All Indians should be concerned, says former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan on Urjit's resignation
New Delhi, Dec 10: With RBI Governor Urjit Patel putting in his papers, his immediate predecessor Raghuram Rajan Monday said "all Indians" should be concerned as strength of institutions is important for growth and development.
Patel, who faced the possibility of an unprecedented action from the government over differences on a variety of issues, resigned from his job, citing personal reasons.
"I think Dr Patel has made a statement and I think this is the ultimate statement that a regulator or a civil servant can make. I think the statement should be respected," Rajan told news channel ET Now.
"We should" go into the details as to why there was impasse, which forced this ultimate decision, he noted.
"I think, this is something that all Indians should be concerned about because strength of our institutions is really important for our growth, sustainable growth and equity in the economy," said Rajan, who completed his three-year term as RBI Governor in September 2016.
With regard to powers of the RBI Board, Rajan said there is "an extreme" change in the nature of the governance of the Reserve Bank of India for the "board to become an operational board, that is to make operational decisions".
During his tenure, Rajan had differences with the government and did not get an extension.
Earlier, the board was an advisory and the professionals from the central bank took decisions, Rajan said, apparently referring to recent appointments of RSS ideologue S Gurumurthy and cooperative banking sector expert S K Marathe to the board.
"I think, the move towards giving the board more operational authority would impinge on the professional management to regulate and supervise (the bank)... and if that is to be the case then the board should be composed of professionals, as opposed to the larger public," Rajan opined.
Patel's resignation was being speculated right from the time the government cited a never-before-used provision of the RBI Act to get him to consider its views on relaxing lending norms for segments such as small and medium enterprises, appropriate size of reserves the central bank must maintain and easing norms for weak banks.
Patel, 55, who took over as the 24th Governor of the central bank on September 5, 2016, had the shortest tenure since 1992.
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Close shave for Odisha MLA, 36 passengers as bus catches fire
Malkangiri(Odisha) (PTI): As many as 37 passengers, including Odisha's Congress MLA Mangu Khila, had a narrow escape when the bus in which they were travelling from Bhubaneswar to Nabarangpur caught fire after a rear tyre burst early on Saturday, police said.
The incident took place near Ramabhadrapuram in Andhra Pradesh. All the passengers and crew members were safely evacuated before the bus was completely gutted in the fire, Khila told reporters.
Police said all the passengers, including the MLA, were safely evacuated without any injuries.
The prompt response of the driver and the alertness of passengers helped avert a major tragedy, the police said, adding that fire services personnel and local authorities reached the spot and brought the fire under control, although the vehicle could not be saved.
The MLA from Chitrakonda assembly segment in Malkangiri district said, "The bus caught fire when all the passengers, including me, were in deep sleep. The driver's presence of mind saved all. He stopped the bus, opened all the windows and awakened all the passengers."
"A major tragedy was averted. I had boarded the bus at Rasulgarh bus stand in Bhubaneswar and was going to Malkangiri," he said, adding that later another bus picked up the passengers to Malkangiri.
Police have launched an investigation to ascertain the cause of the fire.
