Mihir Shah is an Indian economist and former member of the erstwhile Planning Commission of India, an organisation that ceased to exist in 2014.
Education
Mihir Shah graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics in 1976 from Saint Stephen"s College, Delhi. In 1978, he received an Master of Arts degree in Economics from Delhi School of Economics. He also received a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Economics from Centre for Development Studies (affiliated to Jawaharlal Nehru University), Trivandrum in 1984.
Career
From 2009 to 2014, Shah was Member, Planning Commission, Government of India, holding the portfolios of Water Resources, Rural Development and Decentralised Governance. Shah was chiefly responsible for drafting the paradigm shift in the management of water resources enunciated in the 12th Five Year Plan. As Chairman of the Government of India"s Committee for Revision of MGNREGA Guidelines, he initiated a makeover of MGNREGA, the largest employment programme in human history, with a renewed emphasis on rural livelihoods based on construction of productive assets.
An expert on water and rural development, he holds memberships in several important committees such as the International Steering Committee of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) and serves as the chair of the Revitalising Rainfed Areas Network in India.
He also chaired the Government of India"s Task Force on the National Social Assistance Programme which presented a landmark report in 2013. Mihir Shah chaired the Advisory Council of the first India Rural Development Report brought out by the Ministry of Rural Development.
The book brings out the macro-economic significance of watershed programmes for food security and employment guarantee in India. He has also played a significant role shaping policies and in the development of tribal areas in Madhya Pradesh.
He coauthored one of three chapters in Human Development Report of the state in 1998.
Shah is a visiting faculty member at Ashoka University, where he teaches a course on the Political Economy of India"s Development 1947-2014 for the Young India Fellowship students.
Membership
He is the youngest ever Member of the Planning Commission.