Odisha banker in RBI panel to boost digital payments

Bhubaneswar/Mumbai: Former RBI Deputy Governor Harun Rashid Khan, popularly known as H.R. Khan, who hails from Odisha, has been appointed as one of the members of a five-member high-level panel appointed by the Central bank to assess digitisation of payments in the country.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday formed the committee and appointed Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani as its Chairman.

Apart from Khan, other members are Vijaya Bank former MD and CEO Kishore Sansi, former Secretary at Ministries of Information Technology and Steel Aruna Sharma and IIM Ahmedabad Chief Innovation Officer Sanjay Jain.

The committee will submit its report within 90 days from the date of its first meeting.

“With a view to encouraging digitisation of payments and enhance financial inclusion through digitisation, the Reserve Bank of India has decided to constitute a high-level committee on deepening digital payments,” the RBI said in a statement.

Nilekani, who is also a former Chairman of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) or Aadhaar, will head the panel to “review the existing status of digitisation of payments in the country, identify the current gaps in the ecosystem and suggest ways to bridge them”.

It will also assess the current levels of digital payments in financial inclusion and undertake cross-country analyses to identify best practices that can be adopted to accelerate digitisation of the economy and financial inclusion through greater use of digital payments.

Citing other terms of reference, RBI said the panel will “provide a road map for increasing customer confidence and trust while accessing financial services through digital modes” and “suggest a medium-term strategy for deepening of digital payments”.

The panel will also suggest measures to strengthen the safety and security of digital payments, the banking regulator said.

Notably, Khan had his early schooling at Badagada High school in Bhubaneswar. He was a brilliant student. Although he studied in the vernacular medium, he regularly won first prizes at State level debate and elocution contests in English, and was a multiple winner of the Governor’s Cup for elocution.

Khan obtained his Master’s degree in Political Science from Utkal University. Later he obtained Master of Philosophy degree from the School of International Studies of Jawaharlal Nehru University.

He was appointed as Deputy Governor on 4 July 2011. Khan retired as the Deputy Governor of RBI in July 2016 after nearly 38 years of service.

(With IANS Inputs)