RBI starts ED appointment process

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has started the process for selecting executive directors (EDs) to fill the vacancies following promotion of one ED to the deputy governor’s post and superannuation of another. At present, RBI has seven executive directors.

While one ED, Anand Sinha, is likely to replace Deputy Governor Usha Thorat, who retires on November 9, the chief executive officer’s post in The Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation is lying vacant since H N Prasad retired on October 31. For the past few years, DICGC has been headed by an ED-rank officer. In addition, one more ED, C Krishnan, will retire in February. In May, one more deputy governor, Shyamala Gopinath, will retire and will be replaced by an ED.

Interestingly, RBI has only called only two candidates. They are S Karuppasamy¸ the senior-most among chief general managers, who is the regional director of the eastern zone, and J B Bhoria, the regional director of the western zone.

Karuppasamy will have more than three years in RBI as his tenure is till January 2014. Bhoria’s tenure is till November 2013. The retirement age for RBI staff is 60, except for governor and deputy governor, who retire at 62. Grace Koshie, who retires in December 2012, and Karunasagar, whose tenure is till November 2011, are senior to Bhoria. The selection panel has RBI governor and all four deputy governors.

There has been some dissent among employees in the past regarding appointment of EDs as there were instance of candidates being superseded. Also, in 2007, the criteria was made tougher by making three years of residual service mandatory. The guidelines were changed after the start of the appointment process. However, no formal notification regarding the change in the criteria has come so far.

Superseding, is however, is not a new thing in RBI. For example, Anand Sinha and V S Das were appointed EDs, though P K Mishra and S S Gangopadhyay were senior to them. While Mishra was later made head of Indian Institute of Bank Management, Guwahati, with all ED’s perks and perquisites, Gangopadhyay had resigned in protest.

Thorat may join proposed research institute
Deputy Governor Usha Thorat is likely to join The Centre for Advanced Financial Learning in Mumbai as a director after her tenure. The Bankers Training College was re-launched as The Centre for Advanced Financial Learning in 2006 with the objective of providing an intellectual platform for research, training and discussion for senior executives and professionals in the financial sector, both Indian and foreign. However, the institute is yet to start operations.