Tamil Nadu govt includes Nobel laureates in Economic Advisory Council; Read full list here

In a key development, the Tamil Nadu government constituted an Economic Advisory Council to the CM comprising experts such as Nobel laureates Raghuram Rajan and Esther Duflo on Monday. TN Governor Banwarilal Purohit had talked about this during his address to the state Assembly. Observing that the fiscal situation of the state is "precarious" with persistent high fiscal deficit and debt, an official order stated that the government requires advice from the best economists available globally who are familiar with Tamil Nadu.

Such a move would help the MK Stalin-led government to deliver on faster economic growth, social justice and equity amid the serious economic crisis induced by the COVID-19 pandemic. While the Finance Department will act as the Secretariat, Additional Chief Secretary S Krishnan shall be the convenor of the Council. It will be treated as a Class I committee for the purpose of travel, hospitality-related expenditure, etc. It shall meet as often as possible in person or virtually and can provide inputs in the form of policy briefs, notes, or oral consultations. 

Here are the members of the Economic Advisory Council: 

1. Professor Esther Duflo- Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

2. Raghuram Rajan- Katherine Dusak Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago's Booth School and former RBI Governor

3. Arvind Subramanian- Senior Fellow, Brown University's Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs and former Chief Economic Advisor to the government of India

4. Professor Jean Drèze- Visiting professor at Ranchi University

5. S Narayan- Former Economic Advisor to the late PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Secretary to the government of India and Tamil Nadu

Scope of their work: 

• Provide general guidance on economic and social policy, social justice and human development issues in matters related to ensuring equal opportunities for women and the well-being of the underprivileged groups
• Make suggestions on boosting economic growth, employment and productivity
• Provide guidance on boosting the fiscal health of the state
• Advice on improving state capacity to deliver better services to people
• Act as a sounding board for new ideas
• Analyze and provide advice on any issue of economic and social policy referred to by the CM or the Minister for Finance and Human Resources Management