Let’s give RBI governor the respect he deserves: Moily
NEW DELHI: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) might be under fire from the Opposition parties, but RBI governor Urijit Patel received some respite from them when he appeared before Parliament’s finance panel this week.
According to members of the panel, minutes before the meeting started on Tuesday, panel chairman and Congress MP Veerappa Moily requested the members not to be harsh on Patel. “Accordingly, members didn’t attack the RBI governor aggressively, even as they raised several issues during the meeting,” said a senior Opposition leader.
Moily confirmed that he had asked the members not to be harsh on Patel.
“Before the meeting, I said that let us give him the honour and the respect that he deserves,” the panel chairman said.
An MP recalled that last year when Patel faced angry members over the November 2016 demonetisation, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told Patel that he could skip answering questions he was uncomfortable addressing. Singh, himself a former RBI governor, was seen taking the lead to protect the dignity of the institution of RBI at a time when its role was under scrutiny.
RBI has been under attack from the Opposition on a pile-up of bad loans at state-run banks and for failing to curb bank frauds, especially one to the tune of ₹14,000 crore at Punjab National Bank (PNB).
At this week’s meeting with Patel, Parliamentarians like Bhartruhari Mahtab, Saugata Ray and Moily asked several questions. Moily wanted to know why RBI, as the regulator, had not intervened.
RBI, on its part, has accused PNB of providing misleading information about its audit. It also added that it is not possible for the RBI to keep a tab on every bank branch. It sought more powers from the government to control state-owned banks