Lacklustre response by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) staff to opt for specialised supervisory and regulatory cadre (SSRC) has forced the central bank to the extend the deadline by six months.
The SSRC came into effect on November 1.
The RBI had invited applications from its staff, from grade B to grade F, to apply for the specialised cadre in January.
They were given the option to either opt in or opt out. The deadline to exercise the option ended on January 31.
According to sources, around 1,500 exercised the option, of which less than 150 decided to opt in.
There were 3,500 candidates eligible to be in the cadre.
The requirement for the specialised cadre was 1,100.
As a result of the lacklustre response from the staff, the central bank has now decided to extend the deadline by six months.
Sources in the RBI said that the absence of any incentive in this cadre had made the employees reluctant to opt in. Also, they did not want to stick to one area and would rather want to gain knowledge of various aspects of central banking.
The human resources sub-committee, which met in January, discussed the possibility of extending some benefits for those employees who opted for specialised supervisory and regulatory cadre. However, it could not be confirmed what exactly those benefits would be.
An RBI spokesperson declined to comment on the issue, when contacted by The Hindu, saying this was an internal matter of the central bank.
