Search the Internet          Tips  Sites: Finance, Investment

Like politicians, bankers never retire

BS Banking Editor

Last week, the Securities and Exchange Board of India appointed V Rangarajan, a former Reserve Bank of India executive director, as an officer on special duty. For the capital market watchdog, this is the first time that a retired executive has been appointed.

But, take a look at the entire financial sector: the membership of the old boys club is growing.

Over a dozen of banking ombudsmen in various regions are either retired RBI employees or former bank chairmen; the soon-to-be dismantled banking service recruitment boards are again headed by retired bank chairmen and even the Reserve Bank of India headquarters on the Mint Street is quite liberal about keeping its trusted executives-who combine efficiency and nostalgia with elan-on its pay roll. Like politicians, bankers never seem to retire.

This is significant against the backdrop of the largest-ever voluntary retirement scheme in the Indian banking industry which saw 91,970 employees (roughly 11 per cent of the staff strength) in the age group of 45 and above walking out of the state-run banks in the last week of March. A section of the finance ministry also strongly favours bringing down the retirement age of bankers from 60 to 58.

Before joining Sebi as OSD, Rangarajan served as OSD in RBI for a few months immediately after his retirement. At the moment, A Vasudevan, who stepped down as ED a few months back, is an honorary advisor to RBI.

Among the retired chief general managers, S R Mittal is an advisor in the information technology department and Amalendu Ghose is overseeing risk-based supervision. And this is in no way an exhaustive list.

Former RBI deputy governor SS Tarapore is still playing an active role, in a different capacity though. Among the existing deputy governors, both SP Talwar and Jagdish Capoor have had a two-year extension and may end up having another round.

At least two retired RBI executives-JR Prabhu and Khizer Ahmed-are banking ombudsmen. Former bureaucrat-turned-banker Deepak Rudra is also a banking ombudsman.

While choosing an ombudsman-whether he is an ex-central banker or a commercial banker-the authority is generally considerate enough to keep in mind the profile of the person's home state. This is to ensure that he plays his second innings in "home comfort".

When retired Central Bank CMD KC Chowdhury took over as CEO of the Indian Banks' Association, he replaced another retired banker-MN Dandekar of State Bank of India-at the top post. Former SBI chairman MS Verma is now heading TRAI after a successful stint at RBI as a special advisor. The list goes on.

There have been instances of public sector executives joining the private sector after retirement. But they are far outnumbered by former central bankers as well as commercial bankers playing a second innings.

Powered by

YOU MAY ALSO WANT TO READ:
The Rediff-Business Standard Special
The Budget 2001-2002 Special
Money
Business News

Tell us what you think of this report