Mumbai, Nov 22: Union finance minister P Chidambaram today said that the ministry of finance would soon issue a note increasing the operational autonomy of the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and the General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC).

Without elaborating on the kind of autonomy that would be accorded to the governing boards of LIC and GIC, Chidambaram said that the insurance division of the ministry would issue the note to this effect to make the insurance companies stronger. He was speaking at the inaugural function of the LIC's metro area network here. ``The only way to strengthen the insurance companies and to make them great institutions was to grant them more autonomy,'' he said, adding that it (autonomy) was essential to make these institutions big and strong.

``There is nothing to fear for LIC. Those who wish to compete with LIC must fear and not you (LIC),'' he told the employees of the insurance company. The minister urged them to strive for customer satisfaction and have a ``dynamic discontent'' about whatever had been achieved by the corporation in 41 years of its existence.

``Dynamic dissatisfaction was a must to make LIC bigger and stronger,'' he added.

Chidambaram said, ``Though it was quite an achievement to have 10 crore policies, the LIC should have a dynamic discontent that more than 90 crore were left out.''

In his address, the minister of state for finance, Satpal Maharaj, lauded the initiatives taken by the corporation towards the health sector. ``The inauguration of the metro area network is a step towards customer satisfaction,'' he added.

The metro area network of the LIC would use leased lines from MTNL and would network 70 branches in Mumbai enabling access to 28 lakh policy holders. The new initiative would help policy-holders to pay their premium at any of the branches and also obtain policy status and quotations for loan, revival and surrender value. Metro area network would also be started in New Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore by the end of the current financial year. LIC is also proposing to start an interactive voice response system at the four metros of the country. Meanwhile, Chidambaram met the union leaders of the General Insurance Corporation to brief them about the fresh measures the ministry is planning to strengthen the organisation.

Speaking to The Financial Express, RK Dwivedi, working president, National Confederation of General Insurance Officer's Association, said that the cofederation has demanded a wide range of autonomies for general insurance institutions conducive for commercial business, expansion of the orgnanisational network which had remained frozen for sometime and better pay packet for the officer's of the industry.Both Union finance minister P Chidambaram and Union minister of state for finance Satpal Maharaj were evasive about the political developments in Delhi. Though Chidambaram had assured the newspersons in Life Insurance Corporation in the morning to talk to them after he completed his engagements in General Insurance Corporation, he was not ready for this after the meeting. ``I am prepared to answer only two questions,'' he later told the newspersons. However, on being asked whether the UF government will survive or not, Chidambram refused to comment.

On the direction of the rupee which had slided to Rs 37.80 on Saturday weak trading, Chidambram said that the issue cannot be viewed from the political point of view, but from the monetary management point of view.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.