New Delhi: The Finance Ministry and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) are reportedly considering using the watermark figures of Rabindranath Tagore and Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam on a new series of bank notes of some denominations.

At present, the denominations of the notes that we use are of Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation. Gandhiji first featured on Indian currency notes in 1969 when a design series in honour of the 100th birth anniversary celebrations of the leader was issued.

According to reports, the Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India (SPMCIL) and the RBI sent two sets of sample watermarks with Tagore, Gandhiji and Kalam to IIT-Delhi Emeritus Professor Dilip T. Shahani, who will pick a set and send it back. The final decision will be taken by the Government at the highest levels.

This is the first time that RBI is considering using images of famous personalities other than Mahatma Gandhi on the bank currency notes.

An internal RBI Committee sent a report in 2020 proposing that besides Gandhiji, watermarks of Tagore and Kalam could be included in currency notes. A year later, Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Pvt Ltd and SPMCIL’s Security Paper Mill were asked by the RBI to design watermark samples. These have been sent to Shahani to take a call.

 Rabindranath Tagore is a Nobel Laureate and remembered as one of Bengal’s greatest icons while India’s 11th President, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam is also known as the Missile Man.