Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA) chairman M Aslam Alam resigned on March 2. After 26 days, the government has not yet appointed a new chairman. As a result, the company is virtually parentless.
Lack of leadership in IDRA has brought the normal functioning of the organization to a standstill. Important policies and decisions are on hold; Which is directly affecting the insurance sector. Experts in the sector have warned that without leadership, confidence, settlement and discipline in the sector could suffer in the long term.
According to IDRA sources, the organization must have a chairman or acting chairman to take important decisions. At this time only some recruitment tests have been done. Although earlier, if the post of chairman of the organization was vacant, this appointment was made within two to three days. But even though there is a long process for appointing a new chairman, none of the existing members have been appointed acting chairman to continue the work of the organization. In other words, the activities of IDRA are very stagnant. M Aslam Alam took charge of the company after being appointed as the contractual chairman for three years in September 2024. Prior to this, he was the Secretary of the Financial Institutions Department for a long time and held various important responsibilities. Before him, former secretary Mohammad Zainul Bari was in charge till September 5, 2024.
When asked about the overall activities of the organization, spokesperson Saifunnahar Sumi told Ajker newspaper, ‘The government has not yet appointed a new person after the post of chairman became vacant. Therefore, the activities of the organization have been limited.
“Government should appoint a new chairman in the organization as soon as possible” – said the professor of Banking and Insurance Department of Dhaka University. Md. Mine Uddin On the other hand, the organization’s discipline is being disrupted due to the absence of a chairman. Earlier, acting chairman was appointed if the post became vacant due to any reason. This time zero has been going on for the longest time’—claimed Zenith Islami Life Insurance Chief Executive Officer (CEO) SM Nuruzzaman.
At present, the insurance companies of the country have about 8 thousand crores of insurance claims of the customers, the progress of which is now practically at a standstill. President of Bangladesh Insurance Association (BIA) Saeed Ahmed said, “The delay in the appointment of the chairman is increasing the surveillance and crisis of confidence in this sector. The government should fill the post at the earliest.’
Najma Mubarek, Secretary of the Financial Institutions Department of the Ministry of Finance, confirmed that no final name has been decided yet. But soon someone will be appointed to this position. However, it has been found that now the secretary has been changed in the financial institution department, which plays a key role in this appointment. Now the new secretary will join the work, watch the proceedings, then perhaps take the next step of appointing the chairman in consultation with government policy makers. It remains to be seen how many more days it will take to complete this process.
