Amlan Datta (; 17 June 1924 – 18 February 2010) was an Indian

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

and

educationist Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education also fol ...

. He was Pro-vice Chancellor of

Calcutta University The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

and Vice Chancellor of

North Bengal North Bengal ( , Uttar Banga) is a cross-border cultural–geographic region consisting of the north-western areas of Bangladesh as well as the northern part of the West Bengal state of India. Bounded to the east by the Jamuna and in the south ...

and Visva-Bharti universities.

Biography

Amlan Datta, originally named Amlan Kusum Dattagupta, was born into a Baidya family in the

Comilla Comilla (), officially spelled Cumilla, is a metropolis on the banks of the Gomti River in eastern Bangladesh. Comilla was one of the cities of ancient Bengal. It was once the capital of Tripura kingdom. Comilla Airport is located in the Duli ...

district of

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal until 1937, later the Bengal Province, was the largest of all three presidencies of British India during Company rule in India, Company rule and later a Provinces o ...

(now in

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

). His parents’ names were Ashwini Kumar Datta Gupta and Sunitibala Devi. He was schooled at Ishwar Pathshala at Comilla, took 1st class first in

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in economics from the Presidency College, and earned a first-class fourth in MA from the same university, both with distinction. As a writer on socio-economic, political and philosophical subjects, Datta's works drew inspiration from

Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

and

Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a prin ...

. An opponent of

parochialism Parochialism is the state of mind whereby one focuses on small sections of an issue rather than considering its wider context. More generally, it consists of being narrow in scope. In that respect, it is a synonym of " provincialism". It may, pa ...

and

dogmatism Dogma, in its broadest sense, is any belief held definitively and without the possibility of reform. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Judaism, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, or Islam ...

, Datta evaluated prevailing political and economic doctrines, including Marxist Communism. He wrote along these lines for ''The Radical Humanist'', ''

The Economic Weekly The ''Economic and Political Weekly'' (EPW) is a weekly peer-reviewed academic journal covering all social sciences, and is published by the Sameeksha Trust. In January 2018, academic Gopal Guru was named the new Editor of the journal. Guru will be ...

'', and ''Thought''. His first book was published in 1953, titled ''For Democracy''. He was the joint editor of ''Quest'' magazine along with Abu Sayeed Ayub. After finishing his education in 1946, he started a career as a lecturer in

Asutosh College Asutosh College, established in 1916, is a semi-government college in Kolkata. It is considered as one of the most prestigious educational landmarks in Kolkata .It offers undergraduate level courses in various arts, commerce and science subjects ...

of the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

, and went on to be a lecturer at the University of Calcutta in 1948. He was the Pro-Vice Chancellor of Calcutta University during 1972–74. He also served as the Vice Chancellor of the

University of North Bengal The University of North Bengal (also North Bengal University, abbreviated as NBU) is a public state university in the North Bengal region of West Bengal, India. Its main campus is located in Raja Rammohanpur, Siliguri, Darjeeling district, in ...

(1974–77). Then, he joined the Gandhian Institute of Studies as director in 1978, and thereafter as vice chancellor of

Visva-Bharati University Visva-Bharati (IAST: ''Viśva-Bhāratī''), () is a public central university and an Institute of National Importance located in Shantiniketan, West Bengal, India. It was founded by Rabindranath Tagore who called it ''Visva-Bharati'', which ...

Santiniketan Shantiniketan (IPA: Help:IPA/Bengali, �antiniketɔn is a neighbourhood of Bolpur town in the Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in West Bengal, India, approximately 152 km north of Kolkata. It was established by Maharshi Devendra ...

. He also taught as visiting lecturer at

Banaras Hindu University Banaras Hindu University (BHU), formerly Benares Hindu University, is a collegiate, central, and research university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, and founded in 1916. The university incorporated the Central Hindu College, ...

and the University of Brussels. He represented India at the United Nations Social Development Commission in 1979. He died of a heart attack at his

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

residence on 18 February 2010.

Awards and recognitions

*Desikottam Award from Visva Bharati University *Jagattarini Award and Kamala Award from Calcutta University *

Ananda Puraskar The Ananda Puraskar () is an award for Bengali literature awarded annually by the ABP Group to writers using Bengali language, Bengali, usually from West Bengal, India. History The award can be traced to a comment by Annada Shankar Ray ruing the ...

from Anandabazar Group

References

External links

Jijnasa – Special Issue on Amlan Datta

{{DEFAULTSORT:Datta, Amlan 1924 births 2010 deaths Bengali writers University of Calcutta alumni Academic staff of the University of Calcutta People associated with Santiniketan Scholars from Kolkata Educators from West Bengal Presidency University, Kolkata alumni