M. Govinda Rao is a former member of the 14th Finance Commission and Non-resident Senior Fellow, NCAER. He was earlier the Director of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy and is now an Emeritus Professor there.His past positions include Director, Institute for Social and Economic Change (1998-2002) and Fellow, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia and Professor at NIPFP. He was a Member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India; a Member of Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission and High Level Expert Committee on Universalising Healthcare, Member, High-Level Expert Committee on Efficient Management of Public Expenditure, Advisory Group of Eminent Persons to advise the Finance Minister on G-20 matters. His past advisory roles include Chairman of the Committee for the Implementation of Value Added Tax and Chairman, Expert Group on Taxation of Services. He is a Member, Board of Governors in Institute of Economic Growth, Institute for Social and Economic Change and Madras School of Economics. Dr Rao’s research interests include fiscal decentralization and federalism, state and local finances, tax policy and reforms, public expenditure management.