The Government of India has issued a directive to all Regional Rural Banks (RRBs), instructing them to strictly follow government orders, guidelines, policies, and instructions in both letter and spirit. The Ministry of Finance’s Department of Financial Services (DFS) emphasized the need for uniform implementation of policies to avoid confusion, legal disputes, and employee dissatisfaction.
The directive highlights that despite clear instructions from the government, many RRBs have failed to comply with policies as intended. This non-compliance has led to issues such as indiscipline, inconsistency in implementation, and unrest among employees.
To address these concerns, the government has mandated that all RRBs must implement guidelines in a non-discretionary and uniform manner. Any confusion regarding the interpretation of these policies should be referred to the DFS, rather than being decided at the RRB level.
The letter, signed by Kr. Shyamal Parthasarthi, Under Secretary to the Government of India, also requests RRBs to acknowledge receipt of the directive within a week.
The directive has been sent to all RRB Chairpersons, as well as the Chairman of NABARD and senior officials of sponsor banks for necessary action.
This move aims to bring consistency in the functioning of RRBs across the country and ensure smooth policy implementation in the banking sector.
What Government said
- In exercise of powers conferred under the RRBs Act, 1976, the Central Government issues guidelines/ instructions/ directions in regard to matters of policy involving public interest, after consultation with NABARD/ RBI.
- It has, however, been observed that on several occasions in the past various RRBs have failed to comply with such directions issued by the Government in letter and spirit, which leads to indiscipline, absence of uniformity in application of such directions across RRBs, avoidable litigations, widespread grievances and unrest amongst the RRB employees.
- All RRBs, therefore, are advised to ensure scrupulous compliance of the Central Government guidelines/instructions/directions in a non-discretionary and uniform manner.
- Ambiguity in interpretation of the directions, if any, should be referred to DFS and it should not be interpreted at the RRB level.
