The appointment of Shaktikant Das (Retd IAS:1981:TN) as the new RBI governor has triggered questions about the suitability of making a generalist the country's economic czar.

 

Indeed, the old debate centred around the generalist versus specialist question has come to life again.

 

If one looks at the list of 24 governors since the RBI was set up in 1935, it is clear that governments have followed the principle of convenience and appointed people both from the generalist and specialist categories.

 

While the first governor, Osborne Smith, was a banker, his successors were mostly ICS and subsequently IAS officers. For example, the third governor, CD Deshmukh, was an ICS officer with degrees in botany and Sanskrit. In recent years, one finds that S Venkitaramanan, 18th Guv, held a master's degree in physics and public administration. Both Deshmukh and Venkitaramanan are considered successful governors like Dr Manmohan Singh, Dr Vimal Jalan, and other specialists.

 

So, there is no reason to suspect at the moment that Das may not prove an effective Governor. His appointment only breaks the recent tradition of appointing experts as RBI governors and restores the old tradition of appointing civil servants to the most coveted post.