RBI's image 'dented beyond repair' post demonetisation: 'Humiliated' staff told Patel

In a letter, they also termed appointment of a senior finance ministry official as a “blatant encroachment” of its exclusive turf of currency management.

The autonomy and image of RBI has been “dented beyond repair” due to mismanagement post the demonetisation move announced by the central government, ‘humiliated’ central bank employees informed governor Urjit Patel on Friday through letter.

In a letter, they also termed appointment of a senior finance ministry official as a “blatant encroachment” of its exclusive turf of currency management.

“An image of efficiency and independence that RBI assiduously built up over decades by the strenuous efforts of its staff and judicious policy making has gone into smithereens in no time. We feel extremely pained,” the United Forum of Reserve Bank Officers and Employees said in the letter addressed to Patel.

“We request the Governor of the RBI, its highest functionary and protector of its autonomy and prestige, to do the needful urgently to do away with this unwarranted interference from the finance ministry and assure the staff accordingly as the staff feels humiliated,” the letter said.

The RBI has been discharging the role of currency management for over eight decades since 1935, it said, adding the central bank does not need “any assistance” and the interference from the finance ministry is “absolutely unacceptable and deplorable”.

The letter comes days after concerns about RBI’s functioning being raised by at least three former governors — Manmohan Singh (also the former prime minister), Y V Reddy and Bimal Jalan. Former deputy governors, including Usha Thorat and KC Chakrabarty, have also voiced their concerns.

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