Thread by @kadambari_shah

As Women's History Month comes to an end, @shreyas_nl & I write in @scroll_in on the contributions of some brilliant female economists that have broken barriers and played a role in shaping India’s economic policy. 🧵 1/n scroll.in/article/102065…

Who are the women? In the 80s, Dharma Kumar, Padma Desai, Isher Judge Ahluwalia, Utsa Patnaik, Rohini Nayyar, Parveen Talha, Devaki Jain, Krishna Bharadwaj, Kanta Ranadive & Sudha Shenoy forged their legacies via wide-ranging & path-breaking work in academia & public policy. 2/n

In the early 2000s, in Mumbai, the RBI saw several women rise to Deputy Governor: KJ Udeshi, Usha Thorat & Shyamala Gopinath. In Delhi too, things underwent a churn. The Planning Commission set up the first and only Feminist Economists Group chaired by @syedaIndia. 3/n

Members included Devaki Jain & feminist economists like Nirmala Banerjee, Gita Sen, Ratna Sudarshan, Padmini Swaminathan, @Yamini___Mishra; Rohini Nayyar & rural economy experts like Aasha Kapur Mehta, Bina Agarwal, @MadhuraFAS;... 4/n

...development scholars like @Jayati1609, Mary E John, Indira Hirway, @JeemolUnni, Mridul Eapen, @RJhabvala & Ritu Dewan, among others. Their contemporary, @PrabhuSeeta would later join UNDP and develop the Human Development Index for India. 5/n

In the next decade, @IlaPatnaik was appointed Principal Economic Advisor; Ashima Goyal was a member of MPC & EAC; Pami Dua served as member of the MPC & @ShamikaRavi was on the EAC. Poonam Gupta is currently on the EAC. Rupa Chanda is on EAC’s working group on sustainability. 6/n

.@AshwDeshpande's work is based on the intersection of caste, gender, regional disparities & income inequality. @lekhachakrborty championed the institutionalization of gender budgeting & @SaonRay furthered scholarship on international trade. 7/n

Rukmini Banerji’s pioneering work on learning outcomes has triggered a rethink in education policymaking, fuelling efforts of academics like Nobel Laureate Esther Duflo. Susan Thomas helped shape the new bankruptcy law & @pranjulb has worked extensively on financial markets. 8/n

After a stint in the EAC, Prachi Mishra headed the Strategic Research Unit under Raghuram Rajan’s governorship at the RBI. Rupa Rege Nitsure, as a member of the central bank’s Urjit Patel Committee, worked on revising and strengthening monetary policy. 9/n

In the West, @GitaGopinath & Rohini Pande have made impacts through academia + policy. Bishnupriya Gupta, Rinku Murgai, Lakshmi Iyer & Reetika Khera have also made important contributions to Indian economic thought and development economics. 10/n

At the state & local levels, @mahajan_vini, @ssaunik, @saradavenu, and Sonia Sethi have made strides in areas ranging from transport to infrastructure to public health. Researchers like Duflo & @AiyarYamini advise various Chief Ministers. 11/n

Demographers like Leela Visaria & @SonaldeDesai contribute to economics immensely with their interventions.

This is not an exhaustive list, but demonstrates the breadth of talent, ideas and well-established contributions that women have brought to the high table. 12/n

New voices are also on the rise. @Radhicka, @kanmahajan & Farzana Afridi on labour reforms; @BShrayana analyses women and the economy; @srajagopalan bridges law & economics; Renuka Sane on consumer protection in finance; @VaidehiTandel explores urban economics... 13/n

...@AditiBhowmick18 is helping enable a data revolution. @bhargavizaveri & @pritika13, though not traditional economists, are very much in the field. These are merely a handful of emerging names. 14/n

Then there are those at the forefront of working for more inclusion in economics and policymaking: @prerna394  & @prashansa_25 co-founded @weconpol, @aditipriya_0301 & @chidiya_ set up @BahujanEcon, and @sonamitra established IWWAGE. 15/n

While the debate on women in politics/policy wanes & waxes with every election season, their grossly low presence in expert bodies & academic spaces is less talked about. With few lobbying for their interests, it's only natural that women’s issues/concerns get short shrift. 16/n

In 75 years, India has had 2 women finance ministers (Indira Gandhi & Nirmala Sitharaman); 1 woman finance secretary (Sushma Nath); & 0 woman governor of RBI. The 13 & 14 finance commissions had 1 woman member each (Indira Rajaraman & Nath) & the incumbent 15th one has none. 17/n

There are a number of trained female economists who can don technocratic roles. If any, there is a dearth of institutional imagination to tap into this talent pool. Undoing some of the entry barriers and giving these women due recognition is imperative. 18/n

Many thanks to @CafeEconomics, @prempanicker & @nayyardhiraj for feedback and comments. We are also grateful to Sneha P, @YashKirkire & @vettaikozhambu for suggestions. 19/n

Also see: @CafeEconomics's In praise of female economists (tinyurl.com/2p8unjnw), @AditiBhowmick18's #Showmethewomen — makers of modern India (tinyurl.com/2uxaz84n) & @shreyas_nl's Breaking Out and Through (tinyurl.com/3u4sv2n6). n/n