No proposal to replace face of Mahatma Gandhi on banknotes: RBI

Dismissing reports, the Reserve Bank on Monday said there is no proposal to replace the face of Mahatma Gandhi with that of others on currency notes. 

In a statement, the central bank said there are reports in certain sections of the media that the Reserve Bank of India is considering changes to the existing currency and banknotes by replacing the face of Mahatma Gandhi with that of others. 

"It may be noted that there is no such proposal in the Reserve Bank," it said. 

Certain reports suggest the finance ministry and the RBI were contemplating using the faces of other prominent Indians, including Rabindranath Tagore and APJ Abdul Kalam, on banknotes of certain denominations. 

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A report in the New Indian Express had claimed that the RBI had sent two separate samples of Gandhi, Tagore and Kalam watermarks to IIT-Delhi Emeritus Professor Dilip T Shahani.

The report added that Shahani was asked to choose a design from the different sets and submit them for final consideration before the government.

Currently, banknotes bear the portrait of Mahatma Gandhi, along with the symbol of the Lion Capital of Ashoka Pillar. 

If a move to add other national icons, along with Gandhi, to the currency notes is implemented, it would be in line with the US dollar, which carries the images of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson and Alexander Hamilton on different denominations of currency note.

(With inputs from PTI)