Arun Jaitley memorial lecture to be annual event, says FM Sitharaman

The finance ministry has been planning a lecture in memory of Arun Jaitley since 2019, but could not do so in 2020 and 2021 because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told Business Standard. It will be an annual event from this year, she said.

“One of the things that Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided was to name the National Institute of Financial Management after him. And it was decided to hold an annual Arun Jaitley Memorial Lecture. It could not happen in 2020 and 2021 because of the pandemic. But we will be holding it this year,” Sitharaman said.

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The Arun Jaitley Memorial Lecture, part of the Kautilya Economic, will be held on July 8 at Vigyan Bhawan. The PM will attend the event, and the lecture will be delivered by former Singapore deputy prime minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

“Apart from the lecture, we wanted to hold a conclave of globally renowned economists, bring them in, and have them sitting under Chatham House rules and discuss the economy. And we wanted to make that a calendar event for the finance ministry,” Sitharaman said.

On Jaitley’s legacy as finance minister from 2014 to 2019, Sitharaman said: “I never dreamed I'll be able to fill those shoes, they are too big to fill. I am happy so long as I have his blessings.”

On Monday, Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth will brief the media on the upcoming conclave and the memorial lecture, along with Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran, Institute of Economic Growth President NK Singh, NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand, Member and Institute of Economic Growth President Chetan Ghate.

The Kautilya Economic Conclave is a revival of the ministry’s old marquee event, the Delhi Economics Conclave, which was discontinued in 2015. The conclave is being jointly organised by the finance ministry and Institute of Economic Growth.