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| A K Bhattacharya: Where are the experts? | | Key ministries had top economists in the 1990s, and these advisors are missed today |
| A K Bhattacharya / New Delhi Aug 18, 2009, 00:53 IST |
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Key ministries had top economists during the reforms of the 1990s. The absence of these advisors is keenly felt today.
Rakesh Mohan, who quit the Reserve Bank of India as its deputy governor a couple of months ago, was the economic advisor in the industry ministry. Jayanto Roy, another economist who had earlier worked for the World Bank, was the economic advisor in the commerce ministry. Ashok Desai was the chief economic consultant in the finance ministry. And Montek Singh Ahluwalia was secretary in the finance ministry’s Department of Economic Affairs.
We are talking about 1991-92. That was the year Manmohan Singh, as finance minister in the P V Narasimha Rao government, ushered in economic reforms. It was not merely coincidental that these senior economists occupied key positions in different economic ministries at the time Manmohan Singh was giving shape to the government’s new economic policies. If reforms took off in the 1990s, these economists were no less responsible.
Indeed, Manmohan Singh ensured that the finance ministry continued to benefit from the advice of senior economists in the government in the years to come. Even before Ashok Desai left the ministry, Shankar Acharya was brought in as the chief economic advisor. In addition, there were Arvind Virmani (who is now the chief economic advisor) and Rajiv Kumar (who now heads ICRIER). Even subsequent governments continued to rely on senior economists to assist them to formulate economic policies. Jaswant Singh was perhaps an exception as he believed that he could do without the services of economists in the finance ministry.
With P Chidambaram back as finance minister in 2004, economists returned to the centre stage. Ashok Lahiri, Parthasarathi Shome and Shubhashis Gangopadhyay worked in the finance ministry in different capacities and they all played an important role in the formulation of the government’s economic policies. However, over the years, the government appears to have ceased to be an attractive place for senior economists.
With Arvind Virmani approaching superannuation, the government will be left with only a small number of senior economists on its rolls. If Chief Statistician Pronab Sen is selected to succeed Virmani, as is widely expected, the government may well be faced with another dilemma. How will it get another economist of Sen’s seniority and competence to head the National Statistical Commission?
There is no doubt that the government is facing a shortage of senior and experienced economists, who could be employed as advisors in different economic ministries. The ministries of industry and commerce do have economic advisors. But they are rarely heard or seen. Compare this with the 1990s, when Rakesh Mohan and Jayanto Roy, as economic advisors in these ministries, would be both heard and seen.
It is likely that economists now find better job opportunities in the private sector — think tanks, analyst organisations, rating agencies and research bodies. The opening up of the economy and the rapid expansion of the financial services sector have meant more attractive job options for economists. The Indian Economic Services has also failed to throw up fresh talent to meet the shortage of senior economists occupying key positions in different economic ministries.
There is also no denying that senior economists with the requisite experience of having worked in the government are vitally needed in all the key economic ministries. Senior economists hired on contract as advisors to ministers will only be a partial solution to the problem. It is important to build a strong cadre of economists who would have the potential to grow up within the government system and take up senior positions of responsibility. The cadre may have a small number of economists. But this cadre has to be nurtured with care.
In the initial 19 years of reforms, the government derived immense benefits from a group of senior economists who had spent several years in the government and knew how the system worked and how it could be made to deliver. Most of these economists have retired and moved on to other assignments outside the government. The government now needs to build a fresh team of economists who could take charge of economic policies in different ministries over the next few years.
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