All India Insurance Employees’ Association urges govt to drop United India privatisation plan

The All India Insurance Employees’ Association (AIIEA) has opposed any move towards privatisation of United India Insurance.

“It is unfortunate that the government which had earlier decided on merger of three public sector general insurance companies has given up these plans and is now pushing for privatisation. The AIIEA demands the government to revive the plan for merger which would bring economies of scale and benefit the national economy and weaker sections of population,” the Association said in a statement on Wednesday.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had in the Union Budget 2021-22 announced that the government would take up the privatisation of one general insurance company in 2021-22. According to reports, the NITI Aayog has recommended privatisation of United India Insurance. Urging the government to drop any move towards privatisation of United India Insurance, the association also said it has been mobilising public opinion against the disinvestment of public sector institutions in general and public sector general insurance companies in particular. Its units have also approached over 350 Members of Parliament on the issue.

“Insurance employees under the banner of the AIIEA are determined to carry forward the resistance against the move of the government to privatise United India Insurance Company and the public sector institutions at large,” it said. The association also pointed out that public sector general insurance companies implement all the schemes announced by the government, including the recently announced scheme of death coverage to frontline workers due to Covid-19.

United India is the insurer for TN Chief Minister Health Insurance Scheme for 10 years and Maharashtra Government’s Mahathma Jyothiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana Health Insurance Scheme from 2020. It has also underwritten the Prime Minister Suraksha Bima Yojana on a large scale which the private insurance companies hesitate to underwrite, the association said.

The AIIEA is of the firm opinion that privatisation of United India Insurance or any other public sector general insurance company will be antithetical to the government’s objective of Aatmanirbhar Bharat, it further said.

Source: The hindu business line