Campaign amongst Public- REPORT FROM ICEU CHENNAI 2

As per decision taken at our AIIEA Diamond Jubilee Year conference held at New Delhi, Campaign among Public on the Achievements of L.I.C have been taken up by our Divisional unit from 18^th Feb 2011 to 2^nd March 2011.

From our Division 88000 Pamphlets were distributed amongst Public by door to door. It means we have reached 88000 families in our Division and created awareness among Public to defend L.I.C in Public Sector.

More than 250 comrades including 98 women participated in the campaign.Three street corner meetings were conducted at Ponneri,Tiruvallur and Ambattur. Members of L.I.C. Agents organization and leaders of Fraternal Trade Unions attended and addressed in the Meetings at all Places.

On concluding day ie 2^ndMarch 2011 we have organized a Public Meeting at Purasawalkam , was a memorable day for our T.U Movement in our Division. About 94 comrades participated in the Public Meeting apart from general public who listened the speeches with involvement. Special addresses by Com.S.Chellapa. Gen Sec ( BSNLEU) and Com.K.Swaminathan.Gen Secy( SZIEF) attracted Public attention.

Our sincere Thanks to SZIEF for their Excellent co-operation and Guidance.

OUR CAMPAIGN WAS A GRAND “ S CCESS. ”

WITHOUT “ U ” IT CANNOT BE ACHIEVED.

Our Heartiest Congratulations to Branch Unit Office Bearers and all comrades who took part in the campaign.

ICEU,CH-DII

THE HINDU- 09 02 2011

Withdraw LIC amendment Bill,

urge employees' union

Special Correspondent

It is opposing the bill in national interest

MADURAI: The Union Government should withdraw the LIC of India amendment Bill, which is likely to be tabled in Parliament, said Insurance Corporation Employees' Union (ICEU) southern region secretary K. Swaminathan here on Monday.

Speaking to reporters, he said that campaigns and sensitisation programmes among general public and employee-members were being carried out region-wise to protect public sector undertakings. The demerits of foreign direct investment in the insurance sector were also being discussed.

The Standing Committee (Finance) in Parliament, which comprises members from different political parties, had been apprised of the consequences of enhancement of the percentage of FDI through signature and post-card campaigns. “We are strongly opposing it in the national interest,” Mr. Swaminathan reiterated.

In the current fiscal, as on January 2011, 2.50 crore LIC policies had been taken/issued to public at the all India level and it was expected to surpass last year's (2009-10) issuance of 3.50 crore policies. The claim settlement in the LIC of India was 99.86 per cent, which was widely appreciated in the industry.

Role of technology

He clarified that the employees and trade unions recognised the role of technology in a competitive environment being introduced in the insurance sector. The LIC of India focussed more on upgrading its technology, he responded.

Despite recession and presence of technology, there had been no VRS or redundancy, he said. The LIC of India was playing a major role in mobilising domestic savings and its role in infrastructure building was commendable. Under such circumstances, the proposal to enhance foreign investment should be discouraged and that the amendment Bill should be dropped.

Mr. Swaminathan recalled the grim situation experienced in the Western countries a couple of years ago and hoped the government would withdraw the Bill in the larger national interest immediately.

In southern region, which comprises Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry, there are 250 centres. The association office-bearers had been addressing the members and general public on the nuances of public undertakings such as LIC of India, he said and added that they would join the Indian trade unions in the “march to Parliament” on February 23 in New Delhi.

Later, he addressed the association members at the union premises in the city.

