Sunitha Natti By

Express News Service

High-profile external appointments in government machinery have been surrounded by unpleasant air in the recent past. And, RBI Deputy Governor Viral Acharya’s decision to quit six months ahead of the end of his 3-year tenure deepens the perceived differences between the bureaucracy and the professional community of domain experts.

A quick check of the dashboard shows several key exits, some voluntarily and others grudgingly undertook. Just six months ago, Urjit Patel quit as RBI Governor following an intense face-off with the government.

In fact, the central bank has been roiled in personnel controversies for some time now, with Patel’s predecessor Raghuram Rajan failing to get a second term, though he managed to make a graceful exit after being in charge for three years in September 2016.

The situation appears similar even in the North block with Arvind Panagariya leaving government think tank Niti Aayog much before his term as vice-chairman came to an end, while Arvind Subramanian stepped down as India’s Chief Economic Advisor earlier than the scheduled end to his tenure, saying that he preferring to spend time with his grandson.

In December 2018, noted economist and columnist Surjit Bhalla also resigned as a part-time member of the PM’s economic advisory council to pursue personal interests.

Acharya, the youngest deputy governor, joins this growing tribe of foreign-educated academicians, economists and technocrats leaving top government posts on a bitter note, raising concerns if similar appointments in the future will be viewed with caution or whether prospective candidates will back off fearing face-offs and to avoid embarrassment.

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It’s not that all such professional, external hires have had non-glorious stints in the government. For instance, economist and author Bibek Debroy has been roped in by the government in multiple capacities, including as the President of the Indian Statistical Institute, besides chairing several high-profile committees.

He was also appointed as a permanent member of NITI Aayog and is currently the Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (PMEAC). Similarly, economist Arvind Virmani has also had several successful stints serving at the highest levels of government including as Principal Advisor, Planning Commission and Chief Economic Advisor, Ministry of Finance, prior to 2009.

Some such recent appointments include economist and historian Sanjeev Sanyal — now being considered for the post being vacated by Acharya at the RBI — or economist Shamika Ravi, who is a part-time member in the PMEAC.

According to SBI Research, institutions are more important than individuals and ultimately what is important is the credibility and the independence of any institution and nothing else.

Citing an example, it said that an analysis of RBI’s history, in respect of managing price stability since 1983, reveals that almost all Governors gave prime importance to price stability, with the number of positive surprises in inflation numbers also significantly high in earlier decades compared to the current scenario, the SBI report said.