| Farouk, Abdullah (1928-1997) educationist,
economist, writer. Abdullah Farouk was born in pabna.
He got primary and secondary education first at Pabna Zilla School and
then at Park Circus High School, Calcutta. After receiving his higher
secondary education from Pabna Edward College, he went to Rajshahi Government
College, where he completed BA Honours in Economics in 1945. He received
the MA degree in Economics (1948) from Calcutta University with statistics
as a special paper.
Abdullah Farouk had a
varied job experience. Initially, he took a teaching job in Pabna
Alia Madrasah. Later, he joined Sirajganj College as an Economics
teacher. In 1950, he was appointed assistant director of the government
food department. The government sent him to Calcutta to participate
in a one-year training course on official statistics sponsored by
the Indian Statistical Institute headed by PC Mohalnobish. He then
got registration as a PhD student under SV Ayar at the Economics
Department of the Dhaka University. |
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Abdullah
Farouk |
Sometime during this period, he got married to Sufia,
who was then a student of Chittagong Khastagir College. He continued work
as a research student and wrote a book on Pakistan Economy. Farouk was
awarded the PhD degree in 1955 for his dissertation on 'Rice Marketing'.
In the same year, he joined Dhaka University as a full time teacher and
went to Indonesia to represent East Pakistan in the Bandung conference
on population growth.
When Pakistan government published the draft of its first
Five-Year Plan in 1956, the Pakistan Economic Association convened a special
conference to discuss it. Representatives from East Pakistan opposed the
Plan from the point of view of a 'two economy'concept and submitted a
memorandum to which Abdullah Farouk was one of the signatories. In 1957,
Abdullah Farouk received training on research methodology in USA, UK and
France under a UNESCO programme. In 1964, he got Nuffield Foundation Fellowship
to conduct research study in UK. In 1966, he was invited to the International
Marketing Institute of the Harvard Business School. In 1967, he visited
France and East Germany to attend seminars on economic development. Subsequently,
he also visited Burma, Ceylon, Vietnam, China, Brazil, Chile and Japan.
Dr. Farouk taught economics and marketing but most of his research was devoted to marketing. He wrote a textbook on the problems of marketing in Bangladesh. Together with abul
fazal atwar husain, mirza nurul huda, Quazi motahar Husain and Maniruzzaman, he set up the Bureau of Economic Research in Dhaka University. His work Irrigation on a Monsoon Land demonstrated his interest in modernising agricultural practices. Science-trained Manpower, co-authored with Taherul Islam and Maniruzzaman, was a pioneering study on contribution of science-related knowledge and skill in East Pakistan. His books titled The Hard Working Poor and The Vagrants of Dhaka City reflected his concerns for the neglected section of the population and the interrelationship between these groups of people and development. Time Use of Rural Women is one of the first major works to bring gender issue into economic studies in Bangladesh. Other major works of Abdullah Farouk include Modernising Subsistent Agriculture (co-authored by S A Lake), Retailing of Consumer Goods (co-authored by M. Safiullah), Economic History of Bangladesh, Changes in Bangladesh Economy and Measuing Benefits of Development Projects. Dr. Farouk was vocal on many issues as can be seen from his pamphlet on primary education. He was also a good education manager and adept in promoting the research capabilities of young researchers.
Dr. Farouk became the Treasurer of Dhaka University in
1986. At different stages of his career, he served the government as Member,
Planning Commission, as Chairman, jiban
bima corporation, janata
bank, bangladesh
shilpa rin sangstha and National Income Commission, Member,
Minimum Wage Board and Member, Small and Cottage and Industries Corporation.
[M Habibullah]
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