Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan will meet representatives of employees’ unions on Tuesday to explain to them and get their views on the proposed restructuring of the central bank’s employees, including appointing a Chief Operating Officer (COO) and bringing various departments under clusters.

RBI officials said the initial proposal had been prepared on the basis of year-long internal exercise conducted through Intranet and by a committee. “It is not something which the Governor himself has proposed,” said an official, adding that no decision had been taken that the COO would be in the rank of a Deputy Governor. Nor had any timeline been fixed for implementingthe proposal.

“There are misgivings about the proposal. That is why the Governor is talking to employees unions and associations to hear their views and clear their doubts,” a senior RBI official told Business Line .

The official said that by undertaking the restructuring exercise, it does not mean that everything is being rewritten. The effort is to regroup various departments and make things more logical.

The Governor had an interaction with the employees through video conferencing, the official added. On August 10, the RBI board approved the broad contours of the proposal and now specifics such as appointment of a COO would be presented before the board, as and when required.

The restructuring exercise talks about grouping various departments into five clusters. “For example, the cluster on monetary policy will have departments such as Monetary Policy, Financial Market, Research and Communication. Similarly, the cluster on supervision will have departments such as Banking Operation, Banking Supervision, Rural Credit, Urban Credit and NBFC,” the official explained.

Chief Operating officer Just as in a company, the proposal talks about appointing a COO in the bank to supervise its internal working. “Since each of the clusters will be under one Deputy Governor, it will be logical to have COO of the rank of a Deputy Governor. But, we are aware that appointment of fifth Governor will require amendment to the RBI Act, 1934,” the official said.

Currently, the Act prescribes that the central board will comprise the Governor, four Deputy Governors, one director each to be nominated from four local boards, 10 directors and two Government officials. Keeping this in mind, the board has asked the Reserve Bank to initiate a dialogue with the Government on the additional post of Deputy Governor and the legislative changes that will be needed.

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