S Mahendra Dev takes over as editor of Economic and Political Weekly

New Delhi: Noted rural economist Prof S Mahendra Dev took over on Tuesday as the new editor of the Economic and Political Weekly (EPW), Sameeksha Trust chairman Deepak Nayyar said in a statement.

Dev succeeds Prof Gopal Guru who has served EPW for five years, and completed his term last month.

Dev, a Ph.D from the Delhi School of Economics with post-doctoral research experience at Yale University, is currently a distinguished professor at ICFAI, Hyderabad, chairman of the Institute for Development Studies, Andhra Pradesh, and an independent director on the board of Axis Bank.

Earlier, he served as director and vice chancellor, Indira Gandhi Institute for Development Research, Mumbai, chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, government of India, and vice chairman of the board of trustees of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Washington DC.

He was also member and acting chairman of the National Statistical Commission and director of the Centre for Economic and Social Studies in Hyderabad.

Dev has written or edited 22 books and has around 150 research publications in development economics and macroeconomic policies as well as the agricultural sector and the rural economy in India, according to the statement.

The Economic and Political Weekly, known to its readers as EPW, published by Sameeksha Trust, is a leading journal in the social sciences.

For more than half a century, EPW has been widely read in India by scholars, policymakers, administrators, civil society, and concerned citizens. EPW has had a long and illustrious line of editors, including Sachin Chaudhuri and Krishna Raj.