Covid-19 and Its Implications for Economy, Work and Livelihoods Web Panel Discussion on APPROACHES to INCOME SUPPORT DURING the PANDEMIC TIMES

THE INDIAN SOCIETY OF

IHD-ISLE Webinar Series: Covid-19 and its Implications for Economy, Work and Livelihoods Web Panel Discussion on APPROACHES TO INCOME SUPPORT DURING THE PANDEMIC TIMES

About the Panelists

Professor Sudipto Mundle is Distinguished Fellow, National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), New Delhi. Formerly he was Emeritus Professor of National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi and a Member of the 14th Finance Commission, Government of India. He spent major part of his early career in the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and retired in 2008 as a Director in the 60 Strategy and Policy Department of ADB. Prior to joining ADB, he served in several academic institutions in India, including the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad; the Centre for Development Studies, Trivandrum; and the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi, where he was RBI Chair Professor. He has published several books and papers in professional journals in the ﬁelds of development economics, macroeconomic policy, and public ﬁnance.

Professor S. Mahandra Dev is Director and Vice-Chancellor, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR), Mumbai. Prof. S. Mahendra Dev has been the Director and Vice Chancellor, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR) in Mumbai, India since 2010. Prior to this position, he was Chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, Ministry of Agriculture from 2008 to 2010. He was Director, Centre for Economic and Social Studies, Hyderabad, India for 9 years from 1999 to 2008. He is Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, D.C. He was also Acting Chairman of the National Statistical Commission, Government of India. He received prestigious Malcolm Adiseshiah Award for outstanding research work on development studies. He received his Ph.D. from the Delhi School of Economics and did his postdoctoral research at Yale University. His main areas of interest are development economics, employment, poverty, inequality, agriculture policies, rural development and social sector. He has around 120 research publications in national and international journals. He has written or edited 19 books. He has been a member of several government committees in India, including the Prime Minister's Task Force on Employment, member of the Committee on Financial inclusion, member of the Expert Group on Poverty chaired by Dr. C. Rangarajan. He has received honors for eminence in public service.

Dr. Vinod Thomas is currently Special Adviser to the President and Dean of Asian Institute of Management, Manila and a Visiting Professor at the National University of Singapore. Previously he was Director General of Independent Evaluation at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) (2011- 2016). Prior to ADB, Dr. Thomas was the Director-General and Senior Vice-President of the Independent Evaluation Group at the World Bank (2006-2011). He was formerly Country Director for Brazil and Vice-President of the World Bank Institute, where he led the Institute's efforts to improve its focus, quality, and impact. Having joined the World Bank in 1976, he was Chief Economist for the East Asia and Paciﬁc region, Director for the World Development Report, Chief of Trade Policy and Principal Economist for Colombia, and Economist for Bangladesh. Dr. Thomas holds a PhD and MA in Economics from the University of Chicago and a BA from St. Stephen's college, Delhi. He has authored 16 books, articles and reports on macroeconomic, social and environmental issues. His books include The Quality of Growth, 2000, Multilateral Banks and the Development Process and Climate Change and Natural Disasters, 2012 and 2017 respectively, and (with Namrata Chindarkar) Economic Evaluation of Sustainable Development, 2019. He has taught at Vassar College, New York and the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, been on several Boards and has addressed numerous for a in all regions. He has been adviser for evaluation at Global Climate Fund and at IFAD, and for Results for Development and the Emerging Market Forum. Moderator Professor Alakh N. Sharma, currently Professor and Director of the Institute for Human Development (IHD), New Delhi, is a well-known development and labour economist of India. Earlier he has worked in the Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi; V.V. Giri National Labour Institute, Noida; Shri Ram Centre for Industrial Relations, New Delhi; and A.N. Sinha Institute of Social Studies, Patna. Professor Sharma has extensively worked in the areas relating to livelihoods, political economy, regional development, employment, labour markets and human development issues. He has authored and edited a large number of books and papers in these areas. He is also the Editor of the Indian Journal of Labour Economics (IJLE), the quarterly journal of the Indian Society of Labour Economics.