MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India is considering suggestions from people across all walks of life to put Indian luminaries other than M K Gandhi on our currency notes. Among the recommendations are Dr B R Ambedkar, Chhatrapati Shivaji, Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi.As Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi enjoys a privileged place in every sphere of our lives. Cities, colonies, roads, schools, colleges, universities — you name it and he is there, a reminder of the sacrifices he made for our countryand the ingenious way in which he earned India its Independence.But if there’s one area in which the Mahatma has had a monopoly, it’s our currency notes. He has been smiling at us — one section believes that given his ascetic lifestyle, he wouldn’t have cared much to be on the notes— from 1987 when he first made his appearance on a Rs 500 note. From 1996, he has been on all the denominations.Ironically, before the Mahatma, the Ashoka Pillar used to be the most dominant feature on bank notes. RTI activist Manoranjan Roy tried to find out how and when the Mahatma took pride of place, but he drew a blank, with the RBI telling him that no document recorded the change.“The recommendation to print the image of Mahatma Gandhi on the watermark/banknotes was made by the Central Board of RBI in 1993 which was later approved by the Government of India,” an RBI spokesperson said.Roy felt that the RBI wasn’t doing justice to a country as diverse as India by not showcasing anything else on its currency bills. Dilip Rajgor, a scholar and the author of several books on numismatics, agreed. “India is home to several monuments, dance forms, religions, great scientists. Why are we not considering them on our coins and notes?” he asked.In fact, Rajgor rued that the RBI didn’t have any numismatist on the board that approved the design of coins and notes. “Some African countries have Mahatma Gandhi’s image on their coins; others have the Taj Mahal; Nepal has the Buddha on some coins,” he added.But RBI’s ex-governor Bimal Jalan says printing a particular leader’s image is decided by the sentiments of the respective nations or states and India is no exception.