To Smt Nirmala Sitharaman Union Finance Minister Dear Smt Sitharaman, Please refer to my letters dated 6-3-2022, 11-4-2022, 16-4-2022 & 23-4-2022 addressed to you on the manner in which the proposed LIC IPO would do gross injustice to millions of its policyholders, largely belonging to the SCs/STs/OBCs.   In my letters cited, I have pointed out to you the five-fold[Read More…]

  To Smt Nirmala Sitharaman Union Finance Minister Dear Smt Sitharaman, Please refer to my letters dated 6-3-2022, 11-4-2022 & 16-4-2022 addressed to you on the manner in which the proposed LIC IPO would do gross injustice to its policyholders, largely belonging to the SCs/STs/OBCs (https://countercurrents.org/2022/03/lic-ipo-gross-injustice-to-the-smaller-lic-policy-holders-especially-those-belonging-to-the-scs-sts-obcs/ & https://countercurrents.org/2022/04/most-disadvantaged-policy-holders-to-lose-out-in-lic-ipo/ & https://countercurrents.org/2022/04/lic-ipo-gross-injustice-to-the-smaller-lic-policy-holders/) In my earlier correspondence, I had brought to your notice the following disturbing[Read More…]

  To   Smt Nirmala Sitharaman Union Finance Minister Dear Smt Sitharaman, Please refer to my letters dated 6-3-2022  & 11-4-2022 addressed to you on the manner in which the proposed LIC IPO would do gross injustice to its policyholders, largely belonging to the SCs/STs/OBCs (https://countercurrents.org/2022/03/lic-ipo-gross-injustice-to-the-smaller-lic-policy-holders-especially-those-belonging-to-the-scs-sts-obcs/ & https://countercurrents.org/2022/04/most-disadvantaged-policy-holders-to-lose-out-in-lic-ipo/). In my correspondence, I had pointed out again and again how the IPO would[Read More…]

To Smt Nirmala Sitharaman Union Finance Minister Dear Smt Sitharaman, Please refer to my letter dated 6-3-2022 addressed to you on the manner in which the proposed LIC IPO would do gross injustice to the policy holders of the LIC, largely belonging to the SCs/STs/OBCs (https://countercurrents.org/2022/03/lic-ipo-gross-injustice-to-the-smaller-lic-policy-holders-especially-those-belonging-to-the-scs-sts-obcs/) As apprehended by me in my letter, it appears that not more than 8[Read More…]

 To   Shri Pinarayi Vijayan Chief Minister Kerala Dear Shri Vijayan, I wish to compliment the Kerala Legislative Assembly for unanimously passing a resolution voicing concern over the Centre’s move to sell its equity in the LIC to stock market investors and urging the Centre to retain the institution as a wholly government-owned CPSE, considering that it has played a key[Read More…]

  To   Smt Nirmala Sitharaman Union Finance Minister Dear Smt Sitharaman, Earlier, I had written two letters to you (https://www.moneylife.in/article/lic-ipo-gross-underestimated-valuation-put-it-on-hold-says-eas-sarma/66146.html, https://countercurrents.org/2022/01/cpse-disinvestment-valuation-approach-flawed/) about the flawed approach to valuing the LIC for listing it in the stock markets and the injustice meted out to millions of small policy holders, with a view to grant undue benefits to a handful of speculative,[Read More…]

  To Shri A K Bhalla Union Home Secretary   Dear Shri Bhalla, The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) seems to be rushing into privatising the electricity distribution systems in the Union Territories (UTs). I understand that the proposal to privatise the Chandigarh DISCOM is at an advanced stage. So is the case with the DISCOMs in Dadra & Nagar Haveli,[Read More…]

In her last budget speech in 2021, the Finance Minister declared the government’s disinvestment plans for the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC). Already, amendments to the LIC Act have been made to set in motion the LIC IPO. This has triggered panic waves across the large sections of ordinary policy holders who are anxious about their life’s savings. It[Read More…]

To Smt Nirmala Sitharaman Union Finance Minister Dear Smt Sitharaman, I write this in continuation of my earlier letter dated 24-1-2022 (https://countercurrents.org/2022/01/cpse-disinvestment-valuation-approach-flawed/) expressing my concern at the flawed valuation methodology adopted by  the Department of Investment and Asset Management (DIPAM) for valuing the CPSEs for disinvestment. It appears that your Ministry has not cared to revisit the methodology, as evident from the fact[Read More…]

To Smt Nirmala Sitharaman Union Finance Minister Dear Smt Sitharaman, I refer to my letter dated January 15, 2022 on the imprudence of listing LIC in the stock market and the misleading valuation approach adopted by the government (https://www.moneylife.in/article/lic-ipo-gross-underestimated-valuation-put-it-on-hold-says-eas-sarma/66146.html). As the single largest social security provider in the country for the economically weaker sections, the social value of the LIC[Read More…]

To Smt Nirmala Sitharaman Union Finance Minister Dear Smt Sitharaman, I understand from news reports that the LIC IPO is going to be issued shortly. Keeping in view the fact that it is the millions of policy holders of the LIC who have contributed to the Corporation’s phenomenal growth over the decades, some of us feel that relegating their interests[Read More…]