Dr. Pronab Sen is currently the Country Director for the International Growth Centre’s India Programme, on the faculty of Vedica Scholars for Women and Indian School of Public Policy, and is the Editor of the Indian Journal of National Income & Wealth. He is also a member of the High-level Expert Group on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress (OECD) and the Technical Advisory Group of the International Comparison Project (World Bank). He received his B.A. (Hons) in Economics from St. Stephen’s College, University of Delhi (1972); M.B.A. (1974) and M.A. in Economics (1975) from the George Washington University, Washington D.C.; and Ph.D. in Economics (1982) from the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. He specialized in Open-economy Macroeconomic Systems, International Economics and Public Finance.

Most recently, he was Chairman of the National Statistical Commission. Prior to superannuation from the Government in 2012, he was the first Principal Economic Adviser at the Government of India’s Planning Commission. He has also held positions as the first Chief Statistician of India, acting as the functional and technical Head of the national statistical system in India, as well as Secretary, Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation, Government of India (2007-2010).

The Vedica Scholars Programme for Women

According to you, why is Vedica Unique from other Manangement B- schools?

Because it is a first-of-its-kind programme, it is supported by some of the most inspiring women leaders from around the globe, it offers world-class faculty, hand-picked from leading academic and professional institutions across the world and it gives you the chance to work closely with and learn from an accomplished woman leader through our unique & Shadow a Woman Leader Module programme.

What is your body of work and how you have evolved over the years?

My trajectory in life is usually not encouraged and I basically drifted around quite a bit over time, In school, I wanted to do science but after finding out the kind of work biology involved was not liked by me and I looked for something that was less demanding and I looked for economics and as I am a visiting faculty at Vedica of Principles of Economics I have to teach people essentially in management how to think in economics, economics which didn’t come out from textbook but the economics which came out from lived experience. My body of work is a whole of bits and pieces of various things I have done in my lifetime.

How is your relationship with the students and how do they connect with you at the Vedica Scholars Programme for women?

The students are able to connect with me at Vedica because I never focused on a particular career, I was wandering around picking around what seemed interesting at that particular point in time and that is why they connect because the whole parental influence is that you must know at the age of 16 what you will become at 17 and I believe that my relation with my students is very transparent.

Check The Vedica Scholars Programme for Women Courses & Fees

Being the faculty of Principles of Economics at Vedica what attracted you to join it?

My trajectory was the main reason that attracted me to the Vedica Scholars Program for women as in Vedica was articulated very clearly that the founding vision was not to make specialists in any particular discipline or sub-discipline of management but rather to make management where you have to move in all discipline perhaps not in the same depth but you have to know all of it and it is what management is all about and that is what attracted me to join Vedica. Thus, it was a perfect and natural fit between my personal inclination and the founding philosophy of Vedica.

How has the programme at Vedica evolved over the years?

First of all, Vedica did not try to specialize the person in any one thing rather here you can get enough of everything to be able to be successful in your future. The programme at Vedica has greatly evolved and it is evolved because that’s what the programme needs and overall all academic programme is ultimately organic and it gets driven by the student and the way the teachers try to teach and link up with one another in terms of the curriculum is something that evolved, similarly in Vedica students got through great transformations as the programme has gradually evolved over the years.

What are the other activities that contribute to preparing women for successful careers in corporate, development, academic, or political fields?

Apart from the academic learning gained from world-class faculty members, Vedica Scholars will benefit from workshops and seminars conducted throughout the 18-month programme. From fortnightly seminars on ‘Making Sense of the Newspapers’ with a leading political economist, facilitated discussions around carefully chosen TED talks, to workshops on women’s studies and a field trip to Kesla, Madhya Pradesh to witness women’s leadership at its best – Vedica will ensure that its students are prepared to excel professionally in a corporate, development, academic or political career.