Tamil Nadu government appoints Raghuram Rajan and others in Economic Advisory Council

Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit, during his address on the first day of the newly formed Tamil Nadu assembly, stated that the government is forming an Economic Advisory Council to the Chief Minister, which will include Nobel Laureate Esther Duflo of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Duflo is a French–American economist and a Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She co-founded and directed the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, which was founded in 2003. She is the wife of Nobel Peace Prize winner Abhijit Banerjee.

Former Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan, former Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India Aravind Subramanian, Development Economist Jean Dreze, and former Union Finance Secretary S. Narayan are also members of the advisory committee.

Governor Banwarilal Purohit in his address to the Tamil Nadu assembly said, ‘The government will revitalize the state’s economy and ensure that the benefits of economic development reach all segments of the society after the recommendations of the Economic advisory committee.’

The Governor also stated that a white paper detailing the exact status of the state’s finances will be released in July to fully inform the people of the state. A detailed and in-depth study of the state’s overall debt burden and fiscal position will be conducted.

The Governor stated that a separate annual budget for agriculture will be introduced in order to increase agricultural productivity and protect farmer welfare.

He said, ‘Government will take all steps to achieve the target of 125 metric tonnes of food production in 2021-22’. The Governor in his address also said that water for Kuruvai cultivation has already been released.

He also stated that the government would make the necessary changes to reverse previous orders that gave preference to Tamil medium and government school educated students in government job recruitment.

The Tamil Nadu governor also mentioned that the state government will protect the interests of the fishing community and will raise the issue of Katchatheevu retrieval with the Union government.