ABOUT

Dr. Santosh Mehrotra is currently Visiting Professor, Centre for Development Studies,
University of Bath, UK. He was till mid 2020 Professor of Economics, Centre for Labour
Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. He has a Masters degree (with Honors) in
Economics, from The New School for Social Research,New York. Here he was taught by well-
known economists, like Edward J. Nell, Robert Heilbroner, Ross Thomson, and Gita Sen. He
then moved to Cambridge University, to do a PhD in Economics.

Prior to teaching at JNU, he was the Director General of Institute of Applied Manpower
Research, New Delhi, the only research institute of the Planning Commission, Government of
India. Before that he was Head of Rural Development Division, and then Head, Development
Policy Division, Planning Commission, from 2006 to 2009. He was one of the authors of India’s
11th Five-Year Plan (2007–12) and of the 12th Plan (2012-17), and also led the team on the
India Human Development Report 2011.

Dr Mehrotra held a three-year appointment at the Centre for Development Studies, University of
Bath, UK, as Parkin Visiting Professor (2010–13).
Before returning to India, he spent 15 years with the UN system (1991-2006). He first headed
UNICEF’s global research programme on economic and social policy at the Innocenti Research
Centre, Florence (Italy), and then was chief economist of the global Human Development
Report, UNDP, New York.

In other words, he has a combination of professional experience: with the Indian government as a
policy maker and adviser, with international organisations as a technical expert, having lived on
three continents and travelled to 63 countries providing technical advice to governments; and as
an academic with Indian and international teaching and research experience. His research has
been translated into European languages (French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and German) and
into Hindi.

He is a human development economist, and his research interests have spanned industry and
trade issues, the impact of macroeconomic policy on health and education, labour and the
informal sector, and the economics of health and education.

His books include 

•  Asian Informal Workers: Global Risks, Local Protection (Routledge,2007, co-edited); 

•  Eliminating Human Poverty: Macro-economic Policies for Equitable Growth (Zed Press,

London, 2007, co-authored); 

•  The Economics of Elementary Education in India (Sage, 2006, edited); 

•  Universalizing Elementary Education in India: Uncaging the Tiger Economy (OUP,

2005, co-authored); 

•  Development with a Human Face: Experiences in Social Achievement and Economic

Growth (OUP, 1997, co-edited);

•  India and the Soviet Union: Trade and Technology Transfer (Cambridge University

Press, 1990).

His recent books are: 

•  Seizing the Demographic Dividend: Polices to Achieve Inclusive Growth in India

(Cambridge University Press, 2016);

•  India’s Skills Challenge: Reforming Vocational Education and Training (OUP, 2014);

•  Land Policies for Equity and Growth: Transforming the Agrarian Structures in Uttar

Pradesh (Sage, 2014);

•  Countering Naxalism with Development. The Challenge of State Security and Human

Development (Sage, 2014).

His latest books are:

•  Planning in the 20 th Century and Beyond. India’s Planning Commission and NITI Aayog (co-edited, Cambridge University Press, 2020);

•  Reviving Jobs: An Agenda for Growth (ed, Penguin India, 2020)

His books in other languages are:

•  Vikas se Haarega Naxalvaad (Sage, 2018); Hindi

•  Le Developpement a Visage Humain (Economica, Paris, 2001); French

•  Políticas sociales y económicas para reducir la pobreza en América Latina: ¿se

         puede aprender algo de la experiencia en Asia? (UNAM, 2021); Spanish
         (Social and economic policies to reduce poverty in Latin America: is there something
         that can be learned from the experience in Asia) (National University of Mexico,
         2021)