New Delhi: The second meeting of the Economic Advisory Council to Prime Minister Narendra Modi spelt out a road map for stepping up skill development, job creation and enhanced resource investment in the social sector including for health and education, and for boosting infrastructure financing.
The meeting was chaired by Chairman Bibek Debroy and was attended by Dr Shamika Ravi, a Senior Fellow of Governance Studies Program at Brookings India and Brookings Institution Washington D.C, apart from members of the EAC – leading economists Dr. Surjit Bhalla, Dr. Rathin Roy, Dr. Ashima Goyal and Member Secretary Ratan P. Watal, who was also the former Finance Secretary and Principal Adviser to NITI Aayog.
In its first meeting last month, the EAC-PM had stressed the need to “accelerate economic growth and employment over the next six months” and identified 10 areas on which it will prepare reports and make recommendations to the government over the next few months.
These included economic growth, employment and job creation, the informal sector and integration, fiscal framework, monetary policy, public expenditure, institutions of economic governance, agriculture and animal husbandry, patterns of consumption, and production and the social sector.
Vinod KPaul, another member of Niti Aayog, highlighted strategies for achieving ‘Swastha Bharat’ by 2022. Skill development strategies were presented by the skill development secretary, KP Krishnan, who highlighted convergent initiatives to reach out to the youth and women.
TCA Anant, secretary in the ministry of statistics and programme implementation, outlined improvements needed in national accounts. It was complemented by a presentation by member secretary EAC-PM, Ratan P Watal
According to an official statement, EAC members on Friday discussed the improvements needed in national accounts and innovative steps for unlocking growth, exports and the employment potential of growth drivers.
“It has formulated far-reaching recommendations to guide the evolving framework for the 15th Finance Commission, including the incentivisation of states for achieving health, education and social inclusion outcomes,” the statement said.
The council is also evolving the design of a new economy tracking monitor, linking economic growth indicators with social indicators for last-mile connectivity, it said. In its first meeting held last month, the EAC had identified 10 priority areas for reviving growth and employment in a six-month timeframe.
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