The general insurance industry in India is all set to see a new dawn. The process of economic liberalisation has had its toll on the government monopoly on insurance, both life and general, and is ushering in an era of privatisation. Soon the insurance market will see private players, in various combinations, trying to take the sheen out of their public sector counterparts. But a different fear seems to be lurking in the minds of all those who are at present related to the public sector monopoly. They have an apprehension that privatisation is a threat even to their existence.Unless public sector insurance companies are bent upon committing harakiri, they can chop any head which pops up above the horizon. For, it is they who are armed with the scythe of experience, knowledge and manpower in the prevailing Indian environs. As it is, the Indian insurance market is very complicated. Moreover, the soothing security of the government stamp has still not become redundant. Then why this panic?The answer to this query lies in the very process of evolution of general insurance in this country. Less than 30 years ago the general insurance industry was open and more than 100 insurance companies, including many multinationals, were trying for a piece of the cake. What happened during the privatised era is now history and the industry had to be nationalised.At the time of nationalisation, the people manning these companies had varied background. Most of them were mediocre. A few years later, in order to invigorate the industry, fresh talent was inducted at almost all levels. But with mediocrity ruling the roost, very few could resist the decline and succumbed to it. With ethical values taking a back seat, corruption became rampant. Corruption is like a sarcoma in the corpus of an organisation and not many remain unscathed. Such elements form a coterie. In such an unethical ambience, mediocrity triumphs. Thus the industry could never raise its standards and quality service remained a will of the wisp.It is this quality service that the private players, in combination with theskills of the multinationals, are expected to provide. Armed with various electronic gadgets, they are expected to accept mega risks and even deliver policy documents on the spot. But is this the only service the Indians arelooking for? Will they be able to deal so effectively with the claimsettlements, specially those of personal and rural nature? With the reputation public sector companies have to pay claims on the knowledge of date of payment of premium it is one area which the private sector will never be able to match if they become a bit more organised and ethical.Infusing technical knowledge of the various products into their people by intensive training may be another factor where the private operators may have an advantage. But this deficiency is mainly due to the unwillingness to acquire product knowledge by many public sector employees even after several exposures to trainings. It is indeed a pathetic patch through which the companies are going through and this abject apathy towards their profession is one of the main reasons for their current plight. But this is not something that cannot be overcome. A little bit of application and perseverance by the public sector companies is enough to beat the private players at their own game. Even in settlement of claims they can work out modalities to make on-the-spot `account' settlement of claims. Lack of faith in their managers by these companies is the only impediment in making such procedures effective. But with appreciation of ethical values and provision of level-playing field at par with the private sector, they canoutsmart their rivals.Of course, correction will, to a large extent, depend on management. Since there is no dearth of talent in the public sector companies, putting the right people at the right place may have a miraculous effect on the financial health of the organisation. A little bit of tightrope walk and concerted application by those who matter is all that is required and the fear whether they will sink or swim through the turbulent water of liberalisation will cease to linger. Still eradication of corruption should remain their palpable concern.The writer is a senior general insurance official
