Vijayawada: LIC employees stage protest against privatisation move

Vijayawada: Following the call given by the All India Insurance Employees' Association (AIIEA) and as part of National Protest Day, the LIC staff staged protests in front of all offices in Vijayawada during lunch recess to register their protest against the all-out war declared by the Central government against the public sector and its workforce.

Addressing the protesters in Governorpet LIC city branch-3, Insurance Corporation Employees' Union, Machilipatnam division joint secretary Dr Chilakalapudi Kaladhar said that the government has launched an attack on its own public sector undertakings and their workforce and it is in a hurry to dismantle the public sector enterprises to hand them over to the private sector.

All India Insurance Employees' Association (AIIEA) along with the Central trade unions and other independent federations are committed to build massive resistance to its neoliberal agenda, he added.

Dr Kaladhar also said that the government brought about necessary amendments to the LIC Act through the Finance Bill, violating the norms due to massive protest and public mobilisation against the LIC disinvestment. The notification of these amendments effectively means corporatisation of the LIC which is nothing but the first step towards privatisation. He said that the Union government's move to sell outright United India General Insurance Company in this current financial year. He flayed the recommendation of the NITI Ayog to privatise the Indian Overseas Bank and the Central Bank of India.

He also decried the undemocratic and authoritarian action of the government in banning through an ordinance the planned strike action of the Defence employees and the decision of the government to dismantle the Ordnance Factory Board (OFD) into seven corporations will pave the way for privatisation of Defence production endangering the national security. AIIEA condemns those actions and joins the central trade unions in supporting the struggle of the defence sector employees.

Divisional leaders, NMK Prasad, J Madhu and branch leaders, NSrinivas, KBhavani Devi, ChRajasekhar, Nagendra Singh, JMangapati, ChMVPrasad, Rahimuddin, G Srinivas, T Ashok Kumar and others participated.