Chief Economic Advisor

In News

• The government has appointed Venkatraman Anantha Nageswaran as its chief economic advisor (CEA) days before the tabling of the 2021-22 Economic Survey and the presentation of the 2022-23 Union Budget.

About

• The Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) is a post in the Government of India and is equivalent to the rank of Secretary to the Government of India.
• The CEA is the ex-officio cadre controlling authority of the Indian Economic Service: The CEA is head of Economic Division of the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance
• Role of the CEA: The extent to which the Government takes into account the advice of the Chief Economic Adviser has generally been considered to be open-ended.
  • The main role of CEA is to produce an Economic Survey.
• Who was the first Chief Economic Advisor of India?
  • Renowned economist JJ Anjaria (1908-70), who co-authored the classic text on Indian agricultural economics, ‘The Indian Rural Problem’, was the first Chief Economic Advisor of India.
  • He held the position from 1956 to 1961, during the tenure of former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

Source: BS