Outgoing RBI Deputy Governor K C Chakrabarty, who earned a reputation for being too candid during his 5-year stint at the central bank, today said many of his views have been vindicated from time to time.
He defended his being outspoken on important regulatory issues, saying that his views on inflation and monetary policy among others have been vindicated repeatedly.
"Being open and transparent is the hallmark of democracy. As a supervisor, my job is to communicate and shout, create the awareness. (Sooner) you do that, you will get a better result and more you delay, to that extent will be the damage. That is why I am happy about my stint in RBI," Chakrabarty told PTI in an interview.
The commercial banker-turned central banker had last month called its quits almost 45 days ahead of the end of his second term. His last working day is tomorrow.
He asserted that he never spoke against his higher-ups, but only gave his views on certain topics when they were sought. Chakrabarty also spoke candidly about an episode in 2011 when the then Governor D Subbarao was forced to strip all the key departments from him after critical comments surfaced in the media on the ineffectiveness of the monetary tightening, attributed to an unnamed RBI official.
"So far as that episode is concerned, nowhere can anybody prove that I said that. Anyhow that was my view, and the entire world today knows that my view was correct," he said.
This incident also led him being asked not to speak extempore, something he was very fond of, and his speeches were uploaded on the Reserve Bank of India website.
Chakrabarty, understood to be considering an offer from a global consultancy firm post-retirement in London, refused to confirm or deny this saying that nothing is on his hands as of now.
Meanwhile, he pointed to his flagging concerns over the public's obsession over gold buying which needed to be addressed.
"I had said gold buying was bad, and lots of people abused me. Ultimately it has been proved that what I had said was correct," Chakrabarty said.
"Our job is to give the advice. You may not agree with my views... I will give you logic and ultimately time will say who is right and who is wrong," he said.
"Difference of opinion and dissent should be the hallmark of a democratic society and absolutely this is what is the greatness of this institution, that you can express your views. I have so many times said so many things against the ministry and nobody has said anything against me... The hallmark of the democratic system is that," he added.
