Dr. Ashok Lahiri | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of theWest Bengal Legislative Assembly | |
| Assumed office 2 May 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Biswanath Chowdhury |
| Constituency | Balurghat |
| Member of the Fifteenth Finance Commission | |
| In office 27 November 2017 (2017-11-27) – 26 November 2023 | |
| Appointed by | President of India |
| Chairman | N. K. Singh |
| 12th Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India | |
| In office December 2002 (2002-12) – June 2007 (2007-06) | |
| Appointed by | Appointments Committee of the Cabinet |
| Prime Minister | Atal Bihari Vajpayee(2002–2004) Manmohan Singh(2004–2007) |
| Preceded by | Rakesh Mohan |
| Succeeded by | Arvind Virmani |
| Director of theNational Institute of Public Finance and Policy | |
| In office February 1998 (1998-02) – October 2002 (2002-10) | |
| Appointed by | Appointments Committee of the Cabinet |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Ashok Kumar Lahiri (1951-08-03)3 August 1951 (age 74) |
| Party | Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) |
| Alma mater | Delhi School of Economics Delhi University Presidency University, Kolkata |
| Occupation | Economist |
Ashok Kumar Lahiri is anIndianeconomist andpolitician who is currently serving as the member of theWest Bengal Legislative Assembly fromBalurghat constituency.[1] He is currently serving as a member of theFifteenth Finance Commission. Lahiri previously served as 12th Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India,reader at theDelhi School of Economics, chairman ofBandhan Bank, executive director at theAsian Development Bank and director of theNational Institute of Public Finance and Policy and had stints with theWorld Bank and theInternational Monetary Fund, as a consultant and senior economist respectively. He is a member of theBharatiya Janata Party.
Lahiri is an alumnus of the economics department of thePresidency University, Kolkata.[2]
Lahiri has served asChief Economic Adviser to the Government of India,[3][4] chairman ofBandhan Bank, economic adviser in theMinistry of Finance,[4] executive director at theAsian Development Bank,[3][4] director of theNational Institute of Public Finance and Policy,[3][4]reader at theDelhi School of Economics,[4] consultant with theWorld Bank,[4] and senior economist at theInternational Monetary Fund.[4]
Lahiri served as the director of theNational Institute of Public Finance and Policy for four years between February 1998 and October 2002.[4]
Lahiri was appointedChief Economic Adviser to the Government of India (CEA) by theprime minister-ledAppointments Committee of the Cabinet in December 2002,[4] and demitted the office of CEA in June 2007,[4] serving in theMinistry of Finance for more than four years. Lahiri served as the CEA under the premiership ofAtal Bihari Vajpayee andManmohan Singh.[5]
Lahiri was appointed thenon-executive, part-time chairman of the newly-formedBandhan Bank in July 2015;[6][7] Lahiri resigned from his position as chairman in April 2018 to serve as a full-time member of the Fifteenth Finance Commission.[8][9][10]
Lahiri was appointed a part-time member of theFifteenth Finance Commission in November 2017 by thePresident of India,[11][12][13][14] Lahiri was elevated to a full-time member in April 2018 and was accorded the status of aminister of state and served there till 26 November 2023.[15][16]
He was declared as a candidate to contest from theAlipurduar constituency in the2021 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 theBalurghat constituency.[19]
He won against TMC candidate Shekhar Dasgupta by securing 36,143 votes.[20]