OLD AND NEW FACES OF BBB

Last month the government initiated a muchrequired reorganisation of the banking sector by appointing former IAS officer Bhanu Pratap Sharma as the new chief of the Bank Board Bureau ( BBB), replacing former comptroller and auditor general of India, Vinod Rai. Some were surprised when Mr Rai did not find a place in the reconstituted bureau given that he was a favourite of the government.

Mr Sharma has been a former secretary at the department of personnel and training ( DoPT) as well as health. He has also been chairman, recruitment and assessment centre, at the DRDO. The other members of the reconstituted BBB are Vedika Bhandarkar, former MD, Credit Suisse India, P. Pradeep Kumar, former MD of State Bank of India, and Pradip P. Shah, founder MD of ratings agency Crisil, who returns for a second stint. He is an alumnus of Harvard Business School. Together, the members of the reconstituted BBB have “diverse experience” which should serve the board well as it seeks to get the government implement its recommendations. They have been tasked with the appointment of senior- level positions at staterun banks.

However, it now appears that the government is reviewing the appointment of P. Pradeep Kumar amid concerns about his links to a company given loans by a major private sector bank. Until the investigations are completed, the uncertainty surrounding his appointment will remain.