All the RBI's men

As the Reserve Bank celebrates its 90th birthday, the concluding part of a two-column series offers a peek into the lives and works of its governors over the past three decades

RN Malhotra, governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) from February 4, 1985 to December 22, 1990, strongly opposed the VP Singh government’s loan-waiver programme in 1990.

He also did not like the idea of RBI employees celebrating Diwali, Ganesh Chaturthi, Christmas or any other religious festivals in office. A notification was issued to stop these practices since they were not in sync with the central bank’s secular character.
 

Malhotra’s wife, Anna, was passionate about gardening. At the RBI governor’s bungalow in Mumbai, one gardener’s job was to brief her every Sunday on the number of fruit the lime tree