Rbi Staffers Union Decries Talwars Statements

The All India Reserve Bank of India Employees Association (AIRBEA) has lodged a protest against statements made by the Reserve Bank of India deputy governor, S P Talwar in Business Standard on Sunday.

The AIRBEA general secretary Samir Ghosh said that according to the deputy governor, 12 additional offices had been set up to monitor the function of the non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) in the country.

Though this adds to the four such offices already existing in the country, Ghosh pointed out these offices had not been provided with adequate staff to man them effectively. These offices have, therefore been virtually inactive, he said.

 

Ghosh further pointed out that the apex bank had been asking the government of India for greater autonomy and statutory authority. Therefore, the central bank is bound to have known that additional staff would be required. Yet, for the last five or six years virtually no initiative has been taken to recruit new staff, he added.

He said there has been an increasingly emphasis in the Reserve Bank on off-site inspection. But off-site monitoring is fraught with problems. It can, at best, be a supplement to on-site monitoring, never a substitute, Ghosh said.