On Tuesday, economist Surjit Bhalla resigned from his post as a part-time member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM). He made the announcement in a tweet published on Tuesday morning, which mentioned his other ongoing activities as well.
1/2 My forecast on Elections 2019; written as Contributing Editor Indian Express & Consultant @Network18Group; I resigned as part-time member PMEAC on December 1st; also look for my book Citizen Raj: Indian Elections 1952-2019 , due
— Surjit Bhalla (@surjitbhalla) December 11, 2018
The EAC-PM is headed by Niti Aayog member Bibek Debroy. Other part-time members of the EAC-PM include Rathin Roy, Ashima Goyal and Shamika Ravi.
Surjit Bhalla joined the EAC-PM in 2017. A frequent newspaper columnist who writes on global and national economic and political issues, Surjit holds a PhD in Economics from Princeton University, a Masters in Public and International Affairs from Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University, and a BSEE degree from Purdue University.
He is also the author of several books, including Imagine There’s no Country (2002), Devaluing to Prosperity (2012), The New Wealth of Nations (2017) and Between the Wickets: The Who and Why of the Best in Cricket (1987). He has also taught at the Delhi School of Economics.
According to his official website, Surjit is currently a Senior India Analyst at the Observatory Group, a New York based macroeconomic policy advisory firm, and the Chairman of Oxus Research & Investments. He previously served as the Executive Director of India’s first non-government funded think tank, Policy Group, and has been on the board of India’s largest think tank, the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), since 1999. He has also worked as a research analyst at both the research and treasury departments of the World Bank.
On Monday, news broke out that Dr Urjit Patel, the Governor of the RBI, had stepped down from his post, becoming the first RBI Governor since 1960 to resign from the post. This also made Urjit Patel the second RBI governor, after Raghuram Rajan, not to complete a 5 year term in the post.