The resignation of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor, Urijit Patel, has come as a shock. Patel was in a running battle with the Government for some time now and he was expected to leave sooner but everyone thought he had been placated. Now Patel has finally left. And yet another institution has hit rock bottom under the watch of the Modi Government. Attempts to tinker with the operational autonomy of the Bank, is, what has brought it to this pass. Patel – a man of few words did not say much in his resignation letter to the Government except that it was for personal reasons but former RBI Governor, Raghuram Rajan speaking to the media here has cautioned that this could lead to a crisis which the country might not able to handle and that all Indians should be concerned about the growth and equity in the economy. Tremors began to be felt when the RBI Board started to over step its advisory role and intrude into matters that should have been left to professionals. Rajan also said that Patel’s exit is a protest that should not be taken lightly by the Government and it must have happened because he was faced with circumstances he could he could not deal with or pressures he could not succumb to. Indeed, there is a need to question Urijit Patel’s resignation and what has prompted this action, considering that the RBI Governor is not given to acting lightly.
The RBI Board comprises politicians and hand-picked party loyalists. This has happened with almost all institutions today including universities. The CBI, which anyway never enjoyed autonomy the way it is meant to be, reached a crisis point when its top brass got into a full scale war, necessitating the transfer of both. One was obviously a handpicked Modi man; the other was not. The credibility of the CBI has taken a beating. Now it is the RBI which is in dire straits. Directives to the RBI Governor from the Government, from time to time takes away the functional autonomy of the Bank. Perhaps the demonetisation move itself was the trigger point although Patel defended it to the hilt then. But Raghuram Rajan who left the Bank in September 2016 felt that is was a hasty move. Patel’s support of the demonetisation move earned him the sobriquet of a Modi stooge. Now that’s now in the past. The Government should get its act together and restore the operational autonomy of the Bank to prevent any further loss of public trust.