All India Insurance Employees’ Association (AIIEA) on Saturday criticised the proposal made by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Union Budget to list LIC in the stock market and announced a stir by the employees to force the government to drop the plan.
At present, the government holds 100% stake in LIC. The domestic savings of the policyholders help capital formation and is utilised for developmental activities in the country. The immense contribution of LIC to the five-year plans, investments in social sector to the tune of more than 80% of its total investment, for the last 68 years will receive a great setback with the move, according to Shreekanta Mishra, general secretary of AIIEA.
He said the employees under the banner of AIIEA would go for one-hour walkout strike preceding lunch recess on February 4 as an immediate protest action.
The employees in public sector general insurance industry would go for lunch-hour demonstrations against the ‘ill-conceived move’ of the government.
“We call upon the Government of India to drop the move to list LIC in stock market and strengthen LIC in the public sector in the interest of the economy and 40 crore policyholders.”
Mr. Mishra said, “The move is obviously against the national interests. The LIC today is growing at a rate which is much more than the growth of GDP. The last six months of this financial year have been particularly phenomenal for the LIC’s growth. The LIC stands tall in the insurance industry with a huge market share of over 73%.”
