Suresh D. Tendulkar (15 February 1939 – 21 June 2011) was an Indian economist and former chief of the

National Statistical Commission The National Statistical Commission (NSC) of India is an autonomous body which formed in June 2005 under the recommendation of Rangarajan commission. The NSC is currently headed by Prof. Rajeeva Laxman Karandikar who was appointed as Chairperson ...

. Tendulkar was a member of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's

Economic Advisory Council Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India (PMEAC) is a non-constitutional, non-permanent and independent body constituted to give economic advice to the Government of India, specifically the Prime Minister. The council serves to ...

(PMEAC) from 2004 to 2008 and then served as its chairman from 2008 to 2009 when

C. Rangarajan Chakravarthi Rangarajan (born 1932) is an Indian economist, a former Member of Parliament and 19th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. He is the former Chairman of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, he resigned the day the UPA ...

vacated the post to enter the

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, wikisource:Constitution of India/Part V#Article 80, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legisl ...

. He died on 21 June 2011, as a result of cardiac arrest at Prayag Hospital,

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

(India).

Early life

Suresh Tendulkar completed his B.Com. from Pune University, where he secured the top rank in his batch. He was born in a

Maharashtrian Maharashtrian is an adjective referring to something related to: * Maharashtra, a state of India * Marathi people * Marathi language See also * Maharashtrian Brahmin * Maharashtri, the medieval language * Marathi (disambiguation) Marathi may ...

brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests ( purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers ( ...

family He then completed his M.A. from the Delhi School of Economics, topping his batch once again. He went on to obtain a PhD in Economics from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

Career

Tendulkar headed a namesake committee, The Suresh Tendulkar Committee, which was responsible for studying the portion of the population that lived below the poverty line (BPL). He also served as member of the

Reserve Bank of India The Reserve Bank of India, chiefly known as RBI, is India's central bank and regulatory body responsible for regulation of the Indian banking system. It is under the ownership of Ministry of Finance, Government of India. It is responsible f ...

’s central board of directors. Prof. Tendulkar was known for his extensive work on "Credit and Privatisation policies" and "Indian development issues and policies", including liberalisation and globalisation. He was also a part-time member of the

(2000–01), the first "Disinvestment Commission" (1996–99), and the Fifth "Central

Pay Commission Pay Commission is set up by Government of India, and gives its recommendations regarding changes in salary structure of its employees set up in 1947, Since India's Independence, seven pay commissions have been set up on a regular basis to review ...

" (1994–97). Prof. Tendulkar's pioneering contribution was his extensive work on poverty and estimation of people below poverty line (BPL). A committee was formed by government of India in 2005, with Tendulkar as chairman to 'report on methodology of estimation of poverty'. In 2009, this committee came out with a new method to calculate poverty. According to this method, the number of the poor in India in 2004–05 rose from 27.5 per cent of the total population to 37.2 per cent. In past, poverty was estimated by looking at a limited view of money required for stipulated minimum calorie intake by individuals. But the Tendulkar committee moved to a wider definition, including spending on food as well as education, health, light(electricity), clothing and footwear. He was a professor of economics at the

Delhi School of Economics Delhi School of Economics (DSE), popularly referred to as "D School", is a Higher Educational Institution within the University of Delhi. The Delhi School of Economics is situated in University of Delhi's North Campus in Maurice Nagar. Establ ...

, University of Delhi, India. He has authored several books, such as ‘Reintegrating India with the World Economy’ and ‘Understanding Reforms’ to name a few.

References

External links

Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tendulkar, Suresh Savitribai Phule Pune University Delhi School of Economics alumni Harvard University alumni 20th-century Indian economists 2011 deaths 1939 births Scientists from Pune