FM asks LIC to relax norms for Uttarakhand calamity victims

Directs LIC to open major camp office in Dehradun to settle the claims on centralised basis

Finance Minister P Chidambaram has asked the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) to constitute a special team to settle claims of those affected by the recent floods in Uttarakhand.

The finance minister has also directed LIC to open a major camp office in Dehradun to settle the claims on centralised basis and said it should follow the same norms for settlement of claims as being followed during the tsunami in the Indian Ocean or the earthquakes in Latur and Bhuj in the past.

Chidambaram said LIC should not insist on the normal condition that requires a seven-year-period before a death certificate is issued for a missing person and claims could be settled.

Addressing senior officers of LIC today after inaugurating 300 mini-offices of the state-run insurer through video conferencing, the finance minister said an indemnity bond could be taken from the claimants in such cases and the claims settled on priority.