About the Author

Born on 9 October 1937 in Udaipur, Rajasthan, Yogesh Atal is eminently known as a social scientist and a man of letters.

After having taught at the University of Sagar, Punjab University, the Institute of Social Sciences, Agra University, and at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, he was appointed the first Director at the Indian Council of Social Science Research. In 1974, he joined UNESCO as the Regional Adviser for Social and Human Sciences for Asia and the Pacific. In 1993, he became UNESCO coordinator for the work related to the World Summit for Social Development.

Atal was invited to deliver the fourth Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Lecture at the University of London. The American Biographical Institute declared him Man of the Year 1990. In 1993, the Maharana Mewar Foundation awarded him the prestigious Maharana Mewar Award and the Albert Einstein International Academy Foundation gave him a Cross-of-Merit. The Korean Government and the Association of Asian Social Science Research Councils (AASSREC) likewise presented him with Plaques of Gratitude for his services to Asian Social Science. He was given the National Social Science Academic Award 2004by the Indian Social Science Association. He is an internationally acknowledged social scientist and a development expert.

He has authored a number of books and has edited nearly 40 books and monographs for UNESCO. He has edited a trilogy on poverty, namely, Poverty and Participation in Civil Society, Perspectives on Educating the Poor, and Poverty in Transition and Transition in Poverty. Another book by him, comprising essays on poverty, was released under the title The Poverty Question; Search for Solutions. His other publications include: Mandate for Political Transition, Indian Sociology; From Where to Where, Changing Indian Society, Education and Development, and Entering the Global Village. He edited Understanding the Social Sphere: The Village and Beyond, Exploring the Social Frontier, and Sociology and Social Anthropology in India.

A book in his honour was brought out under the editorship of Professor Surendra K. Gupta, titled Emerging Social Science Concerns.

He is among the pioneers in the social sciences to write and publish in Hindi, and popularize social sciences through the medium of Hindi. He translated Harry M. Johnson’s Sociology: A Systematic Introduction and S. C. Dube’s Indian Village.

Atal was a Member of the High-Powered Committee appointed by the Government of Rajasthan to examine the demand of the Gujars for inclusion in the ST category. Currently, he is a member of the Indian National Commission for Cooperation with UNESCO.