Letter to BS: Time is ripe to move forward taking Jalan's message seriously

This refers to your editorial “Sectoral expertise” (May 4) which is a timely reminder to professionalise the selection process at the highest level. The negatives listed in the editorial about the search committee are equally applicable to the processes that decide top management positions (including board level appointments) in several other regulatory bodies and PSUs including public sector banks. With the exception of the State Bank of India and certain scientific/defense organisations, in-house efforts to groom talent for the top-most positions are conspicuous by their absence. Way back in 2007, speaking about “Ethics in Banking” in Dhaka, Dr Bimal Jalan had observed:

“In several countries, civil servants are normally appointed through an open competitive examination process… There is no reason why a similar mechanism cannot be set up for the choice of top management and boards of directors in public sector banks... The process for selection should be open and well-advertised… It is desirable for the government not to have any role in the selection process.”

The time is ripe to move forward taking Dr Jalan’s message seriously.

M G Warrier  Thiruvananthapuram

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