Bibek Debroy, Modi’s silent spiritual economist, passes away
Image credit X.com @narendramodi
Bibek Debroy Hit Headlines with Advocacy to Tax Agri-Income
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, November 1: Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council (PM-EAC) chairman Bibek Debroy passed away on Friday morning. The AIIMS, New Delhi said that Debroy passed away for ailments concerning “intestinal obstruction”.
Debroy, 69, was a Niti Aayog Member while also being chairman of the PM-EAC. He worked from his office in the Niti Aayog building in the national capital.
He was a columnist for various publications. Debroy was also a prolific author with interests largely in the Hindu scriptures.
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Lately, Debroy came out with books on Purana, Mahabharata, and other spiritual works. He also mentored spiritual authors. While heading the PM-EAC, Debroy brought several books in the recent years from the realm of spirituality.
Debroy’s interest largely lied in the Railways. As a member of the Niti Aayog, he looked after the concerns of Railways. He had also authored a report on the roadmap for the transformation of the Railways when Suresh Prabhu helmed the Ministry of Railways.
Debroy advocated rationalisation of the workforce of the Ministry of Railways. He advised the Railways for the amalgamation of various cadres for optimum efficiency and utilisation. The Railways implemented parts of his reports in the recent years.
Debroy had been an outspoken economist within the Narendra Modi dispensation until he made a controversial statement in the first term of the NDA government. At a press conference of the Niti Aayog, Debroy argued for taxing the agricultural income with threshold exemptions.
His statement on taxing agriculture income soon turned heat on the NDA government at the Centre. “Late Arun Jaitely, then finance minister, asked Debroy to retract his statement on taxing the agriculture income. Soon, Debroy clarified the statement, and afterwards he mostly remained a silent economist within the Modi dispensation,” said a senior official in the Niti Aayog.
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After the controversy, Debroy also developed distance from the media. Despite being the PM-EAC chairman, Debroy stayed away from speaking freely on subjects of economy.
On his watch, PM-EAC came out with occasional papers. The last paper from the PM-EAC traced the economic progress of the states through decades. It argued that the southern states galloped with fast development after the unveiling of the new economy by late PV Narsimha Rao in 1991.
The report also documented states such as Punjab and West Bengal losing initial advantages to become economic laggards. Debroy regularly called on Union Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman.
The prime minister in his condolence message shared a photograph with him from 2021. Debroy was popular among the affiliates of the Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh. Turning stoic, Debroy lately dealt with critical questions on the state of affairs of the economy with smirk.
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