New Delhi, July 19 (PTI): Professor Prithvi Nath Dhar, an eminent economist who served as principal secretary to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in the 1970s, died of age-related problems today. He was 94.

An economics professor at Delhi University for many years, Dhar was one of the founders of the Delhi School of Economics.

He served as assistant secretary-general, research and policy analysis, at the United Nations in New York from 1976 to 1978. Dhar, who joined the PMO in 1970, received the Padma Bhushan in 2008.

“A very sad day for me,” Amartya Sen said. “He was a very close friend, very wise economist and wonderful public administrator. I worked closely with him. At the time of my joining the Delhi School of Economics, he shifted to the Institute of Economic Growth and played a major role in setting it up.”