At 40, Raghuram Rajan has notched up quite a few firsts. The erudite professor with an eight-year tenure at the Chicago Business School is the first Indian to be appointed chief economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He is also the youngest ever to bag the job. Then, unlike his illustrious predecessors, he belongs to the tribe of number crunchers from the myriad world of finance who also go by the name of micro-economists.

FRESH BLOOD: Rajan

Yet, the IIT-Delhi alumnus and MIT graduate has his feet firmly on the ground. "I'm very proud of my heritage, but I see my job as one in which you do your best for countries that are members of the fund," says Rajan. As a green card holder, he remains an Indian citizen but maintains an international outlook. "I try and separate the Indian part from the job. So while Indianness is a private thing, the job with the fund is where you are an international civil servant," he adds.

Given his impeccable credentials as a micro-economist, Rajan is surprised he made it to the corridors straddled by macro-economists. He brings with him a reputation that in the normal course would have caused more than just a cursory revolt in the stuffy corridors of the fund. With the IMF board expected to give its approval next week, Rajan is gearing up to take charge in October.

Quite a champion of the developing world, Rajan indulged in heresy by questioning the practised tenets of capitalism in his latest book offering (Saving Capitalism from Capitalists, February 2003). His basic argument was that the rich and powerful rig the rules so that they get richer and the poor get poorer. Essentially, he explained that in both developing and developed economies the markets aren't really free, leaving ample room for vested interests to run riot. All of this, great rhetoric for developing countries, but would have made Uncle Sam-the most powerful entity on the IMF governing board-more than just blush.

Rajan, however, does not believe that there is any conflict. "Markets should be the way to bring growth and well being to the poor. In too many countries the markets have not been allowed to function properly." Elaborating his point, Rajan maintains that only by correcting these distortions can the benefits of economic growth be shared among a wider population. And at the same time it is crucial that the process of economic reforms are made enduring. "What we are saying is that you have to get the politics right. People have to listen to the preaching of the IMF. Domestic acceptance has to be a precondition. This is where international organisations are changing their approach and selling to people rather than politicians," he adds.

On the nature of his stewardship of the fund, under the official title economic counsellor and director of the research department, he says, "Research teams have directions of their own. The aim is to nudge and push in a few instances. I would like to spend time on fundamental issues of developing countries. For instance, are there ways to offset country risk for developing economies. Like, say, linking interest rate on bonds to gross domestic product."

Perhaps, the most significant aspect of Rajan's appointment is that he is the first from a developing country to get the post. This could well mark a major shift in the policy of the fund, which has long been accused of furthering the interests of Euro-American financial concerns while pushing unsuitable economic models on developing countries. Maybe it just takes an Indian guru to lead the way.