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Who is Bibek Debroy, PM's economic advisory council chief who called for ‘new constitution’?
Bibek Debroy is a noted economist who serves as the chairman of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's economic advisory council since 2017.
Bibek Debroy, the chairman of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council (PM-EAC) landed himself in a controversy with his remark calling for a ‘new Constitution’. This comment was made in an opinion article published in a newspaper on Monday. Debroy's remarks came during the celebrations of the 77th Independence Day of India, in which he called to do away with the existing Constitution, pointing out that it carried the colonial legacy with it.
His remarks received flak from several Opposition parties who said the Constitution guarantees the rights of 1.4 billion people. Some leaders also called for legal actions to be taken against him in response to his statements, while the PM EAC distanced itself from Debroy's ‘personal views’.
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Who is Bibek Debroy?
1) The noted economist was a member of the NITI Aayog before assuming the role of chief of PM-EAC in 2017, when the formation of the five-member panel took place. The author has taught at many institutions including the Presidency College, Calcutta, the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade and National Council of Applied Economic Research.
2) Debroy, 68, has been a part of many prestigious educational institutions. He pursued studies in Ramakrishna Mission School, West Bengal's Narendrapur; Presidency College, Kolkata; Delhi School of Economics and Trinity College (Cambridge), as per the PM-EAC website.
3) Previously, he has been a member of various government panels including a consultancy role for the Department of Economic Affairs of the Finance Ministry; Secretary General of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry among others. His past positions also include serving as the director of the Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies at the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation.
4) Debroy has authored several books, papers and popular articles and regularly appears in the country's most prominent financial newspapers.
5) He also headed the panel on restructuring the Indian Railways, which recommended doing away with the rail budget. Acting on the recommendations of the report, the Union government merged the rail budget with the general budget from the year 2017-18.
