• Bibek Debroy, a key economic adviser to the Prime Minister, passed away on November 1. He was 69. 

• An empirical economist and a Padma Shri awardee, Debroy was the chairman of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council since September 2017.

• A prolific writer, Debroy authored and edited several books, including translations of the puranas, the four vedas, and 11 major Upanishads.

• Educated in Ramakrishna Mission School, Narendrapur and Kolkata’s Presidency College, he went to the Delhi School of Economics and Trinity College, Cambridge.

• He worked on trade issues in the 1980s and law reform in the following decade. 

• He was also a full-time member of NITI Aayog from its constitution in 2015 until June 2019.

• Debroy was awarded the Padma Shri in 2015.

• Debroy had worked in Presidency College, Kolkata; Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune; Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, Delhi; and also as the Director of a Ministry of Finance/UNDP project on legal reforms.

• He had also been a consulting/contributing editor with several newspapers.

• In September, Debroy resigned as chancellor of the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (GIPE) after the Bombay High Court extended interim relief to Vice-Chancellor Ajit Ranade, who was earlier removed from his post.

The Bibek Debroy Committee

• The Bibek Debroy Committee was established by the Union government in 2014 to address critical areas within Indian Railways.

• Led by economist Bibek Debroy, the Committee aimed to streamline resources for large-scale railway projects and restructure both the Railway Ministry and Railway Board for more effective management.

• The Committee’s comprehensive report, spanning 319 pages, examines nearly all aspects of Indian Railways operations. It offers detailed recommendations for assembling assets needed for major rail projects and proposes structural reforms to enhance efficiency and responsiveness within the Railway Ministry and Railway Board.

Economic Advisory Council to the PM

• Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) is an independent body constituted to give advice on economic and related issues to the government of India, specifically to the Prime Minister. 

The Terms of Reference of EAC-PM include: 

i) Analysing any issue, economic or otherwise, referred to it by the Prime Minister and advising him thereon.

ii) Addressing issues of macroeconomic importance and presenting views thereon to the Prime Minister.

• These could be either suo-motu or on reference from the Prime Minister or anyone else. They also include attending to any other task as may be desired by the Prime Minister from time to time.

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)