The officer's association of the National, Oriental, United and New India Assurance companies (NOUN), have started an 'educational programme' for bringing awareness among all employees of the General Insurance Corporation (GIC) and its subsidiaries.

This educational programme includes chapters that talk about what the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA) is all about, the advantages of mergers and the disadvantages of demergers, and details on how highly-placed officials are 'playing games' with their employees by supporting the Poddar committee report. The campaign also underscores the stand-off between NOUN and the Poddar committee whose report to the finance ministry recommended the demerger of GIC and its four subsidiaries.

Said NOUN's all-India general secretary, Amresh Sinha: "We have already started this programme in Oriental and United Insurance and intend to mobilise staff members this way. We are also planning to visit each and every office of New India Assurance and National Insurance in the course of this campaign. We will be telling them about the danger to GIC's future posed by a demerger. We are insisting on a merger of all of GIC's four subsidiaries because the Centre is yet to take a final decision on the restructuring of GIC and its four subsidiaries".

On February 24, 2000, M/s MP Chitale & Co - a private-sector consulting company - was assigned the task of studying various options for the organisational restructuring of GIC and its subsidiaries in association with ORG MARG. It recommended that all four subsidiaries of GIC may be merged to form a single company. NOUN is of the the view of that Chitale & Co's report is favourable and requested the finance ministry to implement its recommendations. Subsequent to this, the Poddar committee recommended a demerger of GIC's subsidiaries.

Recently, NOUN's Mr Sinha met finance ministry officials in New Delhi. "Many of them were of the view that a demerger is a step towards pulling down GIC and its four subsidiaries - that such a move will increase unhealthy competition among the four subsidiaries. This will make weak the strengths of individual companies, increase internal problems, and corporate clients may be move out because of the infighting", noted Mr Sinha.

Mr Sinha also pointed out that finance ministry officials agreed that a merger will lower overall operating expenses, make decision making faster due to synchronisation at the top level, and boost employee morale. "The finance ministry has given an assurance that it will solve this matter," Mr Sinha added.