Social scientist and founder of ADRI Shaibal Gupta dies at 67

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said, “Shaibal Gupta made a big name for himself in the field of economics, not just in Bihar but internationally. He was instrumental in several economic reforms in Bihar. I am deeply saddened with his death.”

“I shared a personal bond with him. His death has caused a huge loss in the fields of education, economics and social science,” the Chief Minister said.

Acclaimed internationally for his contributions to development economics, Gupta suggested ways to deal with development challenges in Bihar. He was behind most of the educational, social and financial researches of the state government.

Sushil Kumar Modi, the former deputy chief minister who held finance portfolio in the state for close to 15 years, said, “It was the feedback from Gupta and his team which formed the basis of the annual economic survey of the state published every year prior to the tabling of the Budget”.

Besides him, BJP leaders like Union minister Nityanand Rai and state party president Sanjay Jaiswal expressed grief over his death. Communist Part of India state secretary Ram Naresh Pandey also mourned the death and fondly recalled Gupta’s close association with the party.

“He had been suffering from chronic health problems for some time, and was hospitalised a couple of days ago. Besides being a renowned social scientist, he was widely known as an institution-builder, and the establishment of ADRI was his most important achievement,” said Anjani Kumar Verma, who is associated with the Patna-based think-tank. —With PTI inputs