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According to an office order, the development banking and operations department — looking after the new bank licence process — will be under deputy governor H R Khan's purview. Apart from DBoD, Khan will also look after non-banking supervision and information technology.
K C Chakrabarty, the senior-most DG, will be in charge of the legal department, premises and urban banks, from Sinha’ erstwhile charge. Urjit Patel will have additional charge of right to information and risk monitoring. Rajan said after a new DG is appointed, the portfolios will be reallocated.
Sinha retired on Friday after 37 years in central banking, including three as DG. He was appointed advisor by RBI for three months, to help complete the new bank licence process. He was appointed DG in January 2011 for a little over two years; last year, his term was extended by another 11 months.
While a search panel headed by Rajan had interviewed executive directors and sent its recommendation, the government is yet to decide. Sources indicated the process will be delayed as the finance ministry has some reservation on the search panel’s recommendation.
A deputy governor of RBI can be appointed for five years or till the age of 62, whichever is earlier. To be eligible, a candidate needs to be less than 60 years. However, there were instances when both criteria were relaxed.
The central bank has four DGs. Traditionally, two are promoted from within the ranks of RBI, one is an economist and the other is a commercial banker. While Sinha and Khan were from within RBI, Chakrabarty was a commercial banker and Patel an economist. Chakrabarty will retire in June 2014, after completing five years in RBI. Khan’s three-year term will get over in July; he is eligible for a two-year extension.
