The choice of Harvard University professor Gita Gopinath as Kerala Chief Minister’s economic adviser has raised eyebrows, particularly in the Left circles, as she is seen as a person committed to the neoliberal economic agenda.
Questions are being raised from the flanks of the Left on the appropriateness of the choice as Prof. Gopinath is widely seen as an ardent supporter of the neoliberal economic reforms attempted by the United Progressive Alliance government and the economic agenda of the present Narendra Modi government.
In the past, she had gone public with her support for the deregulation of petroleum product pricing and implementation of the Land Reforms Bill that the CPI(M) had opposed strongly in Parliament and outside.
Roots in KeralaProf. Gopinath, who has her familial roots in Kerala, has distinguished herself by becoming the third woman and the first Indian after Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen to become tenured professor of the economics department at Harvard University.
She had done her bachelors in Economics from Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi University, and masters from the Delhi School of Economics before moving to the U.S. to do her Ph.D at Harvard University.
She was assistant professor at the University of Chicago for three years.
Economic perspectiveThe questions being raised, though in a subdued manner for now, are how her economic perspective would gel with that of the Left and what contribution a person like her, who has been focussed mostly on monetary issues, can make in tackling the developmental challenges of Kerala.
