Chennai

In the city, hundreds of LIC employees, including women, took part in the agitation and condemned the Centre’s move to disinvest it. Similar agitations were held in other parts of the State during lunch hour.

Employees affiliated to the All India LIC Employees Federation and other unions staged a protest at the Divisional Office in Thanjavur, a report said.

The protesters threatened to launch a series of agitations to oppose the decision to disinvesting LIC.

Similar protests were held in Tiruchy, Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, Karur, Madurai, Dindigul, Sivaganga, Tirunelveli, Theni and Ramanathapuram districts. Members of the All India Insurance Employees Association also reportedly took part in the agitation.

The protests follow Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Union Budget speech mentioning that the government would sell a part of its stake through an Initial Public Offering (IPO).

LIC is 100 percent owned by the Government of India and is the country’s largest insurance company as well as the largest institutional investor. It has reportedly around 1,30,000 employees on its rolls.

Finance secretary Rajiv Kumar a few days ago said the listing may be done in the second half of the next financial year.

The disinvestment and subsequent IPO will need an approval from Parliament. This will then go to the LIC Board and the insurance regulator which approves all IPOs in the sector. A final clearing will be required from market regulator SEBI.

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