Economist Jean Drèze was awarded the Global Inequality Research Award at the World Inequality Conference held at the Paris School of Economics on Friday.

Drèze was recognised for his work on poverty and inequality measurement in India, as well as his advocacy for the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and the National Food Security Act.

After winning the award, Drèze said: “This recognition is not something I achieved on my own. All the work I do is in collaboration with people and collectives working for change.”

“India has all possible varieties of inequality – not only astronomical economic inequality, but also the caste system, huge gender disparities, massive disparities in access to education, and so forth,” Drèze said. “The silver lining is that India also has a rich history of resistance to inequality. I’ve been very fortunate to be associated with some of these movements.”

The Global Inequality Research Award is presented every two years to researchers who have made significant contributions to the understanding of global inequalities.

This is the second edition of the award. The 2024 inaugural Global Inequality Research Award was jointly awarded to Bina Agarwal and James K Boyce for their work on social and environmental inequalities.

In recent years, Drèze has opposed the repeal of the MGNREGA and questioned Aadhaar authentication for food rations.

He has argued that the new rural employment guarantee law, the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, “provides a work guarantee without any guarantee that the guarantee applies”.

Drèze has also questioned citizens being denied food rations through the public distribution system due to the absence of Aadhaar authentication.

Edited by Neerad Pandharipande.

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