Selection of new LIC chief may take some time

Selection of a new LIC chairman may take time, as some of the probable candidates are yet to get CVC clearance, said a member of the selection panel.

The LIC chairman's post became vacant after TS Vijayan completed his five-year term on May 2 this year. DK Mehrotra is currently the acting chairman of the country's largest financial institution.

"No clearance on selection of LIC chief. CVC clearance is still awaited. There will be another round of discussion," Irda chairman J Hari Narayan told reporters here.

Some candidates have got Chief Vigilance Commission (CVC) approval, while some have got only the Chief Vigilance Officer's (CVO) nod, he said.

Hari Narayan is one of the members of a search panel constituted by the government for selection of the new LIC Chairman. The panel is headed by Department of Economic Affairs Secretary R Gopalan.

According to sources, there are five contenders for the post, including acting chairman DK Mehrotra and managing director Thomas Mathew. Three executive directors are also in the reckoning, they said.

Hari Narayan, however, refused to give any timeframe for the selection process to be completed.

Last month, the government appointed Mehrotra as acting chairman for a period of three months or till further orders.

Prior to Mehrotra's appointment, the government had given Rakesh Singh, additional secretary in the Department of Financial Services in the Finance Ministry, an additional charge as the head of the nation's largest insurance company after Vijayan's term came to an end on May 2.

As per tradition, one of the managing directors of LIC is designated as chairman.