Letters: An alternative to Rajan

With reference to Mihir S Sharma's column, "Why Raghuram Rajan matters" (June 15), it is not so much a question of renewing Rajan's term as the Reserve Bank of India governor as it is of considering whether another competent person with a different vision of the country's central bank and its main tasks could be tried.

Four to five years is not a small time in which to prove one's mettle as the head of the RBI. The country has not seen anything big happen to its finances or economy during Rajan's tenure, except for the tightened inflation, for which factors such as a decisive government at the Centre and more clarity and thrust on reforms are responsible.

Compare Rajan's tenure with Y V Reddy's. The latter brought the country out of global tumults and insulated it from their fallouts. More than good lectures and high visibility, we require someone who can deliver results. The RBI should bear a major part of the brunt for the state of the banking system today, which is saddled with non-performing assets, inefficient management and vastly eroded balance sheets. Important experiments of the RBI such as payments banks have not become a hit exactly.

In this situation, the choice of RBI governor should not be limited to Rajan. There are other experts for the job and one of them could be given a chance.

K Muralidharan Thrissur

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