The day we never forget

On the night of January 19, 1956, the then Union Finance Minister, C.D. Deshmukh, announced the nationalisation of the life insurance business, and said that the nationalisation of life insurance was a step further towards the effective mobilisation of people's savings. C.D.Desh Mukh The nationalisation of life insurance is an important step in our march towards a socialist society. Its objective will be to serve the individual as well as the state. We require life insurance to spread rapidly all over the country and to bring a measure of security to our people. – Jawaharlal Nehru. LIC – a perfect jewel “ What an extraordinary and marvelous organization LIC is…like no other – a perfect jewel ! – These were the glowing tributes paid by Prof. Noel Machado while concluding his research paper on LIC. Prof. Noel, a visiting Professor associated with Tata Institute of Social Sciences and other reputed institutions in not the first person to recognize the greatness of our institution. Nor, we are sure, he would be the last. Even the former Union Finance Minister P.Chidambaram had to acknowledge that LIC is a jewel in the crown. But what distinguishes prof.Noel from others is his unhesitating acknowledgement that LIC today is a marvelous organization because of the unimaginable commitment and hard work of its employees. It is a matter of pride to all of us that today LIC has emerged as one of the premier financial institutions of the country. From 1956 till now, LIC has invested a whopping Rs.6,49,808 crores in nation building activities. While it contributed Rs. 184 crore to the 2nd Five Year Plan (1956-61), its contribution to 10th Five Year Plan (2002-2007) is Rs.3, 94,779 Crores and in the first two years of 11thFive Year Plan (2007-2009) up till now it has contributed Rs.2,18,510 Crores. On its initial investment of Rs.5 crores in the year 1956 the Union Govt. has received Rs.1031 Crore as its share of the valuation surplus for the year ending 31st March 2010. The total accretion to the Govt.’s kitty on this score alone adds up to Rs.8,957.40 Crore since inception. Even after one decade of opening up of the insurance sector, LIC remains the undisputed market leader holding on to a market share of 73.02 percent in number of policies and 70.12 percent in new business premium. The LIC has also an impressive share of 87.4% in the total assets under management. Insurance is a promise which needs to be fulfilled on the happening of eventuality. LIC settles 99.86% of the claims which is a world record. The track record of the private insurance companies on settlement of claims is abysmally low. The Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of LIC during the last ten years has jumped to 30.24% from 15.23% since inception. LIC’s total policies have risen from 10.12 Crores to 32 Crores. LIC’s Life fund has grown from 1.54 lakh crore to 9.99 lakh crore. LIC’s asset base has grown from 1.60 lac crore to 12 lakh crore by September 2010. The new business premium which was Rs.5930 Crore in 2000 had reached Rs. 70891 Crore. Our Total Premium Income which was Rs.27489 Crore in 2000 has reached 1, 85,986 Crore. Thus, through this amazing performance, LIC has retained it’s domination over the market. On the other hand, the performance of private insurance companies is far from satisfaction. Out of the 21 private insurance companies, 14 have reported operating losses and majority of them are yet to break even. More than 90% of the policies sold by private companies are ULIPs in which the risk is borne by the policy holder and the insurance companies earn their income through charges without undertaking any risk. The Economic Survey 2010 notes that in the infrastructure investment made by insurance companies as at the end of 2007-08, the public sector had a share of 94.3%. During the period 2005-2009, the public sector invested Rs.51252.9 crore and the private sector Rs.5850.5 crore in infrastructure sector. During this period, the private sector had a market share of around 30-35% in the new premium incomes while their share of investments in infrastructure was just around 10 percent. Commenting on this, the Economic Survey notes that “the private sector insurance companies are yet to make large scale investments in the infrastructure sector”. The LIC continues its amazing domination with a market share of 72.01% in new premium and 73.45% in number of policies as on 30.11.2010. In this scenario and also in spite of the sterling performance of the Life Insurance Corporation of India, the government, under pressure from the international finance capital, is making attempts to weaken the public sector. The two legislations that are pending in the parliament, the Insurance Laws (amendment) bill 2008 which seeks to increase the FDI cap in insurance from 26% to 49% and the LIC Act (amendment) Bill 2009 which seeks to increase the capital base of LIC from Rs. 5 Crores to 100 crores are steps to weaken public sector LIC. The insurance employees organized under the banner of AIIEA are committed to strengthen the public sector insurance industry and to the cause of 34 crore policyholders of LIC of India. AIIEA demands the Government of India to drop the moves to increase the FDI cap in insurance industry and also to increase the capital base of LIC from 5 Crore to 100 Crore (which paves way for disinvestment of LIC). AIIEA also demands the Government of India to take all the steps to further strengthen the Public Sector LIC. Designed by: Rajahmundry