Santosh Mehrotra (Lucknow, U.P. India, 30 July 1955) is a development economist, whose research and writings have had most influence in the areas of labour, employment, skill development, on the relationship between human development and economic growth, child poverty, and the economics of education. He was an economic adviser in the United Nations system in New York City, Italy, and Thailand (1991–2006), and technocrat in the government of India (2006–2014), apart from making contributions to academic research since the mid-1980s. He has also in recent years established a reputation as an institution-builder in the field of research in India, despite facing difficult odds. He brings 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 whose research work has been translated into French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and German.
He is married to Sushma Kapoor, who was the Deputy Regional Director, UNWOMEN, South Asia, and has a daughter, Pia Sukanya, who is a singer, music-maker, actress and film director.
Early life and education
Mehrotra was the son of an officer of the Indian Administrative Service. He had most of his early education in schools in Lucknow, including the historic La Martiniere College. He finished his schooling in Allahabad, the university town. His mother, herself a poet in Hindi, from Allahabad, had grown up surrounded by stories of the nationalist movement against the British, and both parents imbued him with a deep sense of nationalism. She was the daughter of a distinguished lawyer, who was Mayor of Allahabad. Her father, KP Kakkar had defeated Motilal Nehru, the father of India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, in the city elections to the Mayor-ship in 1922.
After Mehrotra graduated from Allahabad University, his father expected him to join the Indian Administrative Service. However, he wanted to become an academic and won two fellowships to study abroad, first to obtain a master's degree in Economics at The New School for Social Research, New York city. Here he was taught by well-known economists, like Edward J. Nell, Robert Heilbroner, Ross Thomson, and Gita Sen. Mehrotra then moved to Cambridge University to do a PhD in Economics.
Professional life
Finishing the PhD in 1985 he returned to India to a life in academia. In 1988 he became associate professor, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
In 1991, Mehrotra was called away to the United Nations system in New York. From 1991 to 2006, he spent 15 years with two UN agencies – UNICEF and UNDP. In the latter, he was the chief economist of the global Human Development Report (2002–05), New York. Before that he led the research programme on developing countries at UNICEF's global research institute, the Innocenti Research Center, Florence, Italy (1999–2002).
After an international career, he left the UN to return to India in September 2006 to head the Rural Development Division of Planning Commission (India), where he was also the Economic Adviser for the Social Sectors. He then headed Development Policy Division, Planning Commission (till August 2009).
He was Director-General, National Institute of Labour Economics Research (earlier called Institute of Applied Manpower Research), Planning Commission (in the rank of Secretary, Government of India) until August 2014.
He also held a three-year appointment as Parkin Visiting Professor at the Centre for International Development in the Faculty of Social Sciences, at the University of Bath, UK (2010–13).
Mehrotra was till mid 2020 Professor of Economics, Centre for Informal Sector and Labour Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University,
Santosh Mehrotra is currently visiting professor, at the Centre for Development studies, University of Bath, UK.
Contributions
He was a lead author of several chapters in India's 11th Five Year Plan (Five-Year Plans of India) (2007–2012). For the 11th Plan, he led the team that authored several chapters related to watershed development; land reforms; and food security and nutrition. Later, for the 12th Five Year Plan (2012–17) he led the team that wrote the chapters on Employment and on Skill Development. He was also the Team Leader of the second-ever national Human Development Report of India.