The Finance Ministry is unlikely to disband the Banks Board Bureau (BBB) that has been set up to advise the government on top-level appointments at public sector lenders.
"The BBB mechanism for board level appointment would continue and there is no proposal at the moment to dissolve it," a top finance ministry official said.
The recommendations of the BBB are important for making a decision on appointment at the board level and this mechanism is help in putting a check on political and government influence at the top level appointments, the official said.
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The BBB was set up in 2016 to advise the government on top-level appointments at state-owned banks and ways to address the bad loans problem, among other issues.
Besides Rai, ICICI Bank's former Joint Managing Director H N Sinor and Bank of Baroda's former CMD Anil K Khandelwal were appointed members for a period of two years.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the proposal for the constitution of BBB as a body of eminent professionals and officials, which will replace the Appointments Board for appointment of Whole-time Directors as well as non-Executive Chairman of PSBs.
They were also given the task of engaging with the Board of Directors of all the public sector banks to formulate appropriate strategies for their growth and development.
It is also be responsible for selection of non-executive chairman and non-official directors on the boards. Besides, the body will also steer strategy discussion on consolidation based on the requirement.
The government wanted to encourage bank boards to restructure their business strategy and also suggest way forward for their consolidation and merger with other banks.