Govt refuses to disclose details on RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das appointment
New Delhi: The Centre has refused to share details related to the appointment of RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das citing a clause in the transparency law which bars disclosure of information, including "records of deliberations of the council of ministers, secretaries and other officers".
Replying to an RTI query, it declined to share the details, including names of short-listed candidates and file notings related to the appointment.
Das was on December 11, 2018 named as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for three years.
The appointment came after Urjit Patel abruptly resigned amid a face-off with the government over issues related to governance and autonomy of the central bank.
The RTI application was filed by this correspondent with the Department of Financial Services (DFS) seeking details like copy of any advertisement or vacancy circular issued by the government on appointment of RBI Governor, names of all applicants who had applied for the post and those short-listed for the top post.
The DFS was also asked to provide details on composition of search committee to short-list candidates and copy of minutes of meetings held on deciding the RBI Governor.
In its reply, the DFS said the selection of Governor, RBI is done by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet on the basis of recommendation made by the Financial Sector Regulatory Appointments Search Committee (FSRASC).
The committee is headed by cabinet secretary as its chairperson and has additional principal secretary to Prime Minister and secretary of the department concerned besides three outside experts as its members, the DFS said, without giving the names of the experts.
It had then forwarded the application to the cabinet secretariat.
"In this regard, it is informed that the requisite information about appointment of Shaktikanta Das as Governor, Reserve Bank of India, being Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) related file notings/documents/records, is exempted from disclosure under Section 8 (1) (i) of the Right to Information Act 205," the cabinet secretariat said in its reply to the RTI application.
The section bars disclosure of "cabinet papers, including records of deliberations of the council of ministers, secretaries and other officers".
The section, however, says that the decisions of council of ministers, the reasons thereof, and the material on the basis of which the decisions were taken shall be made public after the decision has been taken, and the matter is complete, or over.
Das, a 1980-batch IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre, retired as Economic Affairs Secretary in May 2017 and was since appointed India's Sherpa to the G-20 and a member of the Finance Commission.
Urjit Patel, who initially appeared to have toed the government line on issues like demonetisation, clashed with the Finance Ministry last year over issues of liquidity, reserves of the central bank and lending norms.
The face-off had led to the government invoking a never-used-before provision of the RBI Act to bring the Governor to the negotiating table on these issues.
After Das' appointment was announced, Indian-American economist Abhijit Banerjee flayed the government for appointing the retired bureaucrat as the RBI Governor. He also warned that the decision leaves a lot of "frightening" questions about governance issues at key public institutions.
Banerjee, Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), had made a strong pitch for strengthening the credibility of all key institutions like the RBI.
On Patel's sudden resignation, he had said, "We should all worry if this is a sign of institutional stress."
Addressing a function a day after Das' appointment, former chief economic advisor Arvind Subramanian said the central bank's autonomy was "sacred" which should not be compromised.
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Maharashtra sets up state vaccination task force to strengthen immunisation programme
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has set up a State Vaccination Task Force to strengthen the regular immunisation programme and review the progress of related campaigns, a health department official said on Monday.
The State Vaccination Task Force will comprise at least 29 members and will be headed by the administrative head of the health department, he informed.
The government has also constituted separate district-level and municipal vaccination task forces to improve implementation and address challenges at the grassroots level, he said.
Municipal task forces, chaired by respective civic commissioners, have been constituted in view of the vast urban population in Maharashtra and the role of civic bodies in implementing different health programmes.
The district-level task forces will function under the chairmanship of collectors.
"Complete immunisation of children at the appropriate age is an extremely simple, cost-effective and highly effective measure to reduce child mortality and the prevalence of diseases among kids. Immunisation is a powerful tool for reducing illness in children," maintained the official.
To ensure full vaccination of all children, the state government implements various campaigns from time to time as per the central government guidelines, he pointed out.
"Active participation and cooperation of other relevant government departments are essential (in making these campaigns successful)," according to the official.
The state-level body will review the regular immunisation programme, associated campaigns and vaccine-preventable diseases in detail. It will also conduct focused assessments of high-risk districts and municipal corporations, including vacancies at district, municipal and sub-district levels, availability of cold chain equipment, resource gaps and training requirements, he noted.
The state task force will review allocation and utilisation of funds for immunisation and ensure timely action by officers concerned based on reports from district and municipal task forces and state-level monitoring mechanisms, the official said.
It will also ensure active coordination and participation of other government departments in immunisation drives, while district and municipal task forces will carry out similar functions at their respective levels, the official added.
