Parliament Winter Session: Centre moves legislation amid Opposition protest

A bill seeking to raise FDI in the insurance sector to 100 per cent was on Tuesday introduced in the Lok Sabha amid strong protest from the OppositionThe Sabka Bima Sabki Raksha Amendment of Insurance Laws Act 2025 seeks to amend Insurance Act 1938 Life Insurance Corporation Act 1956 and Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act 1999 as per the bill circulated to members of ParliamentIntroducing the bill Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the common peoples insurance has always been the focus of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the central government has provided insurance to the marginal sections of the society even during the Covid pandemicSitharaman said objections of some of the Opposition members could be part of the debate and she was ready to answer all their questions during the debate on the proposed legislationOpposing the introduction of the bill RSP member N K Premachandran said the nomenclature of the bill has nothing to do with its contentsHe also opposed the proposal to allow 100 per cent FDI in the insurance sectorDMK member T Sumathy too strongly opposed 100 per cent FDI in the sectorTMC member Saugata Roy said the name of the bill looks like the slogans of the ruling coalition and such names should not be part of any billHe said allowing 100 per cent FDI will be a backward step in the insurance sectorAccording to the draft bill the amendment will raise Foreign Direct Investment limit in the insurance sector from 74 per cent to 100 per centThough the bill proposes to hike FDI in the sector one of the top officials Chairman Managing Director or CEO must be an Indian citizenIt also paves the way for the merger of a noninsurance company with an insurance companyThe bill received the Union Cabinets nod on Friday paving the way for its introduction in ParliamentThe bill further aims to accelerate the growth and development of the insurance sector and to ensure better protection of policyholders as per the statement of objects and reasonsIt provides for the establishment of the Policyholders Education and Protection Fund to protect policyholders interestsIt would also improve the ease of doing business for insurance companies intermediaries and other stakeholders bring transparency to regulationmaking and enhance regulatory oversight over the sectorWith regard to the term of office of the Chairperson and other wholetime members the bill provides for a fiveyear term or until they attain the age of 65 years whichever is earlierAt present the upper age limit for wholetime members is 62 years while for the Chairman it is 65 yearsSitharaman in this years Budget speech proposed to raise FDI limit to 100 per cent from the existing 74 per cent in the insurance sector as part of newgeneration financial sector reformsSo far the insurance sector has attracted Rs 82000 crore through FDIThe amendments to the LIC Act propose empowering its board to take operational decisions such as branch expansion and recruitmentThe proposed amendment primarily focuses on promoting policyholders interests enhancing their financial security and facilitating the entry of additional players into the insurance market thereby driving economic growth and employment generationThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever