Recognizing his achievements in the field of development economics, ABP Ananda (Bengali news channel) honoured him with the Serar Sera Bangali award in 2012.
Sera Bangali, an event, organised by ABP Ananda is a pioneering effort to honour eminent Bengali personalities whose shining achievements have brought Bengal to the global arena.
Abhijit Banerjee, a Calcuttan, attended South Point School and Presidency College from where he completed his BS degree in economics in the year 1981. The Indo-American economist has been married to Esther Duflo for the past four years. He is currently employed as the Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics at MIT.
58-year-old Banerjee’s wife Duflo, born in 1972, is the second woman and the youngest person to be awarded the Prize in Economic Sciences.
The eminent economist Banerjee founded the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) in 2003 along with Duflo and Sendhil Mullainathan. He continues to remain one of the lab's directors.
Banerjee had also served on the UN Secretary-General's High-level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda.