NEW DELHI: Weeks after the passage of the pension bill, the sector regulatory body chief Yogesh Agarwal
on Wednesday put in his papers which he said was under instructions
from the government, making it a rare case of a regulator being asked to
step down.
"Yes, I have resigned. I was asked to put in my papers," Agarwal told TOI, but declined to comment on the reasons for his departure. The banker-turned-regulator has stepped down around one-and-a-half years before his five-year term was due to end. Finance ministry officials, however, said Agarwal had submitted his resignation, saying that he opted to put in his papers since the government was setting up a statutory body under the recently-enacted Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority Act. There was speculation that Agarwal had quit as the government did not involve him in the selection of PFRDA members.
In the past, when the Insurance Regulatory Authority was converted into Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority, a statutory body, after the enactment of a law, the government had chosen to retain N Rangachary as the chairman. "The government has accepted his resignation," said a senior government official, adding that Anup Wadhawan, a joint secretary in the finance ministry, has taken charge at PFRDA. The official added that a new regulator will be appointed within a month amid indications that a retired bureaucrat will head the agency.
Agarwal's departure is, however, sudden and comes a day after he exchanged pleasantries with finance minister P Chidambaram during a meeting of a consultative committee of Parliament. Agarwal is the first regulatory body chief to exit prematurely since telecom regulator Trai chairman R S Sodhi was removed more than a decade ago. Since then, at least two chairmen of the Securities and Exchange Board of India —M Damodaran and CB Bhave —were given three year terms, which were not extended. More recently, Subir Gokarn didn't get a second term as Reserve Bank deputy governor.
For the pension sector, which has been working with an interim regulatory agency, this is the most crucial time since it started in 2004. With the National Pension System (NPS) failing to take off, the government is keen to push the scheme to provide an alternate retirement saving plan.
So far, a bulk of the investment flowing into NPS is from central and state government employees, who joined after 2003 and are only entitled to contributory pension. There are few takers in the private sector, partly because of lack of clarity over the fate of NPS. It was only in the last session of Parliament that the government managed to get the Opposition on board and push through the Bill that has been pending for years.
"Yes, I have resigned. I was asked to put in my papers," Agarwal told TOI, but declined to comment on the reasons for his departure. The banker-turned-regulator has stepped down around one-and-a-half years before his five-year term was due to end. Finance ministry officials, however, said Agarwal had submitted his resignation, saying that he opted to put in his papers since the government was setting up a statutory body under the recently-enacted Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority Act. There was speculation that Agarwal had quit as the government did not involve him in the selection of PFRDA members.
In the past, when the Insurance Regulatory Authority was converted into Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority, a statutory body, after the enactment of a law, the government had chosen to retain N Rangachary as the chairman. "The government has accepted his resignation," said a senior government official, adding that Anup Wadhawan, a joint secretary in the finance ministry, has taken charge at PFRDA. The official added that a new regulator will be appointed within a month amid indications that a retired bureaucrat will head the agency.
Agarwal's departure is, however, sudden and comes a day after he exchanged pleasantries with finance minister P Chidambaram during a meeting of a consultative committee of Parliament. Agarwal is the first regulatory body chief to exit prematurely since telecom regulator Trai chairman R S Sodhi was removed more than a decade ago. Since then, at least two chairmen of the Securities and Exchange Board of India —M Damodaran and CB Bhave —were given three year terms, which were not extended. More recently, Subir Gokarn didn't get a second term as Reserve Bank deputy governor.
For the pension sector, which has been working with an interim regulatory agency, this is the most crucial time since it started in 2004. With the National Pension System (NPS) failing to take off, the government is keen to push the scheme to provide an alternate retirement saving plan.
So far, a bulk of the investment flowing into NPS is from central and state government employees, who joined after 2003 and are only entitled to contributory pension. There are few takers in the private sector, partly because of lack of clarity over the fate of NPS. It was only in the last session of Parliament that the government managed to get the Opposition on board and push through the Bill that has been pending for years.
TOI
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