page_title: Arjun Kumar Sengupta
section_title: Work as Chairman of the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector
hierarchical_section_title: Arjun Kumar Sengupta / Work as Chairman of the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo of Arjun Sengupta in UN Delegates Lounge
context_page_description: Arjun Kumar Sengupta 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.
context_section_description: Upon his death, various published tributes to Dr. Arjun Sengupta indicated that his most significant contribution was the final report he produced as the head of the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector (NCEUS), a cabinet-rank position that he held from 2005–2009. This report, released in April 2009, revealed that, despite many years of economic growth, 77% of India's population continues to live on less than $2 per day (currently around Rs. 120/day), and that as much as 86% of India's workforce is in the unorganised sector. The report also revealed that the vast majority of India's 'Poor and Vulnerable' are Muslim or lower caste, and thus in addition to poverty, also suffer from social discrimination. According to the report: "These groups emerge as a sort of a coalition of socially discriminated, educationally deprived and economically destitute" while "less than one fourth" of India's population is enjoying the fruits of high economic growth.  Under Sengupta's Chairmanship, the NCEUS produced a total of ten reports in addition to submitting a number of proposals and working papers on selected issues, such as the global economic crisis, the informal economy, Special Economic Zones, and street vendors.
  Critical of existing government policy, the NCEUS pointed out that although enormous funds had been allocated and spent on social development programs, the benefits largely bypassed the poorest of the poor.  It suggested designing special schemes for the vulnerable sections of Indian society through better targeting and social engineering.  The commission's recommendations on social security resulted in the enactment of the Unorganized Workers Social Security Act, 2008.  Recalling Dr. Sengupta's contribution to identifying the cross-linkages between extreme poverty and the downtrodden, C. Rangarajan, Chairman of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, said: "He had a good understanding of social problems and was deeply involved in finding solutions for people at the bottom of the population pile."  Another of Sengupta's admirers, the Vice-President of India, Mohammad Hamid Ansari, said that the "Sengupta report on the unorganised sector is a guiding force to provide minimum social security for all unorganised workers."
caption: Arjun Sengupta at the UN Delegates' Restaurant in Geneva April 2010
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