Government Appoints Shaktikanta Das As Second Principal Secretary To PM Modi
The duration of his tenure will be co-terminus with that of the Prime Minister or until further orders.
The appointments committee of the cabinet has appointed Shaktikanta Das as principal secretary-2 to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In an official announcement on Saturday, the ACC said that Das's appointment will be effective from the day he assumes office. The duration of his tenure will be co-terminus with that of the Prime Minister or until further orders, the order stated.
Das will serve as the second principal secretary, with Dr PK Mishra acting as the first principal secretary.
On December 10, Das retired as the 25th Reserve Bank of India Governor, after having served for nearly six years in the position. Sanjay Malhotra, who served as Department of Revenue secretary till then, was appointed as his successor at the central bank.
As the head of the RBI, Das helped India's financial system navigate the Covid-19 pandemic. Under him, the regulator temporarily eased bad loan recognition requirements and also provided special liquidity windows to lenders who dealt with small value borrowers. Das has also been widely recognised for bringing tougher supervision of banks and other regulated entities during his tenure.
While under Das the RBI managed inflation well, in his last lap as the Governor, retail inflation did breach the central bank's mandated target of 4% multiple times. The monetary policy committee under Das's chairmanship, had to write an explanatory note to the government after inflation stayed above the tolerance mark of 6%, for three consecutive quarters. This was the first time the MPC wrote such an explanation since the introduction of the inflation targeting framework in 2016.
Das joins an eminent list of RBI Governors who went on to take up major roles in the government. Late Manmohan Singh, who was RBI Governor between 1982 and 1985, served as head of the planning commission between 1985 and 1987. He then took over as India's finance minister, serving between 1991 and 1996 and then served as Prime Minister of India between 2004 and 2014.
YV Reddy, who was RBI Governor between 2003 and 2008, served as chief of the 14th finance commission between 2013 and 2017.
Born in 1957 in Odisha, Das holds a Bachelor's and Master's degree in history from New Delhi's prestigious St Stephen's College. He is an IAS officer from the 1980 batch of the Tamil Nadu cadre and served in multiple critical positions of state and central governments.
Das led the implementation of major reforms including the Goods & Services Tax in India, recapitalisation and consolidation of public sector banks and the introduction of the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code. He has represented India in the International Monetary Fund, the G20, and the BRICS.
