Dr. Jyoti Kiran is an economist & academic of national repute trained at premier institutes like the University of Rajasthan, Delhi School of Economics and the University of Huddersfield (UK). A Ph.D in Economics and a specialist on employment, development policy and finance, she has researched and written extensively on economic policy, development, gender and finance. Her major specialization relates to the areas of Development Economics, Decision Sciences and Urban Finance.
She had been appointed as the first ever woman Chairperson of the State Finance Commission. Under her chairmanship the commission has worked extensively on the structural reforms in the field of devolution mechanism and finances of the Local Bodies and Panchayat. She is also on the board of directors of the Petronet lng , the premier Indian Natural Gas Company ;NBCC , major construction corporation and PMC, HSCC, the hospital construction company and also on the Advisory Committee of National Commission for Women, GOI . She has taught at reputed institutes like NIT Nagpur for about 13 years and later worked in leadership positions in management institutes as Dean and Director.
Apart from being a professor & a researcher, she has been an honorary advisor to various ministries under the Central Government ranging from Ministry of Rural Development, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Ministry of Women & Child Development and Ministry of Health. She is a member of the UGC Standing Committee on Women’s Studies and has worked on resource use economics and project optimization models with a social impact perspective, developing econometric models on sustainable use of natural resources.
Her prominent contribution was the first ever book on ‘Antyodaya’- a novel experiment in rural development, named ‘Antyodaya – Rise of the Last’ ,was published by the UNESCO (1989). An author of 4 books and about 105 research papers, she has been regularly contributing to journals and newspapers as an analyst and columnist. Her recent paper in BRICS seminar on Innovation in Decentralised Finance was very well received. Her latest book “Navmatdata” was launched in Jaipur Literature Festival in 2014. An eloquent speaker- she has participated in about 1000 TV shows and in panels- latest in Outlook Speakout, India Today Conclave, Rising India Conclave, FIPPI Energy conference etc.