Punjab & Sind Bank may finally get non-Sikh MD

NEW DELHI: Delhi-headquartered Punjab & Sind Bank (P&SB) may finally get a non-Sikh managing director (MD) after the government appointed Charan Singh, RBI chair professor at IIM-Bangalore, as the bank’s non-executive chairman.


Apart from Singh, former corporate affairs secretary Tapan Ray was appointed as the non-executive chairman of

Central Bank of India

, while

Anjali Bansal

, a senior adviser at TPG and an independent director on several company boards, will be the non-executive chairman of

Dena Bank

, whose lending powers were recently curtailed by the RBI due to a weak financial position. Singh had earlier worked as a senior economist at the International Monetary Fund.

Financial services secretary Rajiv Kumar tweeted, “As part of banking reforms and on recommendation of the Banks Board Bureau (BBB), the government appoints Charan Singh, Anjali Bansal, and Tapan Ray as non-executive chairperson of Punjab & Sind Bank, Dena Bank and

Central Bank

of India, respectively.” A few years ago, as part of a revamp of their boards, the government had split the CMD post and started appointing a non-executive chairman in nationalised banks.

With Singh to chair P&SB board, the government is examining the possibility of appointing a non-Sikh MD and chief executive of one of the smaller public sector lenders. The bank, which was nationalised in 1980, has traditionally had a Sikh chairman and MD. But, with the post split, the government may have found a way to deal with what was the unwritten rule.

In fact, sticking to that rule has meant that the bank has had IAS officers appointed as CMD for more than a decade as it could not find too many Sikh bankers for the job.

Govt has appointed Charan Singh, Anjali Bansal and Tapan Ray as non-exec chairperson of Punjab & Sind, Dena Bank and Central Bank, respectively


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