Noted scholar and former finance minister of the Left Front government in West Bengal, Ashok Mitra, today passed away in a city hospital.
He was 90 and his wife had passed away 10 years ago.
Mitra was admitted in the hospital almost a month back with complaints of diarrhoea and later developed respiratory problems.
A prolific writer of several books, Mitra, also an eminent economist, penned several columns in newspapers on social and economic issues.
He was appointed as the finance minister in the Left Front rule and held the portfolio from 1977 to 1987.
Prior to that, he was the Chief Economic Adviser to the Central government from 1970 to 1972.