Economic Affairs Secretary designate Anuradha Thakur will be new member in the Board of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the government has notified. Another notification is expected for her inclusion in the Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Her appointment to the board will be effective from July 1. She will replace, outgoing Finance and Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth who is retiring on June 30. Seth is also the board member of the Reserve Bank of India as an ex-officio member.
The SEBI Board comprises of Chairman, four full time members and three part time members. All the three part time members are ex-officio — RBI Deputy Governor, Economic Affairs Secretary and Corporate Affairs Secretary. Apart from Thakur, Corporate Affairs Secretary Deepti Gaur Mukerjee will be another member representing the government.
RBI’s Central Board has two ex-officio members from the Finance Ministry — Economic Affairs Secretary and Financial Services Secretary. Here, too Thakur will replace Seth and will join M Nagaraju as government nominees.
Thakur, 1994 batch IAS officer of Himachal Pradesh cadre has already joined Economic Affairs Department as Officer on Special Duty in the rank and pay of the Secretary. Earlier, she was an Additional Secretary in the Corporate Affairs Ministry and taking care of PM Internship program.
Originally from Bihar, Thakur will be the first woman Economic Affairs Secretary, the post which has previously been held by the likes of late Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia. Prior to this, Thakur was with Corporate Affairs where she spearheaded the ambitious PM Internship Programme. She was also in-charge of enforcement of the initiative called 3Is (inquiry, inspection and investigation).
She was director of the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) under the Companies Act. During her tenure at DIPAM, she was the key force behind the strategic disinvestment of Air India, launching of HARAT Bond Exchange Traded Fund and formalisation of asset monetisation.
As Economic Affairs Secretary, her tasks would include representing government on the board of two key regulators — SEBI and RBI. She would also be expected to pitch strongly before rating agencies for an upgrade.