Much of the academic activity of the Department is channeled through various units. The General Economics Section is one of the oldest units. The Agricultural Economics Section was instituted in 1945 with the help of a donation from the Bai Vijibhai Jivallal Panalal Trust. An endowment grant from the Reserve Bank of India resulted in the institution of the Monetary Economics Unit in the mid-fifties. A section in Demography was established through the generosity of the Population Council, New York, in 1960-61. With UGC assistance, a Section in Econometrics was set up in January 1963 and a research unit in the Economics of Education was established in 1969. A grant from the Seth Walchand Hirachand Trust has supported the Transport Economics Unit since 1970-71. Under the Fifth Plan Development framework, the UGC in 1978, sanctioned three posts of Professors in International Economics, Development Economics and Quantitative Economics. Further assistance for the creation of posts was provided by the UGC in the Sixth Plan period. In October 1978, the UGC invited the Department of Economics to participate in the University Leadership Programme (ULP) in Economics. The Reserve Bank of India instituted a Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Chair in Political Economy in 1996. Also in 1996, the Planning Commission instituted a Chair in Planning and Development in the memory of late Dr. D.T. Lakdawala. The Dr. Vibhooti Shukla Chair in Urban Economics and Regional Development was instituted by Mrs. Tara Shukla in 1999 in memory of her daughter. A Centre for Women’s Studies was set up in 2002 by the UGC under the Ninth Plan Development framework. |