RSS affiliate wants ‘Sanskari’ CEA for Modi govt after Arvind Subramanian

After Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian’s departure in an unusual way through a Facebook announcement by (Finance Minister?) Arun Jaitley, Swadeshi Jagran Manch—an RSS affiliate—has demanded that the Modi government must appoint a Chief Economic Advisor who is well-versed with country’s “cultural ethos” and “civilisational values”.

Reacting to Subramanian’s resignation, national co-convenor of the Manch Ashwani Mahajan took to Twitter and requested Prime Minister Modi to ensure that “next incumbent should be one who has faith in farmers, workers and entrepreneurs of Bharat and is not on sabbatical”.

Commenting on Rajeev Jayaswal’s article “The Adviser who called his boss ‘Minister’”, he wrote posted: “Honest opinion of a journalist about foreign educated economists kudos.”

In an interview to PTI’s Hindi service, Mahajan said: “Subramanian didn’t know India well. He stayed focussed on FDI only. He kept ignoring the most important sectors of Indian economy such as agriculture. Just like his predecessor Arvind Panagariya, he too was suffering from Washington Consensus syndrome. His agenda and objective was not clear. We need a person who is well-versed with the country’s cultural ethos and civilisational values and enjoys the trust of people.”

On June 20, Union Minister Arun Jaitley had announced that Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian will be leaving the Finance Ministry because of "pressing family commitments" and will return to the US.