Montek Singh Ahluwalia

Montek Singh Ahluwalia, the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commision has been in the news recently for "understating poverty" in India. The controversial affidavit on BPL by the Planning Commission, which had held that people earning more than Rs 25 in rural areas and Rs 32 in urban areas do not come under the category of the poor made activists and common people raise voices against Ahluwalia.[caption id="attachment_98190" align="alignleft" width="380" caption="Image from Reuters"][/caption]Montek Singh Ahluwalia (born 24 November 1943) is an Indian economist and civil servant. The deputy chairman of the Planning Commission was  the first director of the Independent Evaluation Office at the International Monetary Fund.Ahuluwalia, after graduating from University of Oxford, joined the World Bank during the tenures of Hollis Chenery and Robert MacNamara. At the age of 28, he became the youngest "Division Chief" in the World Bank's bureaucracy.Prior to taking up his position at the IMF, Ahluwalia was a Member of the Planning Commission in New Delhi as well as a Member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister.Fending off all accusations that the Planning Commission is trying to understate poverty, Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said today the poverty line does not represent the views of the Commission. Calling the poverty line as “rock bottom level of existence”, Ahluwalia said, “Even houses above the poverty line are vulnerable.”He had previously served as Finance Secretary, Ministry of Finance; Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs; Commerce Secretary; Special Secretary to the Prime Minister; and Economic Advisor, Ministry of Finance.In 2007 he became a member of the influential Washington-based financial advisory body, the Group of Thirty.Prior to taking up his position at the IMF, Mr Ahluwalia was a Member of the Planning Commission in New Delhi as well as a Member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister.