The Post-Graduate Department of Economics started its journey in July 2020. Considering the praiseworthy performance of the undergraduate department of Economics, our Principal Rev. Dr. Dominic Savio S.J. gave the call for extension into a full-fledged post-graduate department. He encouraged the faculty to design a post-graduate course commensurate with the needs of contemporary academics. In this spirit, the experienced faculty, with the help of the ever supportive Board of Studies carried out a detailed exercise culminating in the present post-graduate course offered by the department.

The course comprises 12 core papers and 4 electives, each with 6 credits, adding up to 96 credits. The core papers include Microeconomics I & II, Macroeconomics I & II, Quantitative Economic Analysis-I on advanced methods in mathematical economics, Quantitative Economic Analysis-II on  Statistical Methods and Econometrics, Development Economics, Contemporary Issues in Indian Economics, International Economics, Financial Economics and Public Economics & Policy. Special emphasis is provided on computer-based practical in the area of Econometrics.  Among the Electives there are Econometric Methods, Money & Banking, Development Macroeconomics and Environmental Economics.

The course in thus self-contained and adequately designed to produce post-graduates who will readily meet the highest standards of demand in the world of academics and research on the one hand and prove capable of meeting the needs of industry in general, on the other.

The department has a total of eight faculty members — Prof. Dr. Mallinath Mukherjee, Prof. Bipra Kumar Das, Prof. Dr. Ranjanendra Narayan Nag, Prof. Dr. Pia Ghoshal, Prof. Dr. Saswati Chowdhuri, Prof. Dr. Samrat Roy, Prof. Dr. Urmi Mukherjee and Prof. Dr. Partha Pratim Ghosh (HOD).  The faculty members not only participate in the teaching-learning process but also engage themselves in collaborative and individual research. Prof. Dr. Mukherjee, Prof. Dr. Nag, Prof. Dr. Ghosh and Prof. Ghoshal have published papers in academic journals. Prof. Dr. Nag also enjoys the distinction of supervising dissertations at the M.Phil. and Doctoral levels. Prof. Dr. Ghosh has successfully completed a research project. Prof. Dr. Nag, Prof. Dr. Ghosh and Prof. Ghoshal have presented and co-authored papers at National and International Conferences.

The faculty members along with the students of the department form a very cohesive team. In addition to regular theoretical and practical classes, the department also organizes invited lectures by eminent speakers on classical as also contemporary issues in the domain of economics. Students participate in collaborative research with professors, are exposed to the frontiers of knowledge and trained in the state of the art techniques in the discipline of Economics.

Within seven months of its inception, the Post Graduate Department of Economics successfully organized an International webinar and two invited lectures, in the ever encouraging and inspiring presence of Father Principal, the tireless efforts and guidance of the professors and an active participation by the students.

The International webinar was conducted on 8th October, 2020 in collaboration with Yunus Centre, Bangladesh on the topic “The Covid-19 Pandemic – Lives, Livelihoods and Challenges”. Nobel Laureate and Chairman of Yunus Centre, Bangladesh, Professor Muhammad Yunus graced the occasion with his enigmatic presence and was the keynote speaker for the evening. Professor Raghabendra Chattopadhyay, retired professor of Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta also shared his views on the topic.

The invited lectures were delivered by two extremely renowned economists, Professor Sugata Marjit, Former Vice Chancellor of the University of Calcutta and currently the First Distinguished Professor at the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade and Professor Kumarjit Mandal , professor at the Department of Economics, University of Calcutta. The two events were seamlessly conducted on 18th December, 2020 and 25th March, 2021 on the topics “A New Ricardian Model on Trade, Growth and Inequality” and “New Developments in Fiscal Policy”, respectively.

These lectures were academically very engaging and opened up the minds of the students to the pressing questions of the day in the field of Economics, further stirred by the Pandemic. They provided additional insights to the different theories, some of which were already a part of the syllabus, and opened up new dimensions for research. Even on the digital platform, these lectures garnered immense participation from academicians aside from the hosts.

The following are the YouTube links of the webinar and the lectures in order of their occurrence—

1. “The Covid-19 Pandemic – Lives, Livelihoods and Challenges” — Professsor Muhammad Yunus and Professor Raghabendra Chattopadhyay
2. “A New Ricardian Model on Trade, Growth and Inequality” — Professor Sugata Marjit
3. “New Developments in Fiscal Policy” — Professor Kumarjit Mandal
4. “Expectations in Macroeconomics” – Lecture by Professor Soumyen Sikdar