Home / About the Founders
Founder Chairman
Founder Director
The founder Chairman of IBPS was the erstwhile Governor of Reserve Bank of India-Dr. Manmohan Singh, an eminent public figure in Indian academics and politics, who rose to become the fourteenth Prime Minister of India (2004-2014). Dr. Singh earned his doctorate in Economics from the University of Oxford in 1959. He began his career as a Faculty in Panjab University and went on to serve in the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) from 1966 to 1969.
In the 1970s he was named to a series of economic advisory posts with the Indian government and served as Advisor to Prime Ministers. He held key positions in the Union Government as Chief Economic Advisor and Secretary in the Finance Ministry, punctuated by a stint as a Professor in International Trade at the Delhi School of Economics.
Dr Manmohan Singh, served as Secretary Finance as well as Member Secretary of the Planning Commission, Director of RBI and Director of Industrial Development Bank of India, prior to his appointment as Governor, RBI. In 1982, he became the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, a position he held till 1985. As early as in September 1984, Dr. Manmohan Singh, in his address as RBI Governor on the occasion of Founders’ Day of Bank of Maharashtra in Pune, pointed out the necessity for economic reforms in India. He touched upon the future challenges and responsibilities for the Indian banking system as well as the structural reforms and organisational improvements that were needed to enable the banking system to support the next phase of India’s development. During his tenure, comprehensive legal reforms were carried out related to the banking sector, a new chapter was introduced in the Reserve Bank of India Act and the Urban Banks Department was set up.
Dr. Singh is also credited with expanding the realm of rural development finance as well as India’s exports by fostering the newly set up NABARD and EXIM Bank. The setting up of IBPS as an independent and autonomous selection body with a view to strengthening fairness and promoting equal employment opportunities, was yet another important initiative he led as Founder Chairman of the Governing Board.
After his tenure in RBI, he served in various capacities such as Deputy Chairman Planning Commission and Chairman University Grants Commission, before being appointed Finance Minister. His tenure as Finance Minister is globally recognised for heralding liberalisation and comprehensive reforms in India.
Dr. Singh as the First Chairman of the Governing Board played an important role in developing the Vision, Mission of the organisation and in establishing the governance system by developing a series of policies for the organisation.
Born in Aurangabad, Maharashtra in September 1930, Dr. A. S. Deshpande completed his Post Graduation from the University of Marathwada and earned his Doctorate in Education (Ed.D.) from University of Georgia, U.S.A. He joined the National Institute of Bank Management (NIBM) in 1974 as Associate Professor and later was elevated to the position of Professor and Coordinator, Personnel Selection Services (PSS) Unit of NIBM.
Post nationalization of Public Sector Banks threw challenges to NIBM to ensure fairness and objectivity in recruitment at the entry level positions and inter scale promotions in the banks. Dr. Deshpande undertook the research for devising selection strategies for the banks and introduced the use of objective tests that were designed to assess the job related competencies for bank jobs. The first experiment with the new model of selection was with Central Bank of India and it was successful in demonstrating fair and objective selection for the recruitment of Clerks and Probationary Officers for the bank. The success of this experiment led other banks to follow suit. Dr. Deshpande, with a team of three faculty members and a handful of supporting staff, undertook the selection for all the banks. With the growth in the area of selection and the institution of the system of Banking Service Recruitment Boards (BSRBs) in recruitment, the PSS unit of NIBM was established as an autonomous body and named as Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS).
Dr. A.S. Deshpande was the Institute’s founder Director. An ardent researcher and a professor of repute, Dr. Deshpande, put the theoretical models of intelligence testing into practice in the field of Personnel Selection Testing. He believed that research must provide practical solutions to the realistic problems of the society. He devised scientific models of selection testing and the Institute executed these taking on the mantle of conduct of examination and result processing. He believed that technology should support and follow the researcher and not drive him. He built a unique model of technology and human support interface to ensure accuracy in result processing. Over the years “Accuracy, Secrecy and Speed”, the foundational pillars articulated by him became the value system of the Institute. His oft quoted belief that “Theory without practice is lame, practice without theory is blind”, resulted in constant experimentation, refinement and innovation in selection systems and led to the design and implementation of a reliable, fair, transparent and accurate system of personnel selection and evaluation. In 1993, Dr. Deshpande demitted office as Professor and Director, IBPS.