Sen is as much an asset to the Nobel as the prize is to him. Amartya Sen started his career as an economist by advancing the theory of social choice coined by Kenneth Arrow.

But his recent book, `India: Economic Development & Social Opportunity' indicates his long-haul as an economist.

In his latest work, while advocating economic reforms for India, and stressing on the desirability of rapid growth, he has said that our attention should not be diverted from the realm of health, poverty alleviation and education.

In other words, he has said that the focus on economic reforms and development in India should not shift attention from basic deprivation in the country.

As he is from Calcutta, Sen would not like to disown his Left-of-the-centre economic theories. But he has reconciled his economic thinking to the 1980s in a way other Left-leaning economists havenot been able to do. Amartya Sen has recognised the enabling role of economic growth in promoting welfare in a developing country like India which Leftist radicals are not willing to concede.

But he wants public action or collective social action in addressing poverty, health, education and gender-related issues.

Amartya Sen is an economist who is a class by himself. He is a superb communicator. When he talks, his economics seeps into your social consciousness.

Sen was a teacher at the Delhi School of Economics (DSE) between 1961-73 before he left for Oxford. The faculty has invited him for DSE's Golden Jubilee celebrations which will draw to an end in November 1999.I have attended his lectures on his visits to India. I have noticed a shift in his thinking in recent years.

While Sen's theories as propagated in books such as `Hunger and Public Action' remain focussed on state action in areas of welfare, he is now calling for collective public or social action in these areas.

That is, Amartya Sen iswidening the role of intervention in a developing economy beyond the government. He wants decentralised social action in poverty alleviation, health and education.

Here, he is emphasising the role of community (such as Panchayats), non-government organisations and institutions of civil society (such as family), in promoting welfare in a nation.

In other words, he is calling for social opportunities and collective action of the society rather then just government intervention in removing poverty and hunger in a country like India.It remains a question that how far his economic theory has been applied in India. Being Robinson's student in Cambridge, Sen understands that economic solutions are political questions.

The author is Professor at the Delhi School of Economics