Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Urjit Patel said the central bank would not tolerate any act which lowered the esteem of the organisation after some of its employees were arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation over charges of assisting in illegal exchange of withdrawn currency.
“I am confident that all of us working together will rise to the occasion and face challenges in a manner befitting the reputation of this esteemed organisation,” Dr. Patel wrote in an email to RBI employees — his first communication in the new year to the RBI staff.
Dr. Patel took charge as the central bank governor in September 2016 after his predecessor Raghuram Rajan decided not to seek a second term. “Our recent engagement of handling specified bank notes (SBN) is a case in point.
“While on the subject, let me emphasise that one thing we should all zealously guard is the integrity and reputation of our organisation and any act belittling the same should deserve zero tolerance from all of us.”
Following demonetisation, the RBI had opened a window for exchange of ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes which were withdrawn. In December, CBI arrested a few employees from RBI’s Bengaluru office for illegal exchange of currency worth over ₹3 crore. The investigative agency alleged that RBI employees who were deployed for the exchange of old notes, gave away new notes without following the rules.
Question of autonomy
Following the demonetisation drive, the central bank faced flak from several quarters over poor handling of the issue.
Some former central bankers have also raised the issue of RBI’s autonomy being compromised over the demonetisation move. Dr. Patel, however, did not speak about these contentious issues in the emailed letter, a copy of which has been reviewed by The Hindu .
The RBI chief said the central bank continued its efforts at restoring macroeconomic stability and that its policy actions had yielded positive results.
“During the year gone by, we have continued our efforts at restoring macroeconomic stability in the economy. While the policy actions have already shown positive effects, nevertheless, they are work in progress and need to be fine-tuned constantly to keep pace with the challenging environment,” the Governor wrote in his email.
