Page 41 - Insurance Times August 2021

Two doyen's of Insurance Industry

bids adieu

A doyen bids adieu He was truly exceptional. I happened to learn many
nuances, and notably, key pivots, by just observing how he
On 20th April 2021 the nonagenarian
conducted meetings to find practical answers to different
Arun Chandra Mukherji, a doyen of
pain points.
the Indian insurance industry and the
former chairman of New India
An anecdote that I vividly recall is a post-lunch consultation
Assurance Company we bid adieu to
meeting with insurance industry representatives. After a
all of us. He is one person I know who
round of introductions, he remarked that since he is old,
was involved in defining the blueprint listening is also harder. The person on the opposite side
of the Indian insurance sector at the
thought that he is hard of hearing and started speaking
time of the nationalization of the insurance business and during
loudly and made his submission.
its opening up to competition twenty-eight years later.
Later, during the break, he explained that listening is hard
Even though he had retired much before I had joined the
not because of hearing-related problems but because we're
Indian insurance industry, I nevertheless had the rare
often consumed with ourselves. When you approach a
privilege and good fortune of working closely with this living
conversation thinking only of your own agenda, your goal is
encyclopedia twice:
to maneuver and manipulate the conversation and come
- in 1996-97 when the Ministry of Finance appointed him
out better than the other person. It's therefore important
to chair a committee to look into the solvency ratios
to be open to new information that you're not looking for
and reserving requirements for insurers to implement but need to hear. He further underlined that although being
the recommendations of the Malhotra Committee.
a good listener is good, the intent has to be curiosity, not
- in 2003, when he chaired the expert committee set up generosity.
by the Insurance Regulatory And Development
Authority to examine the remuneration system for We are all self-focused, but leaders who make a difference
insurance brokers and agents in the general insurance are the ones who know the purpose is bigger than
business, and I supported the Secretariat. themselves. That's when they're in a strong listening mode.
He was a man who pushed the limits - in his intellectual life,
to be sure, but also in his professional life. What a triumph
his life has been.
Arup Chatterjee
Policy and Regulatory Expert - Arun Chandra Mukherji was cherished and loved by all of
Insurance, Pensions & Insurtech us. He will always occupy a prominent place in the annals
of the history of the Indian insurance industry.

The Insurance Times, August 2021 41