RBI Chief Should Work With Government Or Quit: RSS Economic Wing Head
NEW DELHI: The Reserve Bank of India governor should work in sync with the central government to support economic growth or he should resign, said the head of the economic wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, which is the ideological mentor of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling party, the BJP.
RBI Governor Urjit Patel should also "restrain his officials from making differences public," said the RSS official, Ashwani Mahajan, in an interview on Wednesday. "If he doesn't follow discipline it would be better for him to resign," he added.
Mr Mahajan is chief of the RSS's Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM) economic group.
Earlier in the day, some TV channels reported that Mr Patel could consider resigning from his post given a breakdown in relations with the government, sparking a sell-off in the rupee and bonds.
Tensions between the RBI and the government have become increasingly public after the bank's Deputy Governor Viral Acharya said last Friday night that undermining central bank independence could be "potentially catastrophic".
His comments indicated that the RBI was pushing back against government pressure to relax its policies and reduce its powers ahead of a general election due by May.
In a statement, the government said on Wednesday the RBI's independence was "an essential and accepted governance requirement" but it added that it would continue to extensively consult with the central bank to give its assessments on issues and suggest possible solutions.
Government officials on Wednesday declined to say whether it had for the first time ever used, or threatened to use, powers under the RBI Act that allow it to give the bank instructions. The Economic Times newspaper reported the government had sent letters to Mr Patel in recent weeks exercising those powers.
Mr Mahajan said that the government had every right to use the powers of the RBI act.
Foreign Influence Concerns
RSS's Manch is critical of the central bank's hawkish monetary stance, and has criticised the influence in recent years of foreign trained economists including former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan and former chief economic adviser at the finance ministry, Arvind Subramanian.
Mr Mahajan said the central bank and the government should work in tandem to achieve a higher economic growth rate along with lower inflation.
While opposing the appointment of any foreign trained economists at the central bank, he said there was no dearth of "talented persons" with nationalist vision on the RBI board, one of whom could replace Mr Patel if he resigned.
He said higher interest rates were hitting small businesses and there was a need to provide relief to save millions of jobs.
"RBI is adamant, ignoring India's ground realities," he said.
The Manch chief also said the RBI should agree to allow the government to take much of its surplus of cash reserves, estimated at nearly 3.6 trillion rupees ($48.67 billion), so that they could be invested, bolstering economic growth.
Earlier, a senior finance ministry official said that the government would like the central bank to pay the government a higher dividend considering the size of the reserves.
Courtesy: www.ndtv.com
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
