United India's Jagannathan is Gipsa chief

Chennai: United India Insurance CMD, V Jagannathan has been elected as the new head of the General Insurers (Public) Sector Association (Gipsa), a body that represents the management of four government-owned general insurance companies.

He ranks second to New India Assurance CMD, K N Bhandari on the seniority list among the four CMDs. Bhandari, the outgoing Gipsa chief, is slated to retire from service this month.

Jagannathan assumes office at a crucial moment and tough times await him. For one, all the unions clerical and development officers have expressed the disapproval to Gipsas manpower rationalisation scheme. The officers cadre in the four companies is a bit miffed because Gipsa has not proposed any such scheme for them.

The new Gipsa chief joined the insurance industry as a direct recruit officer with Hercules Insurance. A postgraduate in economics, Jagannathan is a Tamil literature and philosophy aficionado.