New Delhi, Oct 11: The first meeting of the newly-constituted Economic Advisory Council to Prime Minister Narendra Modi (EAC-PM) will be held today at the NITI Aayog.
The council, set up with the Prime Minister's approval on September 26, 2017 and comprising reputed economists and experts, will be chaired by Dr. Bibey Debroy. Principal Adviser of NITI Aayog Ratan P. Watal will be the council'a member secretary and Dr. Surjit Bhalla, Dr. Rathin Roy and Dr. Ashima Goyal its part-time members.
With the constitution of the Council, the government has set up a unique independent institutional mechanism. This is mandated to analyse all critical issues, economic or otherwise referred to it by the Prime Minister and to advise him on the same. Members of the Council will also be expected to address issues of macro-economic importance and express their views.
The Council held a brainstorming session with stakeholders on October 9 at the NITI Aayog in the run-up to the first meeting of the Council. The Council will address all issues of emergent importance, will engage with a broad spectrum of stakeholders and formulate advice accordingly.
In another development, former RBI Governor C Rangarajan said that he expected the economy to grow at 6.5 per cent for the year 2017-18. He also said that job opportunities and economic growth of the country were inter-related.
"Jobs (jobs creation) are not independent. They are related to growth. When the economy grows, jobs also grow. So you cannot talk of jobs separately from growth", the former chairman of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council said.
"I think the possibility is that growth will pick up in the next few quarters but one doesn't know by how much. Perhaps by the year as a whole my own estimation is the economy may grow at 6.5 per cent", the former RBI Governor noted.
NITI AAYOG WORKING ON DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION INDEX
Meanwhile, the NITI Aayhog is working on a Digital Transformation Index for start-ups in the country.
"NITI Aayog is working on a Digital Transformation Index for start-ups", its Officer on Special Duty Aalekh Sharan said,
Digital Transformation Index (DTI) is a tool used for gauging how well one helps an organisation grow and thrive in a digital world.
Steps such as measuring the spirit of cooperation and competitiveness among states and ensuring best practices are shared and replicated are being taken, he said, adding that many top innovators are engaged with multinational companies abroad.
"The challenge is to bring them back home and inspire them to contribute towards innovation in India. This is something which will create more jobs, he said at an event organised by the CII in association with USPTO-GIPA in Kolkata on Tuesday.
Sharan also underscored the need for stronger industry-academia linkages for creating a strong eco-system of innovation.
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