 "Bibek Debroy")
Noted economist and NITI Aayog member Bibek Debroy is expected to assume a wider role in the government. One of the options being considered is to appoint him as the economic advisor to the Prime Minister.
Debroy, who has been instrumental in bringing a transformational change in the Indian Railways during his stint as member of the Aayog, is expected to have a role and responsibility similar to the erstwhile chairman of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC). The previous PMEAC was headed by former RBI governor C Rangarajan, before it was wound up after the NDA government took charge.
Government officials indicated a move to shift Debroy to the new position was in the offing, but did not say when the actual shift would take place. Debroy didn’t respond to queries sent to him till the time of going to press.
It was based on the Debroy Committee’s recommendations that the central government abolished the British-era legacy of a separate Railway Budget and merged it with the General Budget and embarked on a path of changing the fiscal year from April-March to January-December.
The Debroy committee on restructuring of Indian Railways recommended liberalisation of the railways to attract private sector participation for project execution and setting up an independent regulator to promote competition. Debroy has also been a long-time proponent of pruning departments in large states to 30 in order to enable better coordination, governance and efficiency. In a blog published on the NITI Aayog website, the economist said that unless departments were pruned, schemes and laws, orders and regulations could not be pruned either.
Debroy, who has been instrumental in bringing a transformational change in the Indian Railways during his stint as member of the Aayog, is expected to have a role and responsibility similar to the erstwhile chairman of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC). The previous PMEAC was headed by former RBI governor C Rangarajan, before it was wound up after the NDA government took charge.
Government officials indicated a move to shift Debroy to the new position was in the offing, but did not say when the actual shift would take place. Debroy didn’t respond to queries sent to him till the time of going to press.
It was based on the Debroy Committee’s recommendations that the central government abolished the British-era legacy of a separate Railway Budget and merged it with the General Budget and embarked on a path of changing the fiscal year from April-March to January-December.
The Debroy committee on restructuring of Indian Railways recommended liberalisation of the railways to attract private sector participation for project execution and setting up an independent regulator to promote competition. Debroy has also been a long-time proponent of pruning departments in large states to 30 in order to enable better coordination, governance and efficiency. In a blog published on the NITI Aayog website, the economist said that unless departments were pruned, schemes and laws, orders and regulations could not be pruned either.
