With illustrious careers spanning about six decades each, ‘Venu’ Y.V. Reddy and N.K. Singh represent a generation of bureaucrats who were torch-bearers of significant periods in India’s post-independence history. Batchmates from the 1964 batch of the Indian Administrative Service and Chairmen of successive Finance Commissions, the two IAS officers-turned-policymakers came together for the third Flagship Dialogue hosted by the Centre for Social and Economic Progress on July 22, 2022.

The fascinating and rare dialogue explored their rarely heard personal stories, going beyond their careers, exploring their personal journeys and their views on the future of civil service in India. This anecdotally-rich conversation is a must-watch for those who are interested in the art and science of policy making.

Discussants: 

N.K. Singh is the Chairman of the Fifteenth Finance Commission. He is an Indian politician, economist and former Indian Administrative Service officer. He is a senior member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) since March 2014 after having served as a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha (2008-2014) from Bihar for the Janata Dal (United). He has been a senior bureaucrat, Member of the Planning Commission[a] and handled assignments of Union Expenditure and Revenue Secretary. He was also Officer on Special Duty to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Y V Reddy

Yaga Venugopal Reddy is an Indian economist and a retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the 1964 batch belonging to Andhra Pradesh cadre. He served as governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), India’s central bank, from September 2003 until September 2008. He was a member of The Palais Royal Initiative on the Reform of the International Monetary System. He was also on the Advisory Board of Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET). He was a member of the High Level Advisory Panel on Independent Evaluation of Role of IMF in Global Financial Crisis.

Moderator:

Rakesh Mohan is President and Distinguished Fellow at CSEP. He is a member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister. Previously, he was Senior Fellow at the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, Yale University, Professor at Yale’s School of Management, and Distinguished Consulting Professor at Stanford University. Closely associated with the Indian economic reforms process since the late 1980s, he has served in senior roles including as the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Secretary, Economic Affairs, Chief Economic Adviser of the Indian Ministry of Finance, and Economic Adviser in the Indian Ministry of Industry. He has authored books on urban economics, urban development, monetary policy, and economic reforms. 

For media related enquiries, please reach out to Trishna Wahengbam at Twahengbam@csep.org.

All content reflects the individual views of the speakers. The Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP) does not hold an institutional view on any subject.