PMO seeks explanation on PSB CMD's selection

The wait for a chairman at Punjab & Sind Bank (PSB) may get longer, as the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has sought an explanation from the finance ministry on its choice for the bank chief’s post. The finance ministry had sent the name of

D S Bains, a Punjab cadre Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer, for the post of Chairman & Managing Director at the Delhi-based bank.

The PMO asked if Bains was selected on merit, said a banker in the know. He added the last time, when the name of G S Vedi was proposed for chairing the bank, the PMO had cleared the file, saying the selection of a bank chief should be completely on merit and that from the next time, the finance ministry or the bank should not insist on selecting a Sikh for the post.

A senior finance ministry official confirmed the PMO had some queries on the appointment of Bains, currently serving as finance commissioner (additional secretary level) in Punjab. The query was raised about two weeks earlier. The finance ministry will now frame a reply and send it to the PMO.

The post of CMD at PSB fell vacant after G S Vedi retired in June 2010. The finance ministry had suggested the appointment of Bains after it could not find a Sikh banker to succeed Vedi. The new CMD was expected to take over before the bank’s IPO hit the markets in December 2010, but since the PMO had not cleared the appointment, PSB’s executive director, P K Anand, managed the show.

PSB has traditionally been led by a person from the Sikh community, barring a few exceptions where non-Sikhs were given the responsibility as an interim arrangement. If the appointment of Bains is cleared, he will be the second Sikh IAS officer in the last four years to head the bank.

In February 2007, R P Singh, currently secretary in the department of industrial policy and promotion, was appointed PSB chairman. He was credited for turning around the bank when it had huge bad debts.

PSB was set up in 1908 by Bhai Vir Singh, Sir Sunder Singh Majithia and Sardar Tarlochan Singh from Punjab “to help the weaker section of the society in their economic endeavours to raise their standard of life”. It was among the six banks nationalised by the government in 1980.