Government inaction, which has left financial institutions like Industrial Development Bank of India, Industrial Finance Corporation of India and Industrial Investment Bank of India without a permanent chief, has also led to a large number of public sector banks remaining headless.

The proposal to appoint M Damodaran as the interim chief of IDBI has run into rough weather with the department of personnel and training raising objections.

VP Singh, chairman and managing director of IFCI Ltd, is already on an extension till January and there is no effort to find his successor, as the finance ministry is unsure about the future of India's oldest development financial institution.

IIBI has remained headless for over a year, since the government proposed to merge it with IDBI. The Bill to corporatise IDBI is waiting for the approval of Parliament.

Among public sector banks, the Indian Bank is the latest to join the list of headless banks, with Ranjana Kumar moving to the helm of affairs at the National Agricultural Bank for Rural Development.

Things, however, seem a little better in the Chennai-based bank as a proposal to appoint MBN Rao, the bank's executive director, as Kumar's successor is awaiting a clearance from the vigilance department.

Proposals for appointing four other bank chiefs have faced opposition either from the Cabinet Secretariat or the DoPT.

For instance, DoPT has objected to the appointment of Punjab National Bank Executive Director TS Narayanasami as the chairman and managing director of the Andhra Bank, which has been without a full-time chief since B Vasanthan retired last month.

Similarly, the Cabinet Secretariat has sought clarifications for appointing ON Singh, who is executive director at the Bank of India at present, as the new Allahabad Bank chief.

The post that has been lying vacant since April this year when B Samal retired. A proposal to appoint AK Khandelwal, the executive director of the Bank of Baroda currently, as chairman and managing director of the Dena Bank has also met the same fate. The present Dena Bank chief, AG Joshi, is scheduled to retire at the end of the year.

Following complaints about irregularities in the appointment of four executive directors from a panel of 11 general managers, DoPT has asked the finance ministry to review its proposals too.

The Punjab & Sind Bank could offer another vacancy if NS Gujral, who has proceeded on a month's leave, decided against resuming his duties.