The Kerala assembly on Wednesday unanimously passed a resolution urging the Union government to scrap the IPO of Life Insurance Corporation of India and retain the insurance major in the public sector.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan who moved the resolution urged the Union government to withdraw from the IPO move since leaving the insurance giant to private players would not be in the interest of the county.

“The Union government is trying to justify the IPO by saying only 5 per cent of the stakes were being sold and hence it is not privatisation. But it is clear that the IPO is the first step towards privatisation, which is the real intention of the government,” Vijayan said reading from the two-page resolution.

“LIC was nationalised with the aim of protecting stakeholders from the exploitation of the private players and to make available insurance cover to backward areas and weaker sections,” stated the resolution.

“It is such an institution that is being privatised without any discussion or examination in Parliament and by amending the LIC Act by including it in the Finance Bill.”

The resolution noted that LIC has an asset of Rs 38,04,610 crore as on March 31, 2021.

“That this amount is equal to the annual budget estimates of the Union government reflects the strength and size of LIC,” according to the resolution.

“LIC is among the world’s leading companies in terms of the number of policies and claim processing. As a public sector company, the focus of LIC has always been for protecting the interests of policy holders.”

“LIC gives 95 per cent of its profits as bonuses for policy holders, which is much higher than what is paid by private companies,” it stated.

The resolution further noted that while 25 per cent of LIC offices are based in rural areas, the number is a mere 3 per cent for private players.