LIC employees stages 1 hour walk out strike against govt’s stake sale plan

February 4: The employees’ union of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) staged an hour-long walk-out strike on Tuesday to protest against the government’s move to sell its stake in the state-run insurer through an initial public offering (IPO). The three major trade unions of LIC demonstrated before all offices of the life insurance branches across the country.

Along with the rest of the country, thousands of employees of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) across the northeastern region also staged a one-hour strike raising slogans against the central governments decision of partial disinvestment of LIC. Shyamal Chakraborty, leader of All India Insurance Employees Association (AIIEA) said, “As part of the country-wide stirs, we have organised protest demonstrations in front of the LICI offices in all the eight northeastern states.”

The joint forum of LIC’s (three) major trade unions — Federation of LIC Class-I Officers’ Associations, National Federation of Insurance Field Workers of India and All India Insurance Employees Association — took the decision following Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s announcement to divest a part of the government’s holding in LIC in her Budget 2020 speech. The three trade unions represent around 90 per cent of the life insurer’s total workforce. LIC had 2.85 lakh employees as of March-end 2019.

All the three agitating employees organisations in Barak Valley of Southern Assam also wholeheartedly participated in the hour long walk out strike on Tuesday from 12.30 PM till 1.30 PM. In Silchar, the Union leaders like Atin Deb Choudhury, Udayan Bhattacharjee & others led the demonstration from the front.

Addressing the gathering, Sudipta Dutta Choudhury (Bapi), President of Silchar Division of NFIFWI reiterated the stand of the national leaders of LIC Union and said, “Being one of the biggest financial institutions of the country, any move to privatise LIC will shake the confidence of the common man and will be an affront to our financial sovereignty. The very purpose of LIC to provide insurance coverage to socially and economically backward class at a reasonable cost will be defeated and motto will change from service to profit.”

Mr. Dutta Choudhury further stated that, “All the three agitating employees associations would sit together soon to decide the future course of action if the central government remained firm on its decision of selling a part of its stake in LICI through initial public offering (IPO).”

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur said the listing of LIC will help bring in greater transparency, public participation and also deepen the equity market. Finance Secretary Rajiv Kumar on Sunday said the listing may be done in the second half of the next financial year.

However, the agitating Unions said that listing of LIC is against national interest as over the years it has been playing a pivotal role in nation-building activities. On a capital base of Rs 5 crore, the union said LIC’s valuation surplus was Rs 53,211.91 crore, life fund stood at Rs 28.28 lakh crore and asset under management over Rs 31.11 lakh crore at the end of FY19.

However, Finance Minister assured However, the Finance Minister assured nearly 30 crore policy holders of LIC that their interests would be protected. She said, “We are not selling it completely. There will be no change in the ownership. LIC policies would not lose their sovereign guarantee.”