Dr. Uma Sankar, RBI Nominee Director, Punjab National Bank

Dr. Uma Sankar has been appointed as RBI Nominee Director on the Board of Punjab National Bank w.e.f. 14.07.2023.

Dr. Sankar joined the Reserve Bank of India as a Direct Recruit Officer in Grade B in June 1993. She has served in Offices of RBI at Ahmedabad, Pune, Mumbai, Trivandrum and Chennai and has wide experience in various fields of central banking such as, supervision of Banks/ Non-Banking Financial Companies/ Urban Co-operative Banks, training of personnel, resolution of banking related complaints of the common man as Banking Ombudsman, enhancing financial literacy among the public, etc.

Prior to joining the Reserve Bank of India, she worked in the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) as an Assistant Administrative Officer.

Dr. Sankar holds Master in Business Economics and Bachelor’s degree in Commerce (Honors) from Delhi University. Based on a scholarship scheme of RBI, she pursued M.Sc. in Management, Organisations and Governance from London School of Economics and Political Science, UK in 2010-2011. She is a CAIIB Associate.

As a Director on the Board of PNB, she successfully completed the FSIB’s Directors Development Programme conducted by “Egon Zehnder and Harvard Business Publishing” during October 2024 – May 2025. She was also given a certificate in IT & Cyber Security for Board Members by IDRBT in September 2023.

She was awarded a Doctorate Degree from ICFAI University, for her thesis on ‘Urban Cooperative Banks - A 360-Degree View of IT Risk Management, Cybersecurity Management and Current Regulatory Framework’.

She holds various publications in her name, viz, Handbook on Know Your Customer and Anti Money Laundering Norms for the banks, National level Study Report on the Financial Performance and Impediments in Growth of the Urban Cooperative Banks (equivalent to the credit unions in USA) exclusively managed by women, Handbook for the Directors of the Urban Cooperative Banks and Summary Report on the Best Practices of Cooperative banks in Europe.

She was part of the working group on Non-Banking Financial Institutions set up by Kerala State Planning Board, Kerala, 2015-16, and contributed to its report which was published in February 2016.

She was awarded the prestigious Golden Jubilee Scholarship 2008 by the RBI.

She is presently serving as Regional Director for Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, Reserve Bank of India.