The Hindu Business Line : Alok Mukherjee, BL Delhi Bureau chief, passes away

New Delhi, June 30 Mr Aloran Mukherjee, Associate Editor and New Delhi Bureau Chief of The Hindu Business Line, passed away in the early hours of Monday following a brief illness. Mr Mukherjee, who had turned 50 on June 2, is survived by his wife Sharmistha.

A product of St. Columba’s School here, ‘Alok’ – as he was generally known to all – did Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Economics at Kirori Mal College, Delhi University, before starting his journalistic career with The Financial Express in 1979. He joined The Hindu in May 1988 as a correspondent covering the Finance and Commerce Ministry beats.

In February 2005, Mr Mukherjee took over as New Delhi Bureau Chief of Business Line.

In a condolence message, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said that the Prime Minister was sad to learn about Mr Mukherjee’s untimely demise, which had rendered the profession of business journalism poorer.

“Mr Mukherjee was an active and dedicated journalist who has been covering economic policy issues for over two decades. I wish to convey the Prime Minister’s sincere condolences on this sad occasion to Mr Mukherjee’s family and to all his colleagues in The Hindu and Business Line,” the Media Advisor to the Prime Minister, Dr Sanjaya Baru, said in a statement.

In his condolence message the Chairman, Steel Authority of India Ltd, Mr S.K. Roongta, said that the dynamism of Mr Mukherjee in actively promoting the cause of unbiased journalism will always be remembered.

Mr Saumitra Chaudhury, Economic Advisor with the credit rating agency ICRA, said that he had known Mr Mukherjee for the past two decades as “someone with no airs of any kind and a committed professional very much on the ground, who always reported facts before anything else”.

The CII said: “Industry still fondly recalls the lively manner in which he wrote. His writings were a reflection of his deep understanding of the economic nuances and the ease of his thought process. His passing away is a major loss to the journalistic fraternity, especially to the world of finance and business journalism.”

“A very good reporter of economic events, who never allowed his opinions to influence what he wrote”, was how Mr R. Krishnan, a long-standing friend and former colleague at the The Hindu described Mr Mukherjee. Mr Kingshuk Nag, a college mate and currently Resident Editor of The Times of India at Hyderabad, said: “Alok had a sound grasp on matters relating to finance and trade. And even while being an economic correspondent, he was always abreast of the happenings at Delhi’s corridors of power”.

A large cross-section of friends and associates, both from the media and outside, attended the cremation ceremony of Mr Mukherjee. Among those who placed wreaths were senior officials from Steel Authority of India Ltd and the apex chambers of commerce.

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