Srinagar, Aug 31: In a virtual snub to the state government, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) while rejecting the appointment of Commissioner/Secretary Finance Sudhanshu Pandey as the interim chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Bank, Tuesday asked the Bank to constitute separate committees for running its affairs.
According to highly placed sources, RBI Tuesday turned down the proposal of the Board of Directors of the Jammu and Kashmir Bank seeking confirmation for appointment of Pandey as interim chairman. RBI, according to sources, asked the Bank to make alternate arrangement by entrusting the job to various committees.
In view of the RBI communication the Board of Directors of the J&K Bank Tuesday constituted two separate committees to run the financial and non-financial matters of the Bank under the overall control of the Bank’s senior-most executive Ajit Singh, who would be now the defacto chairman in place of Pandey.
However, Pandey would continue to remain associated with the Bank in the capacity of the chairman for two committees constituted today. The committee on financial matters to be headed by Pandey would have one of the directors R K Gupta and the bank’s executive director Abdul Majeed Mir as the members.
Another committee, again to be headed by Pandey, would have senior president AK Mehta and Ajit Singh as members.
According to sources, senior-most executive of the Bank Ajit Singh will henceforth look after the day to day affairs of the Bank. Pertinently, Pandey was appointed as the interim chairman of the Bank on August 27 after Haseeb Drabu resigned on the directions of the chief minister.
Meanwhile, the fate of the three-member panel submitted by the Board to the RBI for appointment as the Chairman and CEO of the Bank hangs in balance in view of the latest developments.
Sources said the Bank authorities are keeping their fingers crossed over the panel forwarded to RBI for the appointment of a new chairman.
The panel includes former Executive Director of the Bank, Mushtaq Ahmad, Excise Commissioner GA Peer and Commissioner/Secretary Higher Education Tanvir Jehan.

Lastupdate on : Mon, 30 Aug 2010 21:30:00 Mecca time
Lastupdate on : Mon, 30 Aug 2010 18:30:00 GMT
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