Bhubaneswar, January 23: The Odisha government has recently established the 6th State Finance Commission, appointing retired IAS officer Arun Kumar Panda as its Chairman.
For the first time, the Odisha government has selected two eminent economists from outside the state—Prof. Amaresh Samantaraya from the Department of Economics at Pondicherry University and Dr. Bibhu Prasad Nayak from TISS—as members of the Finance commission.
The newly constituted commission includes notable figures such as Prof. Asit Ranjan Mohanty from XIMB, Prof. Amaresh Samantaraya, and Dr. Bibhu Prasad Nayak. Dr. Satya Priya Rath, Additional Secretary in the Finance Department, will serve as the Member Secretary.
Prof. Amaresh Samantaraya is a distinguished academic serving as a Professor in the Department of Economics at Pondicherry University. His expertise spans areas such as Money and Banking, Macroeconomics, Economic Growth Theories, and Applied Econometrics. Prof. Samantaraya's research focuses on monetary policy, banking regulation, and India’s business environment.
Before joining Pondicherry University, he served as an economist at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) from 1999 to 2010. During his tenure at RBI, he held various positions across the Department of Economic Analysis and Policy, the Monetary Policy Department, and the Department of Banking Supervision. He also worked as an Economist to the Governor of Andhra Pradesh and as Officer-on-Special Duty (OSD) to the Chairman of the 12th Finance Commission in New Delhi. Furthermore, Prof. Samantaraya was OSD to former RBI Governor C. Rangarajan.
His global exposure in monetary policy is significant, with visits to central banks such as the Bank of England, Swiss National Bank, Monetary Authority of Singapore, and Bank of Korea between 2006 and 2008. He has published numerous research articles in prominent international journals like Asian Economic Review, Economic and Political Weekly, Empirical Economics, and Journal of Financial Economic Policy, among others.
Dr. Bibhu Prasad Nayak, the other member of the commission, is the Chairperson of the School of Public Policy and Governance at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS). His research and teaching focus on Rural Livelihood Systems, Climate-Resilient Agriculture, Socio-Ecological Systems, Community-Based Resource Management Institutions, and Development Economics. He has contributed extensively to the study of agriculture, rural development, and climate change, with a special emphasis on programs by the Government of India, including research on the impact of MGNREGA assets on vulnerable groups.
Both economists, though originally from Odisha, have achieved significant recognition outside the state. Their involvement in the 6th State Finance Commission is expected to be pivotal in shaping key fiscal recommendations for Odisha in the coming days. Their expertise will be instrumental in advising on taxes, duties, tolls, and fees between the state government and local bodies such as Panchayati Raj Institutions and Urban Local Bodies, as well as in determining the fair allocation of resources.
