The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) seems to want all hands on deck, going by the policy it has drawn up for hiring its retired officers on contractual basis. This is aimed at filling up shortages in select areas that require specific expertise and experience.

The aforementioned move comes in the backdrop of serving officers reportedly being reluctant to join the Unified Department of Supervision (for Banking, Non-Banking and Co-operative Bank) and Unified Department of Regulation, both created in November 2019, due to issues around career progression.

So, RBI seems to have come up with a workaround – by planning to hire retired officers on contract. At the same time, the Central Office Departments (CODs)/ Regional Offices (ROs) will be making efforts to ensure that the skill-gap is plugged at the earliest by developing necessary skills / experience in-house.

Positions on offer will include any position in the officer cadre, based on requirements to be identified by CODs / ROs (headed by Regional Directors) after a skill-gap analysis, per the policy.

Tenure: 1 to 3 years

To begin with, a term of 1-3 years could be offered based on the nature of the job. The contract can be further extended, one year at a time, up to a total period of 5 years.

While all positions equivalent to Grade A (Assistant Manager) to Grade F (Chief General Manager) can be offered by CODs, ROs can offer positions equivalent up to Grade C (Assistant General Manager) only under this scheme.

The total monthly remuneration, which includes a cash component towards housing, for these contractual appointments' ranges from ₹1.56 lakh for Grade A to ₹4.85 lakh for Grade F. The remuneration offered would be subject to change on an annual basis corresponding to year-on-year inflation (Consumer Price Index New Series).

Depending upon the nature of job, retired officers appointed on contract will be designated as Resource Persons/ Associates/ Analysts (if taken at levels equivalent to Assistant Manager to Assistant General Manager) and Consultants/ Experts/ Specialists (if taken at levels equivalent to Deputy General Manager to Chief General Manager).

Twice a year exercise

The contractual hiring exercise will be taken up twice a year (in April and October). However, in emergent cases, CODs / ROs will have the flexibility to hire on contract even outside the calendar, by following due process.

The central bank has specified that the retired officer should not be more than 63 years of age on the date of declaration of vacancy. The officer should have served the Bank till the age of 60 years. Officers who take / had taken Voluntary Retirement too can apply.

Further, the retired officer should have had relevant direct work experience in handling the particular job for which he / she is applying.

Moreover, the retired officer should be having requisite expertise and must be meeting specific professional qualifications, if any, as specified by the Bank.

An email sent to RBI for its comments regarding its move to hire retired officers on contractual basis did not elicit response.

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