It was the last week of May 1972 when the Life Insurance Management Board finalised agenda of a meeting scheduled to finalise the inception of State Life Insurance Corporation of Pakistan.
The LIMB was formed under the Life Insurance Nationalisation Order issued by Federal Government on 18th March 1972. Those days I was an insurance agent writing bulk on life side and was well off with my happy lot.
The LIMB gave place to State Life on 1st November 1972. The 1st Board of Directors comprised seven directors who were professionals chosen from life insurance activity sector while the Chairman and Director Finance were from the bureaucracy. The tradition continued in a befitting manner and seasoned professionals from within the corporation continued to be elevated as executive directors on the board.
As a result the life insurance activity was promoted steadily and firmed on quite a broad base. The latest, in other words the recent example, was the appointment of a director (an actuary by profession) as the Chairman. But, the unfortunate phenomenon today is filling up the seats of executive directors from bureaucracy.
With due apologies the "Superior Service Officers" basically trained in District Management have occupied the board of directors of State Life and not a single professional from within the corporation was given a seat on the board.
Having switched over to real estate business I have no interest, material or otherwise in life insurance activity, except that the tree of Life Insurance planted by its wizards and nourished with blood is now exposed to a threatening and burning doomsday.
The Life Fund which is policyholders' money is supposed to be managed by State Life directors as its trustees and it is difficult to believe that millions of rupees of this trust money would lavishly be wasted on renovations to donations. The government should take a serious view of this critical situation.