New Delhi: The decision to appoint the chief economic advisor came even as the Narendra Modi government shunted the top civil servant in the finance ministry, Finance Secretary Arvind Mayaram, to a nondescript post of the Tourism Secretary and brought in his place Rajasthan Chief Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi as the Economic Affairs Secretary.
Both Mayaram and Mehrishi are 1978 batch Rajasthan cadre IAS officers. Mehrishi was the chief secretary of Rajasthan, a state that has pushed dramatic free market reforms in recent months. He has worked closely with Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje in introducing some of India’s most radical labour reforms.
Incidentally, Mayaram was appointed by the previous Congress-led government.
Mehrishi is an alumnus of St Xaviers School Jaipur; he got a college degree from Delhi’s St Stephen’s. He also has an MBA degree from the United Kingdom.
Mayaram is the second senior official in the Finance Ministry to be shifted out by the Modi Government; the first to be moved out was Revenue Secretary Rajiv Takru.
