Dear Editor,
Recently, I visited Naharlagun, my birthplace. To refresh old memories, I wanted to visit the LIC branch, which for whatsoever reason was situated in Naharlagun. To my surprise, I found that the office has remained closed for months together now. What I understood was that the LIC building had been vandalized by mobs in the recent riots, and the landowners forced the LIC to vacate the premises.
Everywhere in India, normally local and state government authorities take sufficient care so that institutions like the LIC, the SBI, the post offices, nationalized banks, oil marketing companies, etc, operate in the usual manner, which indicates normalcy in a place. The circumstances in which the LIC office was shut down are quite bizarre. Yet, the state government and the local authorities have not taken sufficient care to ensure resumption of normal functioning of the LIC office.
It is extremely sad and painful, especially when the same coalition is in power both in the state and at the Centre, and the LIC is 100 percent owned by the central government, providing funds to the central and the state governments.
Hope this letter would alert those concerned and the LIC would be able to resume its services in Naharlagun.
Sincerely,
D Bhutia,
Guwahati