KENDRAPARA: Residents of a sleepy hamlet in a remote corner of Kendrapara district are celebrating the appointment of son-of-the-soil Bibhu Prasad Kanungo as Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
The 58-year-old man, a native of Balia village, about 15 kilometres from Kendrapara town, pursued his education till Class VI from the village school and cleared HSC from Government High School of Unit 6 in Bhubaneswar. He is also an alumni of BJB College and Utkal University, Bhubaneswar.
Speaking to this paper from New Delhi over phone, Kanungo said, “I never dreamt big. I fought all odds to reach my goal. My parents and teachers played a major role.
My father was a government servant and a source of inspiration for me. Whatever I am today is because of their and my hard-work.”
In 1979, he joined Oriental Bank of Commerce as a probationary officer and in 1980, he joined Reserve Bank as a officer.
During his stint as a senior officer of RBI, he also worked in Bhubaneswar besides other cities in the country. Kanungo is the second person from Odisha to be appointed Deputy Governor of RBI after Harun Rashid Khan whose term ended in July 2016.
Kanungo has two daughters, one of whom is studying MBBS and the other is pursuing law.