Government of India Volume I: Analysis and Recommendations

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Acharya, Dr. Avinash Persaud, the FSDC Sub-Committee [Dr. D. Subbarao, Prof. Kaushik
Basu, Mr. U.K. Sinha, Mr. Hari Narayan and Mr. Yogesh Agarwal], Mr. Ashok Chawla, Mr. R.
Gopalan, Mr. Rajiv Agarwal, Forward Markets Commission, among others. I also acknowledge
the inputs provided by various industry associations such as FICCI, ASSOCHAM, and
IBA.
The Working Groups which were set up by the Commission to delve deeper into
sector-specific issues on banking, securities, public debt management, payments, insurance,
pensions & small savings, carried the consultation/interaction process further.
The inputs provided by those experts also were invaluable. Each working group report,
chaired by a Member of the FSLRC with domain experts as Members, became a valuable
addition to the resource base of this Report. We appreciate the efforts of all in these
Working Groups.
I also acknowledge with great satisfaction the interactions we had with regulators,
policy makers and other experts in select jurisdictions – Australia, Singapore, UK and
Canada. I am also grateful to Mr. Bill Shorten, Minister for Superannuation and Financial
Services, Australia, the Indo-US Business Council, City of London and the US Federal
Reserve team who met with the Commission and shared their valuable thoughts. The
support of Mr. Matt Crooke, Ms. Eva George, Mr. Gideon Lundholm and others who helped
in organising these meetings is also appreciated.
Based on the broad contours of the framework emerging from our interactions, research
and deliberations the Commission released an Approach Paper in October 2012.
We received a number of suggestions which were further deliberated upon and some of
them suitably incorporated in this final Report. The feedbacks were particularly helpful in
strengthening the internal consistency of the recommendations. We are grateful to those
who gave their views, particularly Dr. C. Rangarajan, the RBI, Department of Consumer
Affairs and several other experts.
The Commission could embark on its task soon after its Notification in March, 2011,
because of the timely logistical support provided by SEBI, National Institute of Public Finance
and Policy (NIPFP), and National Institute of Securities Market (NISM). I value the
support provided by these organisations which helped the Commission to focus its efforts
on its main task from the early days.
The task of the Commission has been quite onerous, but in discharging it every Member
of the Commission lived upto his/her name and contributed substantively in shaping
this Report. I appreciate and acknowledge the contribution of each Member of the
Commission and recall the insightful and animated deliberations in our meetings and
through electronic communications. I appreciate the additional responsibility willingly
discharged by Mr. Swarup as a mentor and advisor on organisational and critical technical
issues. The role played by Dr. C.K.G. Nair, Secretary to the Commission, in designing
and executing the structures and processes for the seamless functioning of the
Commission and his effective interventions in the deliberations in resolving complex issues
was exemplary and deserves particular commendation. The untimely demise of Mr.
Achuthan was a great loss to all of us. We were handicapped by the poor health of Justice
(Dr.) Debi Prasad Pal during the latter half of our work. Dr. M. Govinda Rao, who was with
the FSLRC almost till finalising the Report joined the Fourteenth Finance Commission on
4th February 2013. Joint Secretary, Capital Markets (Nominee Member) could not attend
the meetings due to other commitments.
The Commission had the benefit of dedicated research teams set up by the NIPFP
and by the NISM. These teams worked as a single unit and Dr. Ajay Shah played the role
of an inspirational leader to the research teams, synchronising the various young minds
and their outputs into an organic whole and succinctly presenting issues before the Commission.
I commend the efforts of Dr. Shah, Dr. Ila Patnaik and every other member of
this spirited group of young people who worked untiringly for about two years. I also
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