An emotional connect with his home state Odisha made Dukhabandhu Sahoo take the decision to relocate from IIT-Roorkee to IIT-Bhubaneswar as an Assistant Professor, Humanities Social Sciences and Management, ever since the institute started here in 2010.“I did not have any reason to leave Roorkee, but I had many to come back to Bhubaneswar, and the most important was to give back to my home state,” says Dukhabandhu, an economist par excellence.
Dukhabandhu, who completed his elementary education in the far-flung village of Khamar sub-division in Angul district in Odisha, has won accolades all through his student years and his career as a teacher. His PhD thesis was at the Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore, an analysis on the Impact of FDI on Indian Economy. Having been inclined towards teaching, he joined the Assam University at Silcher in 2004, and then rising through the ranks, he carved a niche for himself as an accomplished teacher of economics.
He remains engrossed in the subject and keeps improvising on ways to simplify the process of teaching. With an air of humility about him, the scholar is always approachable and open to discussions.
Being associated with the cr̀eme de la cr̀eme of technologists and academia, Dukhabandhu says, “Though technology has metamorphosed the method of teaching in the past decades, it can never replace teachers.” Widely travelled, he appreciates water management strategies in other countries. “Inequality is a major issue facing our economy. Though economic growth in the last two decades has been phenomenal, the distribution of wealth has not been uniform.”
Given a chance he would like to research on development economics and contribute in alleviating economic disparities within the society. He also mentors few people on community services like a plantation and water reservoir projects.
— baibhav@newindianexpress.com