Arjun Kumar Sengupta (10 June 1937 – 26 September 2010) was an Indian economist. He served as a Member of the Parliament of India, representing West Bengal in the Rajya Sabha from 2006 until his death. In addition to being a Parliamentarian, he was one of India's most noted economists, and led a multifaceted career as an academician and economic policy administrator. Life and career Arjun Sengupta was born in Kolkata in 1937. After finishing his schooling at Mitra Institution in Bhawanipur, Kolkata, he graduated from the Presidency College, then affiliated with the University of Calcutta. At Presidency College, he was a member of the All-India Students' Federation, a radical student organisation affiliated with the Communist Party of India, then undivided. He later received a doctorate in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under advisor Robert Solow, at the age of 27. His career included eminent posts such as Special Secretary to the Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi (1981–1984), Executive Director and Special Adviser to the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (1985–1990), India's Ambassador to the European Union (1990–1993), Member Secretary of the Planning Commission (1993–1998), and Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha (2005 until his death). As an educator, he traversed many institutions, including Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi School of Economics, London School of Economics and Harvard University. Arjun Sengupta also served as the UN's Independent Expert on the Right to Development, the UN's Independent Expert on Human Rights and Extreme Poverty, and member of the United Nations Development Program's Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor. Sengupta died of prostate cancer, which was first diagnosed in 2005. He is survived by his wife, Jayshree, and daughter, Madhura (Mitu), and brothers Arya and Pinaki. Commemoration The United Nations Human Rights Council observed a moment of silence for Sengupta on 27 September 2010 and the Rajya Sabha was adjourned on 9 November 2010, as a mark of respect to him. Delivering the Arjun Sengupta Memorial Lecture organised by the Indian Society of Labour Economics on 16 December 2010, Prabhat Patnaik described Sengupta as an "iconoclast" and lauded the many roles he played "in his long and distinguished career." On 26 March 2013, Sengupta was honoured posthumously by the Government of Bangladesh for his contribution to the Bangladesh Liberation War. Government and politics Arjun Sengupta joined the Government of India in the early 1970s, assisting top policymakers such