BABU OF BABUS

NEW DELHI: Shaktikanta Das, who signed the new one-rupee note on the last day of his government service on May 30, 2017, will now get a chance to sign all currency notes as the 25th governor of the Reserve Bank of India. Fondly referred to as "babu of babus" by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Das has been an integral part of major economic policy making in the last one decade. Das, who has a very good working relationship with Jaitley, will probably find it easier to manage RBI’s relations with the government, which have become strained in the recent past. He has worked very closely with the RBI as economic affairs secretary and joint secretary in charge of the Budget. Das was also a member of central board of the RBI during his term as economic affairs secretary. Das has spent most of his central deputation in various departments of the finance ministry. As economic affairs secretary, Das had been the government's face defending the demonetisation in November 2016. His efforts to present a brave front to journalists, almost on a daily basis, after the demonetisation had made him the go-to man for the government. A "by-the-rulebook" bureaucrat, who spent 37 long years in government service, Das was involved in making of eight central budgets, as joint secretary in budget division, revenue secretary and economic affairs secretary. Das, in his last few months as economic affairs secretary, was most vocal in criticising the methodology of global rating agencies in reviewing India's rating and sought a sovereign rating upgrade.