In search of economists

Govt needs to deliberate on how to rebuild a pool of economists who could contribute to the bench strength of talent to help steer economic policy management in a far more complex & risk-prone economy

Last week, the Union government announced the appointment of Pravin Srivastava as its chief statistician, filling a post that had remained vacant for over eight months. While the government may pat itself on the back for finding a successor to T C A Anant, who had completed his tenure as chief statistician on January 31 this year, the fact is that the inordinately long period it took to fill the vacancy is a cause for concern.

There is, of course, good reason for students and analysts of the Indian economy to heave a sigh of relief now that there is someone