The Finance Ministry has appointed chief executives in four public sector banks (PSBs) — Andhra Bank, Indian Bank, Corporation Bank, and UCO Bank.

Earlier in mid-August, private sector bankers were appointed to head five PSBs — Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank and IDBI Bank. They were given flexible salary packages. However, the current round of appoints of MDs and CEOs have been made from within public sector banks.

A plausible reason could be the fact that these four banks were smaller in size, said banking industry observers.

In the latest round, Mahesh Kumar Jain has been elevated from the post of Executive Director to MD & CEO of Indian Bank for a period of three years.

The Finance Ministry has also appointed Suresh N Patel as MD & CEO of Andhra Bank. Prior to this appointment, Patel was an Executive Director at Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC).

Ravi Krishan Takkar, who was ED at Dena Bank, has now been appointed MD & CEO of UCO Bank for a period of three years.

The Finance Ministry has also appointed Jai Kumar Garg, ED at UCO Bank, as MD & CEO of Corporation Bank. Garg will assume charge on or after February 1 next year, when the incumbent chief is expected to superannuate.

Last year, as part of management reforms at PSBs, the government decided to split the post of Chairman and Managing Director. While splitting the post, the concept of CEO was introduced and tagged along with Managing Director. Prior to this reform, there were no CEOs in PSBs

Following this reform, the government made appointments of MDs & CEOs in several banks, including Oriental Bank of Commerce, Vijaya Bank, United Bank and Indian Overseas Bank. (The Hindu Business)