Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 4: LIC employees across Jammu and Kashmir, under the banner of the Northern Zone Insurance Employees’ Association (NZIEA) Srinagar division, staged massive demonstrations outside LIC offices, protesting against the Central Government’s move to increase FDI in the insurance sector from 74% to 100%. The protest was led by Pawan Gupta, divisional secretary of the Association.
Addressing the gathering at the DO Cell Jammu, Pawan Gupta termed the decision unwarranted and detrimental to India’s economic development. He highlighted the serious consequences of handing over domestic savings to foreign capital, arguing that it could disrupt the orderly growth of the insurance industry, shifting focus from providing security to profit-making. He emphasized that foreign capital cannot substitute domestic savings and stressed the need for greater state control over resources to benefit all citizens.
The insurance sector was denationalized with the passage of the IRDA Bill in 1999, allowing Indian capital to operate in partnership with foreign companies, initially restricting FDI to 26%. Over the years, this limit was raised to 74%, but despite this, foreign investment in the sector remains only around 32% of the total capital employed. The NZIEA strongly opposes the move to allow 100% FDI, arguing that it could destabilize Indian companies and the economy, especially if foreign partners withdraw to establish separate entities.
Other leaders addressing the protest in Jammu included Rajesh Gupta (joint secretary), Dinesh Kumar Sharma (vice president), Priya Sharma (women sub-committee), Harkesh Kumar Singh and Kishore Lal (Jammu-3).
The protest in Srinagar was led by Syed Aadil Imam (president, NZIEA Srinagar division), accompanied by Amarjeet Singh, Ajaz Ah Dar, Javed Ah Bukhari, Gulshan Singh and others. Demonstrations were also organized at multiple locations: Jammu-2 (RP Singh), Samba (Surat Singh), RS Pura (Jagdish and Rajesh Sapolia), Udhampur (Sham Singh), Rajouri (Vikas and Vinod Sharma), Doda (Anmol Sharma), Poonch (Raj Kumar), and Kathua (Vijay Verma and Mohan Lal).
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