By Ranjan K Baruah
At the time of crisis and when COVID-19 has impacted employment, there is one service that has been listed as one of the essential services by the government and this sector brings scope for millions in the country. The irony is that this profession is like an irritating issue for many as people associated with this are not being able to showcase the real importance of the profession. But in spite of everything, the industry is booming in the country and this will certainly boom in the years to come.
India is a country of a large proportion of persons being in employable age. One of the premium sectors showing upward growth is insurance, which is a $41-billion industry in India. India is the fifth largest life insurance market in the emerging insurance economies globally and is growing at 32-34 per cent annually. Foreign direct investment up to 26 per cent is permitted under the automatic route subject to obtain a licence from the official regulator, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA).
Insurance, within the financial sector, plays a vibrant role in the economy. In simple terms, insurance is a mechanism of sharing the losses of a few by many. Though the pooling mechanism exists in society since ages in various forms, the modern form of insurance can be traced to Europe, starting with marine expeditions in pursuit of business. Subsequently, the concept extended to development of life insurance and other forms of property insurance.
This diversity of various classes of insurance business requires human resources of different levels of education, technical knowhow and expertise. After the advent of financial sector reforms in the 1990s, the insurance industry was opened for private participation and foreign equity in India in early 2000.
Many terms are associated with the insurance industry and the most common work is insurance agents which may be from any authorised company. Life Insurance Corporation, or LIC, is the oldest in this sector. There are many other private companies. We should know that the banking sector serves as the most important corporate insurance agency for distribution of insurance products. They are in tie-up with insurance companies for selling insurance using their network.
Banks provide immense employment opportunities. There is Postal Life Insurance, Corporate Agents, Insurance Brokers, Individual Agents or Advisors who have been working in the insurance sector for decades. Micro Insurance Agents, RAP (Rural Authorised Persons) or VLE (Village Level Entrepreneurs) to market insurance products, Referral Companies, Web Aggregators etc.
Professional terms or designation associated with insurance includes actuaries, chartered accountants and finance professionals, risk managers, capital market professionals, back office personnel, risk assessment and underwriting, policy preparation and delivery.
Insurance sector in India has been through a lot of changes and this shall bring more opportunities for millions in the country. At the present time of crisis people are also realising the importance of insurance like health or life though we do motor insurance as that is compulsory. We shall publish more options in this sector in our next edition and till then stay safe and keep fighting the pandemic.
(The author is a career mentor and can be reached at 8473943734 or [email protected] for any career related queries)