Amartya Sen turns down West Bengal Government award

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 25

Nobel laureate Amartya Sen has turned down Banga Bibhushan Award, the highest civilian honour conferred by the West Bengal Government.

“He has had the good fortune of being honoured with several awards, and wants the ‘Banga Bibhusan’ to be conferred on others now,” the celebrated economist’s daughter Antara Dev Sen told a news channel.

Earlier, CPM leader Sujan Chakraborty had called upon dignitaries to reject the Banga Bibhushan and Banga Bhushan honours in the wake of the arrest of state Industry and Commerce Minister Partha Chatterjee on the charges of corruption in the teacher recruitment scam.

Sen has apparently conveyed to the state government his decision to not accept the award before Chakraborty issued the appeal to recipients to “boycott the award function”.

Sen is understood to have told state government officials in the first week of July when approached, that he would not be in India when the presentation ceremony takes place.

“He is in Europe,” a family member said.

In all, 17 distinguished personalities, including Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee, former Chief Economic Adviser Kaushik Basu and nuclear physicist Bikash Sinha, were given the Banga Bibhushan Award by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at a function in Kolkata today.

Nothing to do with partha’s arrest

Amartya Sen’s family said his decision had nothing to do with CPM leader Sujan Chakraborty's appeal to the prospective recipients, including Sen, to not receive the award from the TMC government, a key minister (Partha Chatterjee) of which was held for corruption.

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