RSS-affiliate SJM welcomes Nachiket Mor's sacking from RBI board

The RSS-affiliate Swadeshi Jagran Manch Monday welcomed the removal of Nachiket Mor from the central board of the RBI, saying it was a fit case of conflict of interest.

Mor is the Director of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's (BMGF) India office, which receives foreign funds and the RBI is the regulator of the funds, Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM) co-convener Ashwani Mahajan said.

The Home Ministry was keeping a watch on the BMGF after allegations surfaced that the foundation was working for multinational companies to influence government policies on health and agriculture in their favour, Mahajan claimed.

It was a glaring case of conflict of interest, as Mor was on the board of the RBI but his principal employer was BMGF, which is functioning in India with the central bank's permission, he asserted.

Mor, who was re-nominated by the government in August 2017 for a second term of four years on the board of the RBI, has been removed.

Earlier this year, the SJM had written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding that he be sacked.

In August, the government had appointed SJM convenor S Gurumurthy to the RBI board.

Mor has worked with ICICI Bank and also headed the RBI expert committee on financial inclusion.

The SJM has been demanding that government issue instructions to NITI Aayog, ICMR and the ministries of agriculture, health and family welfare, finance and women and child development to keep such outfits and their representatives at bay.