Ashok Lahiri Explained

Honorific Prefix:Dr.
Ashok Lahiri
Office:Member of West Bengal Legislative Assembly
Term Start:2 May 2021
Constituency:Balurghat
Predecessor:Biswanath Chowdhury
Office1:Member of the FifteenthFinance Commission
Alongside1:Shaktikanta Das
Ramesh Chand
Anoop Singh
Termend1:26 November 2023
2Blankname1:Chairman
2Namedata1:N. K. Singh
Office2:12thChief Economic Adviser to the Government of India
Appointer2:Appointments Committee of the Cabinet
Predecessor2:Rakesh Mohan
Successor2:Arvind Virmani
Appointer3:Appointments Committee of the Cabinet
Office3:Director of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy
Birth Name:Ashok Kumar Lahiri
Birth Date:1951 8, df=y
Alma Mater:
Occupation:Economist, academician
Party:Bharatiya Janata Party

Ashok Kumar Lahiri is an Indian economist and a member of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly from Balurghat.[1] He is currently serving as a member of the FifteenthFinance Commission. Lahiri previously served as 12thChief Economic Adviser to the Government of India, reader at the Delhi School of Economics, chairman of Bandhan Bank, executive director at the Asian Development Bank and director of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy and had stints with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, as a consultant and senior economist respectively. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Education

Lahiri is an alumnus of the economics department of the Presidency University, Kolkata.[2]

Economist

Lahiri has served as Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India,[3] [4] chairman of Bandhan Bank, economic adviser in the Ministry of Finance, executive director at the Asian Development Bank, director of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, reader at the Delhi School of Economics, consultant with the World Bank, and senior economist at the International Monetary Fund.

Director of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy

Lahiri served as the director of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy for fouryears between February1998 and October2002.

Chief Economic Adviser

Lahiri was appointed Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India (CEA) by the prime minister-led Appointments Committee of the Cabinet in December2002, and demitted the office of CEA in June2007, serving in the Ministry of Finance for more than fouryears. Lahiri served as the CEA under the premiership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh.[5]

Chairman of Bandhan Bank

Lahiri was appointed the non-executive, part-time chairman of the newly-formed Bandhan Bank in July2015;[6] [7] Lahiri resigned from his position as chairman in April2018 to serve as a full-time member of the FifteenthFinance Commission.[8] [9] [10]

Member of the FifteenthFinance Commission

Lahiri was appointed a part-time member of the FifteenthFinance Commission in November2017 by the President of India,[11] [12] [13] [14] Lahiri was elevated to a full-time member in April2018 and was accorded the status of a minister of state and served there till 26 November 2023.[15] [16]

Politics

He was declared as a candidate to contest from the Alipurduar constituency in the 2021 West Bengal election[17] but due to animosity among the local BJP members in Alipurduar, his name was later withdrawn from Alipurduar constituency in the list of candidates.[18] He was later declared as a candidate for the Balurghat constituency.[19]

He won against TMC candidate Shekhar Dasgupta by securing 36,143 votes.[20]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Balurghat Election Result 2021 Live Updates: Ashok Kumar Lahiri of BJP Wins. 2 May 2021.
  2. Web site: Economics —> Alumni. Presidency University, Kolkata. 17 December 2018.
  3. Web site: About Bandhan Bank —> Governance —> Ashok Kumar Lahiri. Bandhan Bank. https://web.archive.org/web/20171108095911/https://www.bandhanbank.com/about-bandhan-bank.aspx. 8 November 2017. 17 December 2018.
  4. Web site: Ashok K. Lahiri. Brookings Institution. 17 December 2018.
  5. Web site: Pandey. Kirti. 25 March 2021. Celebrated economist Ashok Lahiri, BJP candidate from Balurghat worked with Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh. live. 2021-04-04. Timesnownews.com. en. https://web.archive.org/web/20210325141938/https://www.timesnownews.com/india/article/celebrated-economist-ashok-lahiri-bjp-candidate-from-balurghat-worked-with-vajpayee-and-manmohan-singh/737244 . 25 March 2021 .
  6. Web site: Ashok Lahiri to chair Bandhan Bank board; founder unveils logo. Law. Abhishek. 9 July 2015. Business Line. The Hindu Group. Kolkata. 0971-7528. 456162874. 17 December 2018.
  7. News: Bandhan appoints former chief economic adviser Ashok Lahiri as chairman. Acharya. Namrata. 10 July 2015. Business Standard. 17 December 2018. Business Standard Ltd. Kolkata. 496280002.
  8. News: Ashok Kumar Lahiri quits as part-time chairman of Bandhan Bank. Jagannathan. K. T.. 9 April 2018. The Hindu. 17 December 2018. N. Ram. Chennai. 0971-751X. 13119119.
  9. Web site: Ashok Kumar Lahiri quits as non-executive chairman of Bandhan Bank. Kanungo. Soumonty. 9 April 2018. Livemint. Vivek Khanna. Kolkata. 17 December 2018.
  10. Web site: Ashok Lahiri steps down as chairman of Bandhan Bank. 11 April 2018. Business Standard. Business Standard Ltd. PressReader. 496280002. 17 December 2018.
  11. Web site: First Meeting of the Fifteenth Finance Commission, North Block, New Delhi. December 4, 2017. Finance Commission of India. https://web.archive.org/web/20180106220625/http://fincomindia.nic.in/DispFull.aspx?id=64 . 6 January 2018 . live. January 20, 2018.
  12. Web site: 15th Finance Commission to hold first meeting today. Mishra. Asit Ranjan. Livemint. HT Media Ltd. New Delhi. https://web.archive.org/web/20171203232815/http://www.livemint.com/Politics/GwNonR4z1VkieBTlewhmcO/15th-Finance-Commission-to-hold-first-meeting-today.html . 3 December 2017 . live. January 20, 2018.
  13. News: 15th Finance Commission holds first meeting . subscription . December 4, 2017. . https://web.archive.org/web/20171204141555/http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/15th-finance-commission-holds-first-meeting/article9981390.ece . 4 December 2017 . live . January 20, 2018.
  14. Web site: 15th Finance Commission holds first meeting, seeks academic inputs from leading think-tanks - Firstpost. December 4, 2017. Firstpost. New Delhi. March 31, 2018. Press Trust of India.
  15. News: Ashok Lahiri appointed full-time member of 15th Finance Commission. May 3, 2018. Business Standard. July 31, 2018. Business Standard Ltd. Press Trust of India. New Delhi. 496280002.
  16. Web site: Ashok Lahiri full-time member of fin panel. 4 May 2018. The Tribune. New Delhi. 17 December 2018. Tribune News Service.
  17. News: 14 March 2021. BJP fields former CEA Ashok Lahiri. live. 2021-04-03 . Business Line . en. https://web.archive.org/web/20210314190124/https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/bjp-fields-former-cea-ashok-lahiri/article34068452.ece . 14 March 2021 .
  18. News: 18 March 2021. Ashok lahiri replaced as BJP candidate. live. 2021-04-03. Business Line. en. https://web.archive.org/web/20210318181052/https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/national/ashok-lahiri-replaced-as-bjp-candidate/article34101487.ece . 18 March 2021 .
  19. Web site: Das. Madhuparna. 2021-03-23. Ex-CEA Ashok Lahiri is now BJP's candidate in Balurghat after being dropped from Alipurduar. 2021-04-03. ThePrint. en-US.
  20. Web site: Balurghat, West Bengal Assembly election result 2021.