“Personal Views”: PM’s Economic Advisory Council Chairman Clarifies ‘New Constitution’ Remarks

GG News Bureau

New Delhi, 18th Aug. Bibek Debroy, Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM), stated on Thursday that his opinions on a new Constitution in his column published on the 77th Independence Day were ‘personal’.

“There’s a case for ‘we the people’ to embrace a new Constitution,” Bibek Debroy said in his column.

Bibek Debroy went on to say that when someone writes a column, it reflects the author’s personal opinions, not the views of the organization with which he is associated.

Bibek Debroy said, “The first thing is that whenever one writes a column, every column always carries the caveat that this column reflects the author’s personal views. It does not reflect the views of the organization that the individual is associated with. This is the standard practice for all columns and all columns that I write, carry this caveat.”

Bibek Debroy shared that it is unfortunate that people have ascribed his personal views to that of the EAC-PM. He clarified that whenever the EAC-PM comes out with their views in the public domain, it uploads it on its website and tweets it from its handle.

“Unfortunately, in this particular case, one has ascribed these views to the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister. Whenever the economic advisory council to the prime minister comes out with views in the public domain, it puts them on the EAC PM website and tweets them from the handle. In this particular case, nothing of this sort had happened,” Debroy said.

The EAC-PM Chairman shared that this is not the first time that he has written about this issue and spoke his mind that the country may take a relook into the Constitution.

“This is not the first time that I’ve written on such an issue. I’ve written on such an issue in the past as well, articulating similar kinds of views. I’ve spoken on the same kind of issue. And the issue is very simple. I happen to think that we should take a relook at the Constitution,” Debroy said.

Bibek Debroy also stated that he does not consider his views to be controversial because he said, every country takes a relook at its Constitution once in a while.

“I do not think this is controversial. Because every once in a while every country in the world takes a look at the constitution. We have also done it through amendments, there was a commission set up to look at the working of the Indian constitution,” Debroy said.

The EAC-PM Chairman also added that BR Ambedkar had also voiced such an opinion earlier.

“In fact, Dr Ambedkar was also very clear in various statements made before the constituent assembly and in Rajya Sabha on 2nd September 1953 that one should take a look at the Constitution,” Bibek Debroy said.

Reiterating that he does not suggest dumping the Constitution altogether and that it is neither the view of the EAC-PM nor the government, Bibek Debroy said that it is a matter of “intellectual debate”.

“Now this is a matter of intellectual debate. I have not said as some people have tended to suggest that one should junk the Constitution. And certainly, it is not the case that these are the views of either the Economic Advisory Council or the government,” Debroy said.