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Hunt for new heads at National, Oriental Insurance

C. Shivkumar

BANGALORE, Aug. 9

THE Government has begun searching for replacements of chairmen for two of the public sector insurance companies who are due to retire during the course of this year.

Sources said here that the chairmen of National Insurance Company Ltd (NIC) and the Oriental Insurance Company Ltd (OIC) are due for retirement. NIC's head, Mr M.K. Tandon, is due for retirement next month-end. The OIC Chairman, Mr. B.D. Bannerjee, is du e for retirement towards October-end. Besides, the head of New India Assurance Company Ltd, Mr N.P. Bhandari, is also due to retire in February next year.

The process of selection of chairmen is under way. However, unlike in the past, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) is also expected to have a say in the selection process. The sources said that this year, there has also been a devi ation from the past, when selections were carried through the Cabinet Committee of Appointments, from a panel of names submitted by the General Insurance Corporation.

But this year, the Centre has chosen to conduct interviews for selecting the chairman. Under the criteria fixed for the selection process, the incumbents should have a minimum of two years residual service in the insurance industry. Very little weightage has been provided for experience as a senior executive in the insurance industry, the sources said.

Consequently, several executives, including recent promotees as General Managers, have also made a bee-line for these coveted slots as heads of insurance companies.

The sources said that the retirement of Mr Bhandari would automatically lead to elevation of another senior chief executive to head the General Insurers Public sector Association (GIPSA).

Currently, the senior-most chief executive is Mr V. Jagannathan, Chairman and Managing Director of United India Insurance Company Ltd. He would be expected to take over the chairmanship of GIPSA, which is loosely identical to the Indian Banks' Associatio n. Next year, incidentally, it is UIC's turn to head the GIPSA.

The Government's insistence on a residual service of two years stems from the concerns expressed in the industry over the spate of retirements taking place. Besides, the public sector companies have also been losing some of its highly experienced and ski lled people to the private sector companies. Consequently, a slightly younger age-profile is meant to instill an element of stability within the public sector companies, especially in an environment of intense competition in the industry.