On May 6, 2020 The government appointed Economic Affairs Secretary Tarun Bajaj, a 1988 batch Indian Administration Service(IAS) officer, as a director on the central board of the Reserve Bank of India(RBI). He replaces Atanu Chakraborty, who retired on April 30.
- The nomination of Mr. Bajaj is effective from May 5 and until further orders.
Gist about Tarun Bajaj
i.Before this appointment he served as the Additional Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office(PMO). Prior to joining the PMO’s in 2015, he was Joint Secretary in the Economic Affairs Department, looking after multilateral funding agencies.
ii.He worked as Joint Secretary in the Department of Financial Services for four years, he was looking after the insurance division and Director in the Department of Financial Services.
About RBI:
i.It is India’s central bank, also known as the banker’s bank was established on April 1, 1935, in accordance with the RBI Act, 1934. It controls monetary and other banking policies of the Indian government. Initially it was originally privately owned since nationalisation in 1949.
ii.The Central Office of the Reserve Bank was initially established in Kolkata but was permanently moved to Mumbai in 1937. The Central Office is where the Governor sits and where policies are formulated.
Functions of RBI
- to regulate the issue of Bank notes and keeping of reserves with a view to securing monetary stability in India and generally to operate the currency and credit system of the country to its advantage;
- to have a modern monetary policy framework to meet the challenge of an increasingly complex economy,
- to maintain price stability while keeping in mind the objective of growth.
Central Board
It‘s affairs are governed by a central board of directors(BoD). The board is appointed by the Government of India in keeping with the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934. The central BoD consists of 21 members, namely; (Direct – 1+4; Indirect 10+2+4)
i.Official Directors
Full-time- Governor and not more than four Deputy Governors
ii.Non-Official Directors
Nominated by Government- ten Directors from various fields and two government Official
Others- four Directors , where one each from four local boards
Headquarters– Mumbai, Maharashtra
Governor– Shaktikanta Das
