Personal Profile
PRADEEP S MEHTA, A GIFT OF GOD TO INDIA
Pradeep Mehta is an exceptional and passionate public policy advocate having achieved many critical policy changes in India and elsewhere, following his motto to make the world a better place to live in. Not just that, but he has also created a large number of changemakers, who revere him as Guru. Noted economist, Prof Jagdish Bhagwati calls him a living treasure and God’s gift to India.
At the time, I saw him as a sort of reincarnation of Richard Cobden, a British XIX century politician and economist who successfully advocated against tariffs on grain which would hurt the poor the most, writes Pascal Lamy, DG, WTO, 2005-2013.
Very important to Pradeep’s contribution has been the fact that CUTS is based in Jaipur and not in one of India’s metros. Also integral to Pradeep’s achievement has been a steadfast focus on the interest of consumers who are usually overlooked in India’s political hurly-burly, says Dr Suman Bery, Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog.
Student of law and economics, Pradeep (76) is the founder Secretary General of the Jaipur-based Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS International), a global economic policy research, advocacy and networking, NGO. established in 1983 in India, with centres in Nairobi, Lusaka, Hanoi, Accra, Geneva and Washington DC.
Currently he is a Member of the WTO DG’s NGO Advisory Board, for the third time. He also serves on the G20/B20’s Council on Africa’s Economic Integration. He has served on the GOI’s Board of Trade; Better Regulatory Advisory Group; Steering Committee on Ecomark etc., and chaired the Planning Commission’s Task Force on Competition Policy and Ministry of Surface Transport’s Working Group on Education in Road Safety.
Recipient of the M R Pai Award in 2007 and the SKOCH Excellence Award in 2021 for his dedication to promoting competition and consumer protection, and the Scindia School’s Madhav Award for Old Boy of Eminence in 2018. In September 2023, conferred the prestigious Business World Social Impact Award.
A prolific writer, gifted speaker, skilled trainer and organizer in the social science field, Mehta has been named as one of the 30 most famous columnists in India by a leading newspaper in India.
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(Updated on 2025.01.06)
Curriculum Vitae
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