India is presently in a state of flux. The economy has undergone a metamorphosis over the last decade and business today bears very little resemblance to business as it was conducted until the 1990s.

One sector that has seen phenomenal change is the financial sector: the Indian financial system has new and more varied institutions; financial markets are a beehive of activity and regulations are constantly being updated to keep pace with developments in the markets; the number of financial services and assets now available within the economy has multiplied.

Within the financial sector, banking and insurance are the two industries that have experienced the greatest reform. While banking reform began much earlier in 1992, insurance sector reform was delayed and it was not until the end of the century that the transformation process touched this sector. The Indian insurance industry today is regularly witnessing new developments. After the liberalization of the sector in 1999, there have been new entrants, new products and policies, a surge in the number of policies sold and in premiums collected.

The insurance industry is poised to enter a new era and is at an exciting stage of development. The changing demographic and socioeconomic profile of the population has important implications for life insurance, while expanding economic activity and increasing awareness will catalyze the growth of the general insurance component of the industry.

The academic world is keenly watching the developments in the insurance sector and the College thought that the time was ripe for a National Conference on the sector. The call for papers evoked an overwhelming response, and presented in this special issue of Chetana are 23 papers that the College received. The College is grateful to Prof. D. V. Borkar (former Registrar, Goa University) and Dr. H. T. Nagvekar (former Principal, MES College, Zuarinagar, Goa) for assessing and grading the papers. The papers have subsequently been edited and arranged theme-wise, in the order in which they were presented at the Conference.

The Conference was ably organized by the Convenor Mrs. Uma N. Pulapaka and the Coordinator Mr. B. P. Sarath Chandran, with the support and guidance of the Principal Dr. I. Bhanu Murthy.

Prita D. Mallya

Editor