Govt holds interview to fill top bank positions

The government today conducted interviews for the post of chairman and managing director of public sector banks, in which 11 candidates appeared, according to officials familiar with the development.

For the interview, held in Delhi, executive directors of state-run banks, with minimum six months' experience in the post and two years of service remaining, were eligible.

In addition, two deputy managing directors from Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi) were also interviewed.

According to officials, the short-listing criteria were relaxed this time as a minimum of six months' experience as executive director was sought as against one year earlier.

The executive directors who appeared for the interview included R S Reddy, (Union Bank of India), K R Kamath and A Parulkar (Bank of India), S C Gupta, (Bank of Baroda), D L Rawal (Canara Bank) and J M Garg (Punjab National Bank).

The two Sidbi deputy managing directors interviewed were Rakesh Rewari and Basant Seth. This is for the first time that officials from development finance institutions have been called for selection.

The interview board consisted five members including, Arun Ramanathan, banking secretary in the finance ministry, V Leeladhar, deputy governor, Reserve Bank of India, former chairman of State Bank of India Janaki Ballav, and Pritam Singh, dean of Gurgaon-based Management Development Institute.

Nine public sector bank heads are due to retire this year, starting with A K Khandelwal and C P Swarnkar of Bank of Baroda and Syndicate Bank, respectively, who will retire on March 31.

The top jobs in Canara Bank, United Bank of India, Andhra Bank, Dena Bank, Corporation Bank, Vijaya Bank and Central Bank of India will also fall vacant during the course of the year.

While Bank of Baroda and Canara Bank will see lateral movement for the top post, the others will see promotion from executive director to chairman and managing director.

M D Mallya, CMD, Bank of Maharashtra, is expected to take charge as the head of Bank of Baroda, while Allahabad Bank Chairman A C Mahajan is tipped to head Canara Bank.

Among executive directors, Allen Periera of Oriental Bank of Commerce is slated to join Bank of Maharashtra as its head. Periera was not interviewed this time around, as he had been selected as a prospective chairman in the previous round of interviews.