*Former Chairman LIC of India, Mr J R Joshi dies at 95*

*Former Chairman LIC of India, Mr J R Joshi dies at 95*

Mr J.R.Joshi, Former Chairman LIC who resigned in 1982 due to severe differences of opinion with the Central Government over split of LIC into 5 Corporations, breathed his last on 14 September, 2021 at Bangalore. 

He was an Actuary in Western India Insurance Company, Satara before joining LIC after it was formed on 1st September,1956. He also headed Nagpur Division of LIC as Divisional Manager. 

LICians of today might have forgotten the old man but it was he who stood like a rock opposing the Era Sezhiyzn Committee Report which recommended in 1980 that LIC of India be split in 5 Corporations, East, West, North, South and Central . The Bill was referred to the Joint Parliamentary Committee and was about to be passed in Parliament. All the Staff Unions opposed the move but more so was the then Chairman of LIC, Mr Jayant Ramchandra Joshi. Being an Actuary himself, he opposed the bill saying that in the process we shall be splitting Indians into 5 groups who would be paying different premiums on their lives, probably the Indians in West and South would get the Insurance at cheaper rates and those in the East and North at higher rates which is against the principle of equity for Indians. All Indians should be treated equally. After 4 years of deliberations, finally in 1984, wisdom prevailed and the bill was officially dropped. 

Hats off to him for taking a firm stand against the Finance Ministry, for which he was asked to resign. 

He came to limelight once again when Aamir Khan invited him in his programme "Satyameva Jayate". It was in 1993 when he lost his wife who wished that Mr Joshi shouldn't live alone. After her death, he kept grooming his grandson. When the grandson got married and settled down, Joshi's son Harish urged him to marry again. His other son, Charudatta also supported this proposal and that's when Joshi placed a classified in Times of India seeking bride. He was looking for a bride at 79! Leina,a Malaysian-born Malayalee, a few years younger, from Bangalore approached him and both got married in 2005. Mr Joshi's daughter in law and Leina's son were in the forefront of the marriage preparations. 

https://youtu.be/IKueB6JwLLs

*Mr J R Joshi has left two messages for us* :

1. *Never compromise on issues which are against your* *conscience* and 

2. *Instead of leading a silent, painful life after the death of a spouse,,there is openness all around to find a suitable companion and enter into matrimony in twilight years*.  

*He was a man who lived ahead of time*. 

*Nilesh Sathe*