Trilok Singh Papola

Professor Trilok Singh Papola is a development economist with over three and half decades of experience in teaching, research and advisory assignments. Born in Papoli village of Bageshware district of Uttaranchal, he specialises in the areas of labour and employment, development planning, industrial economics, regional development and enterprise development.

Papola has taught at the Universities of Lucknow and Bombay, Indian Institute of Management (Ahmedabad), and University of Cambridge, UK. He was Director, Giri Institute of Development Studies, Lucknow for ten years (1977-1987) and an Advisor with Planning Commission, Government of India for eight years (1987-1995). He worked as Head, Mountain Enterprise and Infrastructure Division at International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Kathmandu for six and half years (1996-2002) where he was responsible for developing and carrying out a programme of studies and documentation, consultation and advisory services in enterprise development in the mountain areas of Bhutan, China, India, Nepal and Pakistan.

Papola has written extensively in the areas of his specialisation. He has published 14 books and over six dozen research papers in reputed journals. Books authored and edited by him include Locational Diversification of Industries, Rural Industrialisation, Wage Structure and Labour Mobility in a Local Labour Market, Informal Sector in a Developing Economy, Gender and Employment in India and Growth, Poverty Alleviation and Sustainable Resource Management in the Mountain Areas of South Asia.

Papola has been Chairman/Member of several State and national level bodies including Chairman of U.P Taxation Enquiry Committee (1983-84), Member, State Planning Board, U.P. (1980-86) and Member, Indian Council for Social Science Research, New Delhi(1982-1988).

He has worked in consultative and advisory capacities with international organisations such as ILO, UNCTAD, UNIDO, UNICEF and UNDP and has been on advisory missions and assignments in Bangladesh, Indonesia, The Gambia and the Philippines.

Papola is also President, Indian Society of Labour Economics, an association of teachers, researchers and practitioners in the field of labour in India. He was elected President of the Indian Economic Association in its Annual Conference held at BHU, Varanasi in December 2004.