Panel to meet on January 16 to select public bank EDs

The dust kicked up over the delay in appointments of executive directors (EDs) in various public sector banks is likely to settle down soon.

The appointments committee constituted by the finance ministry will meet on January 16 to take a decision to fill up vacant ED slots in the banks.

The whole process has been mired in controversy owing to pulls and pressures from various quarters, including political and bureaucratic.

Interviews for some vacanies were conducted twice in the last one-and-a-half years. This has resulted in the number two slot remaining vacant for months on end.

In fact the situation has come to such as pass that Dena Bank and Punjab & Sind Bank are now being run by a committee of general managers and directors on the board.

"Decision making goes for a toss in the absence of the CMD and ED. The government will do well to show urgency in making the appointments," said a senior banker clued in to the developments.

There are clear vacanies in Union Bank of India, Dena Bank, Bank of India, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Punjab & Sind Bank and Indian Bank.

Three other ED slots could also get vacant once EDs of Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank and Canara Bank get elevated.

The appointment of K C Chakraborty (Bank of Baroda), H A Daruwala (Union Bank of India), S K Goel (Andhra Bank), M V Nair (Corporation Bank), B Sambamurthy (Syndicate Bank) is likely to be finalised at the meeting, say sources in the know of developments.

M Balachandran (Bank of Baroda) and K Ramakrishnan (Bank of India) are expected to get appointed as EDs of Bank of India and Bank of Baroda respectively.

P Subba Rao (Central Bank of India) has been tipped to move to Punjab National Bank as ED provided the present incumbent T S Narayansami gets elevated as CMD. Else, Rao may be accommodated in some other bank.

"Most candidates are likely to be accommodated. Those with less tenor may make it first while those with longer tenors will get postings as and when vacancies arise," sources said.

The elevation of two candidates from the first list "" K Rathnakar Hegde (Vijaya Bank) and S P Roy (Union Bank of India) "" as EDs is also hanging fire. Both have around one year to go for retirement.

The last candidate (11th) in the previous short-list, M S Aftab, general manager, Punjab National Bank, and A R Nagappan, general manager, Indian Bank, may also be accommodated.

The committee will present its recommendations to the department of personnel and training, which, in turn, will place it before the appointments committee of the cabinet for final clearance.