Author, Academic & Padma Shri: Meet Bibek Debroy, the new chief of PM's Economic Advisory Council

Moneycontrol News 

The government on Monday reconstituted the Economic Advisory Council (EAC) to guide the Prime Minister on various economic issues and appointed economist Bibek Debroy as its Chairman.

Ever since the NDA had come to power in 2014 and former RBI governor C Rangarajan resigned as Chairman the same year, the Council was lying defunct.

PM Modi has set up the panel as the economy faces resistance prompting many economists to revise down estimates for the fiscal year ending in March 2018.

“The five-member council consists of economists of high repute and eminence,” a government release said.

Here’s some background on economist Bibek Debroy, the newly-appointed Chairman:

# Debroy hails from Kolkata and he studied at Ramakrishna Mission, Narendrapur. He went on to complete his graduation in economics from Presidency College, Kolkata.

# He pursued his higher studies at the Delhi School of Economics, followed by Trinity College Cambridge.

# Commencing his career as an academic, Debroy taught at Presidency College, Kolkata from (1979-83), then followed by the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics in Pune (1983-87), Indian Institute of Foreign Trade Delhi (1987-93), National Council of Applied Economic Research (Delhi) and the Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies (1997-2005)

# His stint as an economic advisor was flagged off when he was appointed Director of a Ministry of Finance/ UNDP project on legal reforms from 1993-1998

# Debroy was formerly with the Centre for Policy research for eight years from 2007 till 2015

# Before that, Debroy was Secretary General of the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry from 2005-06

# Since its inception in January 2015, Mr Debroy has been a member of NITI Aayog, the policy think tank of Indian Government.

# Debroy also headed a panel for restructuring the Indian Railways which had submitted a report in 2015 that suggested that the rail budget should be done away with, apart from other major revamps such as a shift in the accounting system to a commercial one and private entry into railway freight manufacturing

# Debroy was also a member of the National Manufacturing Competitive Council from November 2004-December 2009

# Debroy has also authored a ten-volume unabridged version of the Mahabharata and has done translations of the Harivamsa in 2016 and the Bhagavad Gita in 2006. He has also done a three-column translation of the Ramayana that is due to publish in 2017. He is currently working on a translation of the Bhagavata Purana

# He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2015 and a Lifetime Achievement Award at the US-India Business Summit in 2016

# He was the Director of the project “LARGE” (Legal Adjustments and Reforms for Globalising the Economy) set up by the Finance Ministry and the UNDP

# Following this he went on to work as a Consultant for the Department of Economic Affairs from 1994-95

# Apart from economic research and policy advice, Debroy has also authored several books including written papers and also been a contributor columnist in various newspapers

Other members of the reconstituted council include Rathin Roy, Ashima Goyal, Surjit Bhalla and Ratan Watal.