Dr. Swamy's research work carried out at Harvard and afterwards in India, have earned him a high standing in the field of Economics. Dr. Swamy published his first book in 1971 when he presented a clear alternative economic strategy, in his book Indian Economic Planning - An Alternative Approach (Vikas Publishers). The then Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi took the unprecedented step of critically reviewing the book on the floor of the Lok Sabha during her reply to the Budget Debate.
His work Economic Growth in China and India 1952-1970: A Comparative Appraisal (University of Chicago Press, 1973) has received wide scholarly acclaim in the field. His jointly authored papers with Nobel Laureate Paul A Samuelson on the 'Theory of Index Numbers' published in the American Economic Review (1974) and the Royal Economic Society's Economic Journal (1984) are regarded as path-breaking research in economic theory. He is also the author of a well-known study on Indian's nuclear on China with his second book Comparative Appraisal of China and India (1870-1986), published by Vikas in 1989.
He has written extensively on foreign affairs dealing largely with India-China, India-Pakistan and Indo-Israel relation. In November 1978, Dr.Swamy was member of the Group of Eminent persons called to Geneva to prepare a report of the United Nations (UNCTAD) on Economic Co-operation between Developing countries (ECDC). As early as 1963, Dr.Swamy also served for a few months at the United Nations Headquarters in New York as Assistant Economic Affairs Officer.
Dr.Swamy has a distinguished record in fighting for civil liberties. In 1972, he lost his professorship at the I.I.T. Delhi for crusading for academic freedom and for espousing the trade union rights of the non-teaching employees of the Institute. The Courts reinstated Dr.Swamy with full honors after twenty years of fiercely fought litigation.
Dr.Swamy first entered Parliament in 1974, when he was elected to the Rajya Sabha (Parliament) from the State of Uttar Pradesh. In 1977 he entered Lok Sabha, to represent North-East Bombay for two consecutive terms. He is still remembered for the various projects he undertook and the contact he kept with the electorate.
From 1988 to 1994, he represented once again the state of Uttar Pradesh in the Rajya Sabha for a Six year term. In March 1988, he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Madurai Constituency in Tamilnadu. This is his fifth term as a Member of Parliament.