The Indian Economic Association (IEA), which is one of the oldest professional bodies in the world, was launched in 1917. The membership of IEA was opened for not only faculty and students of Economics but also for knowledge seekers who have an interest in economics and related issues. TheVoluntary associations have high infant and child mortality rates and therefore quite a few take births as well. It appears that Indian Economic Association (IEA) and the Indian Economic Society (IES) were both 
objectives of IEA include promotion of teaching and research in economics, dissemination of good literature & information in economics, holding of an annual conference and publications of its proceedings etc. The IEA has always aspired to highlight important and critical issues in national and international economies by organising conferences, seminars and workshops. Besides, lectures of very renowned names in economics are organized on theoretical issues as well as issues concerning critical applied aspects. In these ways, IEA has been promoting the interest of members and also that of larger public. The public interest is also promoted through knowledge creation, dissemination and capacity & competence building. The Association is a professional organization to raise the standards of research and its dissemination. So far, IEA has been successfully holding annual conferences in terms of academic output also. It is regarded as one of the best professional bodies.
The IEA has a glorious past of having a large number of eminent economists as its Presidents. Some prominent names include Prof. C.J. Hamilton (1917), Prof. C. N Vakil (1934), Prof. D.R Gadgil (1940), Prof. V.K.R.V Rao (1949), Dr. B.N Ganguli (1955). Dr. D.T Lakdawala (1964), Prof. J.K. Mehta (1968), Prof. V.M. Dandekar (1973), Prof. P.R. Brahmananda (1977), Dr. Manmohan Singh (1985), Dr. V.R. Panchamukhi (1994), Prof. C.T. Kurian (2002), Prof. G.K. Chadha (2008), and Prof. Y.V. Reddy (2014). Last year (December, 2018) the IEA started to give Atal Bihari Bajpai Memorial Award in Economic Development to a distinguished person who has contributed significantly in the field of economic development in India. Similarly, Dr. (Mrs.) Asha Sablok Memorial Gold Medal was instituted in the memory of Late Dr. (Mrs.) Asha Sablok who was a life member of the IEA. In each thematic area, the Best Paper Presentation Award is given to some young economists below 40 years of age. I am sure that economic thinkers, academics, researchers, policy makers and other experts will continue to enlighten the IEA fraternity by their intense understanding and insights into crucial domains of economics which would further enrich knowledge and provoke scholarship.
Prof. V. K. Malhotra