Five years ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a famous statement that “hard work is more powerful than Harvard.” He was emphasising the importance of not just assiduousness but also the virtue of being grounded in reality. This was in sharp contrast with the rise of some deracinated grandees whose sole qualification is some fancy foreign degree. Dr. Rajiv Kumar is one scholar who, while holding an Oxford degree, is hard-working.
Perhaps this is the reason that he is the Vice-Chairman, National Institution for Transformation of India or NITI Aayog, in the rank and status of a Cabinet Minister. The Prime Minister is the Chairman, NITI Aayog. Dr. Kumar also serves as the Chancellor of Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune, and Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Giri Institute of Development Studies, Lucknow.
Dr. Kumar holds a Ph.D. from Lucknow University, which he received in 1978, and a D.Phil. in Economics from Oxford University which he received in 1981. He has Bachelor’s Degree from St. Stephen college, Delhi University. This makes him come up with sound politico-economic analysis.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a famous statement that “hard work is more powerful than Harvard.” He was emphasising the importance of not just assiduousness but also the virtue of being grounded in reality. This was in sharp contrast with the rise of some deracinated grandees whose sole qualification is some fancy foreign degree. Dr. Rajiv Kumar is one scholar who, while holding an Oxford degree, is hard-working
Commenting on the Bharatiya Janata Party’s impressive victory in the recently held state elections, he said, “The results have shown that the Prime Minister’s stand of not being a populist but doing what is good for the economy has been endorsed by the people. The political narrative will change from populist to good economics also being good politics.”
Dr. Kumar could say that because he has wide experience of having worked in academia, government, industry, and in multilateral institutions. After completing his D.Phil at Oxford, Dr. Kumar started his academic career in the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), Delhi, as a Program Coordinator from 1982-to 1987.
He was a Professor at the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, (1987-89). He later became the Director & CEO of ICRIER between 2006 and 2011. He served as Senior Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research (2013-16), Delhi. He founded the Pahle India Foundation, a non-profit making research think tank in 2013, which he also headed until 2017.
His earlier stints in the Government were as Senior Consultant at the Bureau of Industrial Costs and Prices, Ministry of Industry (1989-1991), and as Economic Advisor with the Department of Economic Affairs, ministry of Finance (1991-94). His experience in multilateral financial institutions was with Asian Development Bank, Manila, where he spent 10 years before returning to India in 2004. He also worked as a Consultant to Unctad, Unido, and the World Bank.
He was the Chief Economist of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) during 2004-2006 and the Secretary-General of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) during 2011-2013. Dr. Kumar has served on the Central Boards of State Bank of India for two terms and on the Central Board of Reserve Bank of India.
He is the writer of several books on India’s economy and national security. He is an economic columnist for major Indian publications and is a speaker on the Indian political economy.
His knowledge and experience make him a perfect bridge between the Modi regime, which is committed to reforms, and India Inc. The NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman some time ago interacted with over 65 think tanks on the “macroeconomic perspective” of the economy and the Union Budget 2022-23. The think tanks included the National Council of Applied Economic Research and the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, and ICRIER.
