Accepted RBI directorship in public interest:Gurumurthy

The government has appointed Chartered Accountant Swaminathan Gurumurthy, who is associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh affiliate Swadeshi Jagran Manch, on the board of the Reserve Bank of India.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved his appointment as a non-official director on the central board of the RBI for a period of four years, an order issued by the Personnel Ministry said.

"This is the first directorship ever. Never accepted any private or PSU directorship. Not even audit of PSUs or Pvt cos. Wanted to be free to speak. But when pressure built up I am needed to do something in public interest I had to accept," Gurumurthy said in a tweet.

He is also the editor of Tamil magazine Thuglak.

Besides him, the government has also appointed businessman Satish Kashinath Marathe as another non-official director on the RBI board for four years, the ministry said.