Chairman - cum - Managing Director Mr. M. Parshad assumed charge as the Chairman-cum-Managing Director of Agriculture Insurance Company of India Limited (AIC), a company formed to focus exclusively on Crop Insurance in the country, on January 1, 2006 as a successor to Mr. Suparas Bhandari, who laid down his office on superannuation on 31st December 2005. Mr. Parshad graduated in 1971 from the prestigious ‘Sriram College of Commerce (SRCC), University of Delhi’ with distinction in ‘Advanced Accountancy’. He obtained his credentials in Chartered Accountancy (CA) in 1975 with All India Merit list in ‘Intermediate’ and distinction in ‘Advanced Accountancy & Management Accounting’. Mr Parshad started his career in the General Insurance Industry in 1977 as ‘Assistant Administrative Officer-Chartered Accountant’ in ‘Oriental Insurance Company’, and subsequently held different positions at various levels with diverse profiles. He brings experience from the fields of ‘Credit Insurance, Business Development, Technical,Personnel & Industrial Relations, besides his own field of Accountancy. He underwent training in ‘Advanced Course in General Insurance’ with Swiss Insurance Training Centre at Zurich. The ‘Oriental Insurance Company’ deputed him to Nepal to serve as Head of Company operations from May 1993 to June 1995. In July 1995, he was appointed as Head of the Industrial Relations Department at the company’s headquarter and was responsible for managing a work force of around 20,000 employees. In July 2000, he was appointed as In-Charge, Lucknow Region. In December 2000, he was elevated to the rank of Asst. General Manager. Subsequently, in February 2003, he was assigned the responsibility of being In-Charge, Delhi Regional Office–II. In February 2004, he was promoted as General Manager and was appointed as Chief Executive, General Insurers’ (Public Sector) Association of India to coordinate amongst four general insurance companies, evolve common strategies/policy on the matters of mutual interests and liaison with the Ministry of Finance and other Government agencies. Mr. Parshad in his various roles and responsibilities has constantly been seen as ‘natural leader’ and, therefore, known for pursuing the financial discipline in the organization, adherence to the government and regulatory directives & compliance, and organizational competence through his vision and dynamism. He received accolades for his contribution in compilation of Personnel Manual of ‘Oriental Insurance Company’ in 1988 which is still considered as a ‘treasure house’ of Rules and Regulations on Personnel in Public sector general insurance companies. Mr Parshad played a pivotal role in completing several rounds of discussions with Employees, Management & the Government, which culminated in finally settling the Wage revision of the employees of Public Sector General Insurance Industry in December 2005. Mr. Parshad has his full support and commitment towards the Agriculture community, and would guide the efforts of AIC in designing appropriate & farmers’ friendly and affordable insurance products. FROM THE CHAIRMAN'S DESK The pace of advancement of economic super structure of a nation primarily depends on the strength of its agricultural base. Although industrialization has had its own share of contributions, India continues to be an agriculture-incentive country with over seventy percent of population living in rural areas. The sector contributes to over 22% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), providing food to a population of over a billion, livelihood to nearly two-third of them, raw materials to country's agro-based industries and contributing nearly one sixth of the total earnings of the country, thus steering the overall growth of the economy. India is a major world producer of many agricultural commodities. It is the World's largest producer of pulses, fruits, milk; the second largest producer of rice, sugar, vegetables; the third largest producer of wheat, cotton, etc. India accounts for about 10% of the world's agricultural revenues. The capacity of the agriculture sector to hedge itself from the vagaries and aberrations of nature is considered critical to its development and growth. The experiences of the past few decades have proved that no state is immune to natural calamities, no matter what the state of preparedness is. On an average, crop on 12 million hectares of land are damaged every year by natural calamities and adverse seasonal conditions, grossly impacting the level of agricultural productivity. Agriculture insurance is an important risk management tools that has the potential to provide financial security to the person engaged in agriculture and allied activities. While this mechanism is very much the need of the hour to the farming community, their capacity to afford insurance cover is limited. It would therefore be endeavour of Agriculture Insurance Company (AIC) to strike a fine balance between the high risks involved in agriculture and allied activities and the affordability of the farming community to buy insurance/pay premium. The company also Plan to develop efficient channels of distributing the agri-insurance products. For instance, it proposes to efficient utilize the already existing large branch network of commercial banks, cooperative institutions and further examining the possibility of using the large network of Post-offices to widen the market outreach. It is also AIC's endeavour to develop dedicated channels such as Rural Agents, Micro Insurance agents at block levels to carry the agri-insurance facility to the door steps of the farmers. Besides NAIS, AIC is embarking upon introducing some new insurance initiatives in the interests of the farmers in mitigating their hardships. AIC effort is directed towards propagating the benefits of insurance to remotest of the places. While it definitely presents a mammoth task both conceptually and economically, I am sure with our dynamic and dedicated team, we will successfully achieve the objective of extending affordable insurance cover to all segments of agriculture and allied sectors.