RBI to interview all 7 EDs for Dy Governor job

The government has started the process to identify a replacement for Shyamala Gopinath, deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) who retires on June 20.

A search committee headed by Governor D Subbarao has called all seven executive directors of the central bank for interviews on May 13. To be eligible, a candidate should have two years of residual service.

Among the seven executive directors, V K Sharma is the seniormost, followed by V S Das. The other executive directors are G Gopalakrishna, H R Khan, D K Mohanty, S Karuppasamy and R Gandhi.

The central bank, which has created two more ED posts, will also conduct the interview for the selection of EDs on May 13.

With Gopinath retiring, there will be three vacancies for the ED's job. Among the eligible candidates, Chief General Manager P Vijay Bhaskar, currently the regional director of Bangalore, is the seniormost. Bhaskar is followed by B Mahapatra and G Padmanavan in terms of seniority. In the last couple of years, RBI followed the seniority criteria to appoint an ED.

While the appointment of deputy governor is made by the government, RBI takes care of the ED appointment.

Traditionally, of the four deputy governors of RBI, one is a commercial banker, one an economist and two are promoted from within the central bank.

Shyamala Gopinath and Anand Sinha were promoted to the deputy governor's post from the ranks of RBI. Deputy Governor K C Chakrabarty represents the commercial banking fraternity, while the other deputy governor, Subir Gokarn, is an economist.

Gopinath, who holds charge of nine departments, including foreign exchange, was appointed deputy governor in September 2004 for five years.

A deputy governor in RBI can be appointed for a maximum of five years or till the age of 62, whichever is earlier.

In September 2009, Gopinath was reappointed by the government for a little less than two years.

The government made an exception during the reappointment and relaxed the two-year residual service criterion. The retirement age for RBI deputy governor is 62, while for all other RBI employees, it is 60.