NEW DELHI: It was a proud day for Jawaharlal Nehru University as its alumnus Abhijit Banerjee won the Nobel Economics Prize on Monday, with his former professors and peers saying they always knew his immense contributions to the field would be recognised.
Indian-American Banerjee, his wife Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer jointly won the 2019 Nobel Economics Prize "for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty.
" Retired professor Anjan Mukherjee, who taught Banerjee at the Centre For Economic Studies and Planning (CESP), said he has sent his former student a congratulatory email.
"I have sent him an email. He was a very good student, among the best that we have taught. We always expected that he would go far and he did."
"He has been at the forefront for many years. When his book came out in 2008, that is the time when we thought that he would get the Nobel. We were all hoping that he would get it," he told PTI.
Banerjee pursued his Masters in Economics from the JNU and had courted arrest in 1983 following a standoff between the varsity administration and the students.
He had spent around 10 days in Tihar jail.
The charges against him were subsequently dropped.
"There are not too many teachers in India who can say that they have produced a Nobel laureate. All of us at the CESP can proudly say so," Mukherjee added.
Professor Janaki Nair, who was in JNU at the same time as Banerjee, but at a different centre, said the Nobel Prize for him was expected.
"We had expected it all along and it has come at the right moment. You should not be 75 when you receive the Nobel. This is a wonderful tribute to what JNU has done for its students and vindicates what the varsity has stood for," she said.
Nair, who is with the Centre for Historical Studies at JNU, recalled her close friend Banerjee as an "exceptionally brilliant student" who had a "laconic air" around him.
"I think he must have been 20 when he was at JNU. He was quite well-read but never flaunted his knowledge. He would always say that he learns more outside the classrooms and that is part of learning at JNU," she said.
Praveen Jha, who is currently a professor at CESP, was a batch junior to Banerjee and recalled him as a "top-notch student" who was also interested in other issues, apart from Economics, which is symbolic of JNU culture.
"He was interested in progressive politics, things like how do you do things in a manner that your academic work becomes more relevant.
He was quite a film buff and he has also made documentaries in recent times as part of his work," Jha said.
Calling Banerjee a "multifaceted" personality, Jha said the Nobel laureate was never interested in electoral politics but was quite active and participated in debates and discussions.
"He was interested in films that were reflective of the milieu at that time. He was, in that sense, engrossed in the JNU ethos. The varsity should also get credit for shaping him," he added.
JNU vice-chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar also expressed pride at Banerjee's achievement.
"Prof. Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee, a JNU alumnus (MA in Economics, 1983) wins Nobel Prize (together with two fellow economists) for contributing towards alleviating global poverty. JNU is proud of his achievement. Our alumni are torch bearers of JNU. We are proud of them," he tweeted.