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Sir Chintaman Dwarakanath
Deshmukh (C.D. Deshmukh,
January 14, 1896 – October 2, 1982) was the first Indian Governor of Reserve
Bank of India (RBI) appointed by the British Raj.
He served as the Governor of RBI from 1943-1949.
C.D. Deshmukh, who was married to
freedom fighter and activist Durgabai Deshmukh, received his education in Natural Sciences at Jesus College
in England.
Upon his return to India,
he joined the Indian Civil Services and became associated with the RBI in
1939 as a liaison officer to the Government. He was later appointed as the
Bank Secretary until 1941, when he was appointed to the position of Deputy
Governor from 1941-1943. He replaced James Taylor as Governor in 1943.
Governor C.D. Deshmukh’s tenure
lasted through several transitional years of pre-independent and independent India.
Of note, he represented India
at the Bretton Woods Conference in July of 1944,
which led to the establishment of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and International
Bank of Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). He served as a Board member of
both these institutions for the next ten years and in 1950 at the Paris
Conference, he was the Chairman of the Joint Annual Meeting. As Governor of
RBI during partition, he oversaw the post-partition division of assets and liabilities between India and Pakistan. He also was responsible
for the smooth transition of the RBI from a shareholder’s institution to a
nationalized institution when the Indian Government nationalized the Reserve
Bank on January 1, 1949. He subsequently moved on to serve as the Finance
Minister in the Union Cabinet from 1950-1956.
References:
www.rmaf.org.ph
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._D._Deshmukh
http://www.rbi.org.in/History/Mis_Governors.html
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