Shaktikanta Das Joins as the New RBI governor post departure of Urjit Patel

Guwahati: With the exit of Urjit Patel as the governor of Reserve bank of India, the time has come that the central banking institution gets its new governor. Accordingly, RBI seems to have found its new governor in Shaktikanta Das who, with time has proved to be an efficient implementer and a team player.

Das, for being a bureaucrat of the Indian government, is well acquainted with three different finance ministers and hence, is expected to be finding the job pretty easy and convenient.

As the quitting of the last governor Urjit Patel has come as a sudden blow after a gap of almost three decades, this has been essential for the RBI to look for an apt person to head the institution. Moreover, the recent tension between the Union government and the RBI too is another matter to be considered while selecting a suitable person.

Shaktikanta Das, a 1980 batch IAS officer of the Tamil Nadu cadre, is a history postgraduate from the Delhi University. Das also holds a good experience of working with economic and finance departments in the state and the centre in his 37-year-long tenure.

Worth mentioning at this point, it was Shaktikanta Das only who had fielded questions on the sudden announcement of demonetization by the Modi government. Das had first come to the finance ministry as a joint secretary in 2008 during the Congress rule when P Chidambaram was the finance minister. He remained in the office even in the tenure of Pranab Mukherjee as the FM and was a part of budget making for five consecutive years. Das had first served as a joint secretary and then as an additional secretary.

Das moved to the economic affairs department in September 2015 and was entrusted with the role of in-charge.

A man of mild mannerism, Das is well-known for his cool composure and is good at focusing on finding solutions through consensus.

Also read: RBI Not Dependent on One Individual: Niti Aayog