Mihir Shah is an Indian economist and former member of the erstwhile Planning Commission of India. Education Mihir Shah graduated with a B.A. degree in economics in 1976 from St. Stephen's College, Delhi. In 1978, he received an M.A. degree in economics from Delhi School of Economics. He also received a PhD degree in economics from Centre for Development Studies (affiliated to Jawaharlal Nehru University), Trivandrum in 1984. Career From 2009 to 2014, Shah was member, Planning Commission, Government of India, holding the portfolios of Water Resources, Rural Development and Decentralised Governance. He is the youngest-ever member of the Planning Commission. Shah was chiefly responsible for drafting the paradigm shift in the management of water resources enunciated in the 12th Five Year Plan. As chairman of the Government of India's Committee for Revision of MGNREGA Guidelines, he initiated a makeover of MGNREGA, the largest employment programme in human history, with a renewed emphasis on rural livelihoods based on construction of productive assets. An expert on water and rural development, he holds memberships in several important committees such as the International Steering Committee of the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) and serves as the chair of the Revitalising Rainfed Areas Network in India. He is also the first president of the Bharat Rural Livelihoods Foundation, which supports innovative civil society action in close partnership with state governments. He also chaired the Government of India's Task Force on the National Social Assistance Programme which presented a landmark report in 2013. Mihir Shah chaired the advisory council of the first India Rural Development Report brought out by the Ministry of Rural Development. In 1990, he co-founded Samaj Pragati Sahayog, which is today one of the largest grass-roots initiatives for water and livelihood security, working with its partners on a million acres of land across 72 of India's most backward districts. Mihir Shah has spent nearly three decades living and working in central tribal India, forging a new paradigm of inclusive and sustainable development. Mihir Shah, along with his colleagues penned their experiences in the book, India's Drylands: Tribal Societies and Development through Environmental Regeneration, which was published by Oxford University Press in 1998. The book brings out the macro-economic significance of watershed programmes for food security and employment guarantee in India. He has also played a significant role shaping policies and in the development of tribal areas in Madhya