The central government has bought a month's time to decide who will head the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC). The finance ministry has appointed R N Bhardwaj (pictured) as current-in-charge till December 31, or till further notice, whichever is earlier. | |
| Bhardwaj will exercise all powers and functions of a chairman, in addition to his current responsibilities as managing director. |
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| With Bhardwaj's appointment, he will now be able to call for board meetings, which usually take place once a month or when warranted. |
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| LIC, with an asset base of Rs 3,40,000 crore and 16 crore policyholders, has been headless for the past one month since S B Mathur retired on October 30. R K Vashishtha, managing director had also retired on September 30. |
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| The finance ministry has interviewed 21 candidates for the post of chairman and managing director. The decision facing the government is whether to appoint individuals who have less than two years service or those who have as much as seven years left prior to their retirement. |
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| According to the current government policy of appointing the top brass, an individual ought to have a minimum of two years residual service and he should have been a director for a period of one year. |
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| Of the 21 candidates for the posts, six have less than than two years of service and majority of the others were promoted as executive director only in April this year, making them directors for less than one year. |
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| The LIC has also been urging the government to induct independent board members for the past two years. This has become crucial lately as there has been a short fall in the necessary quorum to hold board meetings, officials added. |
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