S.Mahendra Dev Appointed Chairman of Economic Advisory Council to PM

S.Mahendra Dev, noted economist and former Independent Director of the Axis Bank, has been appointed as the Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM). The  post of the Chairman of the EAC-PM has been vacant since November 2024 when the then chairman Dr Bibek Debroy passed away on 1st November 2024. 

S.Mahendra Dev is the second person to be appointed as the Chairman of the EAC-PM since its constitution in 2017.

There is no fixed tenure of the Chairman of theEAC-PM and he holds the post on the pleasure of the central government. It means the government can dismiss him any time.

Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM)

The Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister(EAC-PM) was established on 26 September 2017 by the Central government.

It is an independent body that was set up through an executive order by the President of  India.

Thus, it is a non-constitutional(not mentioned in the constitution), non-statutory body(not made by a law passed by parliament). 

• The EAC-PM is composed of eminent economists and experts.
• It provides advice to the Prime Minister on all economic or any other issues referred to by the Prime Minister.
• It is an advisory body whose advice is not binding on the Prime Minister.

About S. Mahendra Dev 

S.Mahendra Dev is a noted development economist who did his PhD from the Delhi school of Economics. He did his postdoctoral from Yale university, United States.

During his career, he has been associated with various educational institutions and research institutions.

He was the Director of the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research,Mumbai. He has also been the Vice-Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI),New Delhi.

He has also held important posts in the government. He was a member of the Statistical Commission, Chairman of the Commission for Agriculture Cost and Price (CACP), 

He has also been the independent director at the Kotak Mahindra Bank, Kotak Prime Limited and Axis Bank.

He has also served on numerous government-appointed panels, such as the Prime Minister's Task Force on Employment and the Niti Aayog Committees.

He was honoured with the Malcolm Adiseshiah Award for Distinguished Contributions to Development Studies in 2016.