AN INSIDE STORY OF THE BANKERS' BANK

Reserve Bank of India is not perfect. It has room for improvement. Alpana Killawala, who handled RBI's communication for over 26 years, uncovers insider facts about the central bank and its governors, from S. Venkitaramanan to Raghuram Rajan, drawn from her extensive experience as the communication officer

- Alpana Killawal

A FLY ON THE RBI WALL:

AN INSIDER’S VIEW OF THE CENTRAL BANK

AUTHOR

ALPANA KILLAWALA

PUBLISHED BY

RUPA PUBLICATIONS

PAGES

248

PRICE

Rs 595

Just by being in the communication department for my entire tenure in the RBI, I was synonymous with communication there. If the external world knew the RBI, it would first be through the governor, and then through me. The media would often say this to make fun of me. I called it an occupational hazard. However, by being in the same function for over 26 years, I was also a kind of memory bank on the communication function. Just as someone else would be in some other department. I see nothing wrong in it. Either you are an expert by education or you learn the job through experience.

Unfortunately, the moment one achieved expertise through experience, one would get transferred to a different department or a regional office. While transfer was an accepted principle, it was often executed with vengeance even at the RBI. There were many cases in which the RBI executed transfers only so that the incumbent did not develop expertise and did not enjoy the benefits deriving out of that, like connections with other central bankers or getting called for giving talks on the subject. 

This became even more pronounced when RBI officers started getting opportunities to go abroad for learning or sharing their knowledge in the central banking community. A typical RBI officer would thus be a jack of all trades but master of none. I once called ourselves ‘mediocre’ in a top-management meeting and there was pin-drop silence for a moment. And then business moved ahead as if nothing had happened.