Bibek Debroy: Smart choice

Ranchi, Oct. 22: Chief minister Arjun Munda has requested economist Bibek Debroy to map Jharkhand’s growth path by heading a committee to identify ills plaguing the politically turbulent state.

Munda told The Telegraph from the national capital today that Debroy, a professor at Centre For Policy Research, New Delhi, and visiting honorary senior research fellow for Institute for South Asian Studies at National University of Singapore, had agreed to help out.

“We had detailed discussions with Debroy who will be heading a small committee. He will be expected to submit his report within two months. We are preparing the terms of reference for the committee,” the chief minister said.

He said the expert committee would identify various sectors, those that needed special focus and those in which Jharkhand was weak.

Munda, who has already appointed retired Assembly officer Ayodyanath Mishra as parliamentary adviser, will be using expert advice on economic issues for the first time since Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar in 2000.

At present, state officials prepare an economic survey report after assessing the performance of various sectors. The report is then presented to the Assembly.

According to sources, the chief minister was planning to appoint two retired bureaucrats/police officers as advisers, apparently taking cue from his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar who appointed Vijay S. Raghvan as adviser on economic affairs.

Debroy, who studied at Ramakrishna Mission School (Narendrapur), Presidency College (Calcutta), Delhi School of Economics and Trinity College (Cambridge), has headed various prestigious organisations and committees.

Among the posts he has held were director, Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies at Rajiv Gandhi Foundation; consultant, department of economic affairs in ministry of finance (government of India); secretary-general of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Director, project LARGE (Legal Adjustments and Reforms for Globalising the Economy), set up by the Union finance ministry and UNDP for examining legal reforms in India.

Fight against graft

Chief secretary A.K. Singh said that in the next few days, the state government would launch a serious drive against corrupt officials against whom cases were pending for a long time. “Holding panchayat polls and National Games by February next year are the other two priorities of the government,” he added.