THE Tamil Nadu State Special Convention against LIC IPO was held on November 14 on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru who was instrumental in the creation of the public sector which acted as a backbone of the development of economy in India. The convention was conducted by the South Zone Insurance Employees’ Federation involving the eight divisional units of Life Insurance and three regional units of General Insurance in Tamil Nadu.

G Meenakshisundaram, Madurai division president of Insurance Corporation Employees’ Union (ICEU), hoisted the flag of the organisation. A pledge to save LIC and public sector units was moved by G Anand, South Zone general secretary of General Insurance Employees’ Association, and was adopted. ICEU Madurai division general secretary N P Ramesh Kannan welcomed the gathering.

The convention was presided over by K Swaminathan. T Senthil Kumar moved the resolution with brief introductory remarks demanding the government to stop LIC IPO, to withdraw GST on insurance premium, and to protect public sector general insurance companies against privatisation.

CPI(M) MP S Venkatesan, in his address, highlighted that the central government is carrying out the sale of all public sectors in a rapid phase ignoring all objections. He also said that the convention assumed greater significance because it is being conducted on the birth anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India. He expressed confidence that the fighting spirit of insurance sector employees under the banner of AIIEA, along with other sections of trade unions and progressive forces, shall certainly defeat the move for disinvestment.

DMK MP, TKS Elangovan, MMK MLA, P Abdul Samad, M Veerapandian, K Samuelraj, Vanniyarasu and Madhukkur Ramalingam delivered special addresses in the convention. They congratulated the magnificent role of LIC in nation-building and the efforts of our movement to protect LIC.

About 1,400 delegates from all the eight divisions in LIC and three General Insurance Regions of Tamil Nadu in the South Zone participated in the convention. A large number of LIC agents and cadres of fraternal trade unions also took part from various centers. V Suresh proposed the vote of thanks.

Prior to the convention, a campaign against LIC IPO was conducted through distribution of leaflets and street-corner meetings throughout Tamil Nadu.