Government forms 3 panels to select 8 banks' chiefs; interviews on November 14

NEW DELHI: Government has formed three sub-committees to select heads of eight public sector banks, including Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda and Canara Bank.

The three sub-committees are scheduled to hold interviews of eligible candidates on November 14.

Earlier this month, the government had decided that each sub-committee will have two members and all candidates will have to go through all these screening panels separately.

The sub-committees have three outside experts. These experts are former Managing Director of State Bank of India (SBI) S Viswanathan, IIM Indore Director Rishikesha T Krishnan and former Chairperson and Managing Director S Panse, sources said.

Besides, other three members of screening committees are Department of Financial Secretary, Additional Secretary and an RBI Deputy Governor.

The final selection of candidates would be made by the appointment board chaired by RBI Governor and it will be based on the weighted average marks given by each sub-committees to ensure objectivity and transparency.

The selection process for Chairman and Managing Director of the public sector banks was changed following government scrapping the selections made by previous UPA regime.

Last month, the government cancelled selection of heads of six PSU banks and 14 executive directors made during the UPA tenure following a government-appointed panel finding irregularities in the process.

The eligibility criteria remains more or less same in the current fiscal.

Last time, 19 candidates appeared for interviews for six vacancies of Chairman and Managing Director (CMD).

Now, there could be about 16 eligible candidates for posts of eight CMDs, sources said.

Following shortlisting by the high level panel, the names of the candidates would be sent to Finance Minister and subsequently to the Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC). In the mean time, the process for vigilance and other necessary clearances would be undertaken.