CHANGE OF GUARD AT MINT ROAD
CHANGE OF GUARD AT MINT ROAD
This weekend and the week that follows will find media debating the pros and cons of the change of guard that is happening at Reserve bank of India.
Days before appointment
of Urjit Patel as RBI’s 24th Governor, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley
had told media persons that they should not be inquisitive about the process of
selection to the governor’s post and they would come to know when a decision
was taken. He was, indirectly making the point that we are yet to put in place
transparent processes and procedures for selecting candidates for top-most
positions and if most of the time we get the right persons for the right posts,
that could be attributed to the good luck of the country.
While deciding on the appointment of the present SBI Chairperson also something similar happened about the ‘processes’ of selection. At that point of time, to 'select' the only candidate eligible for elevation, GOI went through 'expansion of catchment area' and a process which did not look much convincing! All these point to the need to create 'talent pools' in various disciplines and evolving transparency in selection processes.
While deciding on the appointment of the present SBI Chairperson also something similar happened about the ‘processes’ of selection. At that point of time, to 'select' the only candidate eligible for elevation, GOI went through 'expansion of catchment area' and a process which did not look much convincing! All these point to the need to create 'talent pools' in various disciplines and evolving transparency in selection processes.
Now that there is
certainty about a smooth ‘change of guard’ at Mint Road, which will also ensure
continuity of policy stances of the central bank, many are inventing new
directions in which RBI should move from September second week.
The elevation of the
senior-most Deputy Governor in whom the outgoing governor had so much of
confidence and with whom Team RBI loved to work, has several advantages which
need not be listed. The icing is there is no need to wait for the next Monetary
Policy or the new governor’s first media interaction for the world to know
Urjit Patel’s mind. Except for the added serenity and grace the person will
derive when he enters the sanctum sanctorum of India’s central bank, Urjit
Patel may be Rajan II for all practical purposes as far as the stakeholders are
concerned.
M
G Warrier, Mumbai
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