LIC under scanner in Chhattisgarh over financial irregularity

The Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India has come under the scanner in Chhattisgarh for allegedly committing serious financial irregularities in a scheme meant for poor people.

The country’s premier investigating agency, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), on Wednesday raided LIC offices and residence of officials for the alleged irregularities in the Janashree Bima Yojana. The scheme is meant to provide life insurance protection to the rural and urban poor persons below poverty line and marginally above the poverty line.

The scam is worth more than crore rupees, a CBI official said, adding that the details would be disclosed only once the investigation was completed. Besides senior officials of the LIC, agents and employees are also involved in the scam that accounted for withdrawing money by showing policy holder dead while he is alive.

The preliminary investigation into the matter revealed that the LIC officials with the help of employees and agents withdrew money of 570 policy holders who were insured under the Janashree Bima Yojana. The claim was made by showing the policy holders dead while they were alive.

Under the scheme, the policy holder had to pay a sum of Rs 20 and he would get a cover of Rs 20,000. A large number of people living below the poverty line had been insured under the scheme. The agents played important role in covering maximum client under the scheme and they had the details of policy holders that finally helped in committed such a big scam.

The sleuths of CBI on Wednesday morning struck at the residence of a few LIC officials, agents and employees in Raipur and Bilaspur. They also reached the LIC offices and seized the relevant documents required to proceed with the investigation. The CBI action created panic in the LIC offices.

The investigating officials said that action against the officials would be taken once the probe was over.