Key positions in SBI, BoB await govt okay

Though the Banks Board Bureau (BBB) has cleared the names to fill up the top decks in leading public sector banks (PSBs) like State Bank of India and Bank of Baroda, their appointments have been delayed by more than twoand-a-half months due to non-issuance of appointment letters by the government.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is learnt to have not yet cleared the positions, though such appointments are usually cleared without much delay.

According to a source, the appointment of Challa Sreenivasulu Setty as managing director (MD) of SBI has been cleared by the BBB, headed by former Department of Personnel and Training secretary BP Sharma, while the name of Ashwin Bhatia, MD & CEO of SBI Mutual Fund, has been kept as a standby for the same position.

“In another case, Sanjeev

Chadha, MD & CEO of SBI Caps, has been named by the BBB to take over as MD & CEO of BoB, but his appointment letter is still pending with the government,” the source said.

“The ACC is expected to discuss the issue with the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) before taking a final call. We expect that the government will clear the appointments soon,” the source added.

The SBI MD’s position is lying vacant for more than three months now, since the demitting of office by Anshula Kant, who joined World Bank as its chief financial officer. Interviews for the post were held in the last week of October, in which 17 candidates appeared from both SBI and other public sector banks.

The BBB, after interviewing 15 candidates, who included executive directors from other PSBs for the first time in SBI’s history, selected Setty, evaluating his performance and seniority for the post. Now, Setty is working as SBI deputy MD at the Hyderabad office and is waiting for his elevation.