Government to expedite filling top vacancies in public banks: Piyush Goyal

Government will expedite the process of appointing the chiefs of several public sector banks lying vacant for long, the Rajya Sabha was informed today.

Finance Minister Piyush Goyal was responding to a question by senior Congress member Jairam Ramesh who said the government had announced several colourful schemes but why were one-third of state-run banks headless for a long time.

"The Banking Board Bureau has completed the process of interviews of candidates...We will expedite the process," Goyal said, adding that the criteria for qualification has been expanded to allow even top officials of private banks to apply for such posts.

The government has put in place a robust and strict system for appointment of heads of public sector banks, Goyal said during Question Hour.

He said earlier the appointments to the posts were held in an arbitrary manner. In reply to a supplementary, he said there was a policy to give autonomy to public sector banks on appointments to various posts and the government does not interfere in it.

Goyal said the government has granted managerial autonomy to these state-run banks allowing their board of directors to exercise power in respect of decisions on remuneration and compensation to officers and staff.

In reply to a query related to fraud at ATMs, the Minister said he has sought details to ensure action. He said cyber crime was a global phenomenon.

Regarding interest charged on non-performing assets, the Minister said efforts were made to recover the entire amount including the interest.