Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Aug 11: LIC employees across Jammu and Kashmir today staged massive demonstrations outside LIC offices under the banner of Northern Zone Insurance Employees’ Association (NZIEA) Srinagar Division, opposing the proposed privatization of IDBI Bank, disinvestment of Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) and hike in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the insurance sector to 100%.
The protest was part of a nationwide call by the All India Insurance Employees’ Association (AIIEA). Addressing employees at the D O Cell Jammu, Pawan Gupta, Divisional Secretary, said total FDI in the insurance sector is currently around 32% of the capital employed, and raising the limit from 74% to 100% “has no logic.” He asserted that giving total freedom to foreign capital would harm the orderly growth of the insurance industry. “Foreign capital can never be a substitute for domestic savings,” he added.
Gupta highlighted that IDBI Bank employees are on strike on August 11 against privatization. At present, 91% of the bank’s capital is held by the Government and LIC, and the proposed disinvestment of 64% would hand over control to private players. “Selling profit-making public sector institutions will weaken the economy,” he warned.
On RRBs, Gupta pointed out that their capital is contributed by the Central Government, State Governments and public sector banks. The Government’s disinvestment plan, he said, is neither in the interest of the nation nor of customers and employees.
Others who addressed the Jammu gathering included Rajesh Gupta and Rajesh Kumar (joint secretaries), Dinesh Kumar Sharma (vice president) and Raj Kumar (treasurer).
In Srinagar, the protest was led by NZIEA president Syed Aadil Imam along with Amarjeet Singh, Ajaz Ahmed Dar, Gulshan Singh, Rohula Fayaz, M Y Koul and others. Programmes were also held at Samba (Surat Singh), R S Pura (Jagdish, Rajesh Sapolia), Udhampur (Anjesh Sharma, Hem Raj), Rajouri (Vikas, Vinod Sharma), Doda (Anmol Sharma), Poonch (Raj Kumar) and Kathua (Vijay Verma, Mohan Lal).
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