Limca’s oldest MA student is 97 and studying economics to understand why India’s poor

Limca Book of Records has included the name of Raj Kumar Vaishya for enrolling in an MA in economics in 2015 at Nalanda Open University

A 97-year-old, who enrolled for a masters in economics here in 2015, has been recognised by the Limca Book of Records as the oldest man to do so.

Raj Kumar Vaishya graduated from Agra University in 1938, got a degree in law in 1940, but failed to get a masters. (File Photo)

The Limca Book of Records has included the name of Raj Kumar Vaishya for enrolling in an MA in economics in 2015 at Nalanda Open University (NOU).

Vaishya said he enrolled nearly one -and-half-years ago for the programme for two reasons: “To fulfil my long nurtured desire to get a master’s degree and to study economics to be able to understand why India has failed to solve problems like poverty.”

Vaishya, who graduated in 1938 and retired in 1980 as a general manager in a private firm in Koderma (now in Jharkhand), lives with the family of his second son Santosh Kumar in the posh Rajendra Nagar colony for last 10 years.

“I did my graduation from Agra University in 1938 and got a degree in law in 1940, but failed to get a masters’ degree due to increasing family responsibilities. Now, I am closer to fulfilling my dream,” he said.

Vaishya was born on April 1, 1920 in Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly town.