The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued a circular to its officers attending various meetings to adhere to the Central Bank’s policies and at no point interact with the press, stated a news report. This circular was issued after reports on the withdrawal of old series of Rs 100, Rs 10 and Rs 5 banknotes appeared.
Banking regulator has asked its officers who are attending -- official and unofficial-- meeting to abide by this instruction. “It is (therefore) advised that such officers attending the meetings may be necessarily advised by the HoDs/RDs to strictly confine to the policy position of the Bank as stated in various circulars issued and under no circumstances interact with the press,” said the circular issued on February 2.
The news report claimed that it is perhaps the first time that the central bank has issued a formal circular warning its officers against interacting with the press. However, the one reason attributed to move is to avoid any form of confusion among the public. In most cases, RBI officers refrain from talking to media.
The central bank has also instructed the regional offices to sensitise the employees about this circular. “It is necessary that during the deliberations of the meetings at the district level/state level, views expressed should be on the lines of the explicitly stated objectives of the Bank and strictly in conformity with the extant instruction/guidelines,” circular stated.
After reports of withdrawal of old notes of Rs 100, Rs 10 and Rs 5 denominations appeared, RBI had to issue a clarification and refused this claim.
After the 2016 demonetisation, any news around withdrawal of Indian currency gets a lot of attention.
