Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra wrote a letter to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on July 31, Saturday, urging her to rethink the government’s move to privatize insurance companies like Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) and United India Insurance Company.
He said that the privatization of public-sector insurance companies brought distress among the people of the country.
“May I express my shock and alarm at the policy decision of the Government of India venturing to privatize public sector insurance companies which are the pillars of the economy,” he wrote in the letter.
Mitra also referred to the Rs 11,396 crore invested by United India and said that privatizing the companies would “itself raise hydra-headed financial problems while undermining the confidence of the common retail insurers of the poorer sections of society”.
“Privatising LIC would lead to opening Pandora’s box, throwing into insecurity 30 crores (300 million) policyholders. Also, such privatization of LIC would put into jeopardy the livelihoods of 12 to 15 lakh insurance agents. This will also throw into uncertainty the lives of 1.14 lakh employees” he further added.
According to The Telegraph Online, the letter was sent to Sitharaman, following reports that the cabinet has approved amendments to insurance laws to facilitate the privatization of a state-owned general insurance company.
The privatization of insurance companies is yet another issue Opposition is planning to raise during the upcoming Parliamentary session.
