Centre aims to collect Rs.6 lakh crore from monetisation by 2025, say insurance unions

Visakhapatnam Insurance Corporation Employees Union (ICEU), Vizag Division along with central trade unions, PSU unions who took part in a State-level convention here on Saturday strongly deplored the Union Government's monetisation policies terming them as counter-productive.

The convention was presided over by Vizag Division ICEU president Kameshwari.South Central Zone Insurance Employees' Federation (SCZIEF) president P. Satish participated as the keynote speaker. The meeting alleged that the Centre wants to collect Rs.6 lakh crore from monetisation.

Kameshwari in her addess said the conference was organised under the auspices of the Vizag Division at the behest of the All India Insurance Employees Union (AIIEA) to hold State-level conferences protesting against the Central Government's monetisation policies opposing listing of LIC.

The Central Government is utilising the financial crisis created by the Corona pandemic as an excuse to privatise public sector companies on a large scale. The SCZIEF president said that Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has targeted to collect Rs.1 lakh crore by selling its stake in public sector financial institutions and Rs.75,000 crore through disinvestment from CPSE (Central Public Sector Enterprises).

He said the Modi Government intends to raise Rs.6 lakh crore through monetisation by the end of 2025 and these policies should be seen as steps towards privatising the entire public sector.

Satish also spoke about the intention of the Central Government to rent and lease airports, railways, coal mines, national highways, telecommunications, ports and power generation units which were built with public money to private companies.

LIC's assets have reached over Rs.38 lakh crore and it has invested over Rs.30 lakh crore in the Indian economy. In addition to providing excellent Insurance services to millions of policy holders, LIC is the world's leading insurer with a 99.89% claim settlement rate. "Even in the wake of the collapse of the economies of the United States, Britain and Italy during the 2008 global financial crisis, the Indian economy stood like a rock but for these public sector banks and Insurers. He sharply criticized that the government is desperate to privatize all of them.

The Union Government is in an indecent haste to sell shares in LIC as part of which they had made 27 amendments to the LIC Act,1956 in a stealthy manner. Insurance employees, led by AIIEA, have been campaigning extensively amongst millions of people, policy makers to protect LIC in the public sector.

He said the GIBNA bill was passed undemocratically with the intention of privatizing public sector insurance companies in the general insurance sector. The units of AIIEA have met 450 MPs, intellectuals and asked them to oppose the IPO in LIC. He informed that AIIEA had already given a call for nationwide strike if the government remained adamant on the IPO issue.

CITU State president Ch. Narasimha Rao slammed the Central Government privatisation policies. He criticized that in the name of monetization, the Modi Government is trying to handover peoples' assets on a platter to corporates.

Narasimha Rao said that the CITU was taking the initiative to unite all the trade unions to fight for the protection of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant in the public sector. He demanded the AP Government to take initiative in forming a joint front by including all political parties.

UFBU convenor A. Sushma, CITU city leaders Jaggu Naidu, AIBOC leaders P. Praveen Kumar, AIBEA leaders Ravi Kumar, Railway union leaders RVSS Rao, general insurance leaders Srirama Murthy, VSP leaders J. Ayodhya Ram, HPCL employee leaders KN Satyanarayana, BHEL leaders Prakash, BSNL leader Sagar and Public Sector Coordination Committee leader Kumara Mangalam participated.