Online petition for second term to Rajan goes viral

New Delhi, May 25:  With Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan’s current three-year term ending this September, an online petition pushing for a second term for him has gone viral and has gathered over 40,000 sigtures of support by Wednesday.

The petitions, filed a week ago on change.org by Bengaluru-based Rajesh Palaria, has been logging support at a fast rate and had recorded nearly 43,000 votes by mid-day on Wednesday.

Many Indian corporate leaders too recently have voiced their preference for an extension of Rajan’s tenure by the government. His term gets over in the first week of September.

Rajan became the focus of attention last week when Bharatiya Jata Party leader Subramanian Swamy called for his sacking, saying he was mentally “not fully Indian”. Rajan had earlier said in an interview that India’s economic progress should not be blown out of proportion, given the precarious state of the global economy.

Asked to comment on India being referred to as the “bright spot” in gloomy global economic conditions, Rajan said: “I think we have still to get to a place where we feel satisfied.” “We have this saying ‘In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king’. We are a little bit that way.”

British magazine Central Banking last year gave Rajan their Central Banker of the Year award for 2015. (IANS)