Extent of RBI autonomy

With reference to Ajay Shah’s article, “RBI independence: The middle ground” (January 23), the nature and extent of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) independence of the central government has been a major point of discussion since demonetisation on November 8.

The issue is not new; it had cropped up on earlier occasions since the RBI was nationalised. During his time as prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru also expressed his view on the topic in his letters to then RBI governor B Rama Rau between December 12, 1956, and January 7, 1957. The exchange of letters culminated in Rau’s resignation from the