However, at this crucial juncture, public sector undertakings are showing a ray of hope for unemployed youths. Public sector banks are currently recruiting officers and clerks on a large scale. State Bank Of India, Union Bank of India and Allahabad Bank are major players in this regard. They have already recruited about a million employees for themselves collectively. Now is the turn of Life Insurance Corporation.

Unquestionably, the size does matter when it comes to employment generation at a time when companies are wielding axe on jobs.

As insurance giant LIC announced on January 26, it is going to recruit 11 lakh more agents by March, 2011 to double its field workforce. As per LIC chairman TS Vijayan the LIC will employ 11-12 lakh agents. Last year too, the LIC ended with 11 lakh plus agents and it would like to increase it by a minimum 25 per cent by March, 2009. This is a target the LIC has taken.

During the current year, the country’s largest insurer recruited about two lakh insurance agents across the length and breadth of the country. This excludes hiring plans for development officers, the chairman clarified. In the current financial year alone, LIC has recruited 4,500 officers and next year the number could go up to 5,000. Currently, LIC has about 24,000 development officers across the country.

To compete with LIC, private life insurers are also recruiting agents to enlarge their businesses and reach but the numbers are much less than the major players.

For instance, Reliance Life is in the process of adding 90,000 agents and 2,500 managers, while Metlife and Max New York Life would increase advisors’ strength by 30,000 agents by the end of the current financial year.

Interestingly, recruitment of high-profile agents by a private insurer is not deterring the insurance giant; the LIC has already a large number of high-profile agents. Perhaps, few are aware that Union Railway minister Lalu Yadav’s daughter is also an agent with LIC. Such high profile agents usually operate within their own circle.

TS Vijayan accepted that such high profile agents provide good business to the public sector insurance player. He too supposed that many well-known personalities had taken LIC agencies during early days of their career.

Today, any boy or girl coming out of college gets a job in the market whether it is BPO or marketing agency. However, once upon a time people coming out of college did not have readymade jobs.

LIC plans to raise the status of their agents to bank business correspondent. The banks have banking correspondents. The LIC would also like to enhance their responsibility to that of correspondents who can collect premium.

In a nutshell, the dark side of the private sector is now being revealed to the masses. Almost every private sector company is engaged in mysterious activities. The debacle of Satyam is a glaring example in this regard.