LIC agents' organisation press for Pension, Retirement benifits

New Delhi, Nov 28 (UNI) Life Insurance Corporation Agents Organisation of India, which represents at least eleven lakh agents of the insurance major, today demanded the Manmohan Singh government accede to their long standing demands of providing them pension, retirement and contributory Provident Fund benefits.

Over five thousand agents will take to streets here tomorrow to press for acceptance of their demands, CPI(M) floor leader in the Lok Sabha Basudeb Acharia told mediapersons at a press conference in the Parliament House premises.

The Left party leader, who is the chief of the organisation, also demanded amending the existing gratuity scheme, creating a welfare fund and mediclaim facilities for all agents.

LICAOI chief S S Potti and General Secretary P G Dileep, who were also present, said the LIC agents would also submit a memorandum, bearing the signatures of at least 25 lakh people supporting the demands of the LIC agents who have made pivotal contribution to the growth of LIC during the last 50 years, to Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee.

The organisation also sought to remind the Finance Minister P Chidambaram about their meeting with him last year and requested him to accept their long-pending demands including the filling of vacanies of Development Officers from among the agents and giving representation to the organisation in the Central Consultative Committee of agents.

It was also deplorable that the LIC was now promoting the ''corporate agents'' and ignoring the LIC agents who had rendered yeoman service to the growth of the organisation to the extent that in its Golden Jubilee Year, the LIC has been able to generate a total premimum of Rs 87,000.00 Crores and the number of new polcies being 2.29 lakh crores, an all tinme record, Mr Acharia added.

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