Raja Jesudoss Chelliah (12 December 1922 – 7 April 2009) was an economist and founding chairman of the Madras School of Economics. He completed an MA in economics from the

University of Madras The University of Madras is a public university, public State university (India), state university in Chennai (Madras), Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and most prominent universities in India, incorporated by an ...

and PhD in the United States. He worked as the chief of the Fiscal Analysis Division, Fiscal Affairs Department,

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

between 1969 and 1975. He served as a consultant to the government of

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

on Centre Provincial Financial Relations. He also worked in several state and central government financial institutions in India. He was considered a public finance expert in India, instrumental in bringing about the early reforms to the direct taxation structure. He was awarded Padma Vibushan in 2007. He is often referred to as "The Father of Tax Reforms".

Personal life and education

He was born on 12 December 1922. His father Chelliah Pillai was his greatest inspiration. He graduated with a master's degree in economics from

and worked as a lecturer in

Madras Christian College Madras Christian College (MCC) is a liberal arts and sciences college in Chennai, India. Founded in 1837, MCC is one of Asia's oldest extant colleges. The college is affiliated to the University of Madras but functions as an autonomous institut ...

for five years before going to the United States on a

Fulbright scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

to do a PhD at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

. He was married to Sita Chelliah with whom he had two daughters. He died on 7 April 2009.

Career

Upon his return from the United States, he worked as a senior economist at the National Council of Applied Economic Research, New Delhi between 1958 and 1961. He was a reader and professor at the Department of Economics of

University of Rajasthan The University of Rajasthan, informally known as Rajasthan University (RU, ISO: Rājasthān Viśvavidyālaya), is a public state university located in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. It was founded in 1947 by an Act of the State Legislative Assembl ...

between 1961-1966 and professor of economics at

Osmania University Osmania University is a collegiate university, collegiate Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. Mir Osman Ali Khan, the 7th Nizam of Hyderabad, issued a ''firman'' calling f ...

between 1966 and 1969. He was invited to work with the

in Washington, D.C. and worked as a chief of Fiscal Analysis Division, Fiscal Affairs Department between 1969 and 1975. He was the founding director of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy between 1976 and 1985. He was a member of the Planning Commission between 1985-1990 and also member of the Finance Commission from 1987 to 1989. He served as chairman of Tax Reforms Committee of Union Government between 1991 and 1993 and as chairman of the Tax Reforms and Revenue Augmentation Commission in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

during 2002-2003

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chelliah, Raja Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in public affairs 1922 births 2009 deaths University of Madras alumni Indian expatriates in Papua New Guinea Indian expatriates in the United States