Nia is planning to establish a centre of excellence with some of the key subject areas of the insurance , like Pension, Risk Management, Actuarial Science, Artificial Intelligence, Cyber Security, and underwriting.
About Shri B. C. Patnaik
Shri B. C. Patnaik has taken over charge as Director of the National Insurance Academy with effect from 26th December’2024.
Prior to this he was Member (Life) – IRDAI. Along with the Department of Life, he was also in charge of Department of Health, Legal and Customer Grievances including Communication wing. He also represented IRDAI in meetings of the National Health Authority and Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
As a whole-time member of IRDAI, he contributed well for the ease of doing business wherein the number of regulations were reduced. He also contributed to many customer centric initiatives in all forms of insurance.
He was also the Managing Director of LIC of India. He was in charge of Department of Personnel, Investment Monitoring, HRD, Bancassurance, New Business Underwriting & Reinsurance, and Inspection. He played an important role in the success of LIC’s IPO.
As MD, he was on the boards of LIC Nepal, LIC credit cards, and LIC Mutual Fund Trustee Company, where he chaired the Trustee Board.
He also represented LIC on the boards of National Stock Exchange and Indiabulls Housing Company. During his tenure in NSE, he played an important role in supporting the formation of NSE IFSC International Exchange. The initiatives for the transition of Indiabulls Housing to an NBFC were taken during his tenure.
He was also the Secretary General of Council for Insurance Ombudsman and the digital initiatives were established under his leadership leading to speedy settlements and cost effective transactions for all concerned.
In his operational roles in LIC, he has great first-hand experience of customer needs, marketing of Insurance products and effective customer service. He believes in a faster digitised service and has played an important role in many of the digital initiatives of LIC. He has been passionate about customer service all throughout his career. He knows India well during his postings in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand. His operational jurisdictions also included Assam, Uttarakhand, Tripura, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Andaman & Nicobar.
He is always passionate about development of the human capacity in the insurance industry and believes that along with adoption of technology and awareness, the noble objective of IRDAI- Insurance for All by 2047-can be realised faster by effective human intervention.
As always, he stands committed to his assignment and believes that to be a Viksit Bharat, the role of Insurance, for all individuals, for all businesses and for all manufacturing industries should be a natural process and all support should be there in the ecosystem- most importantly- qualified, trained and motivated insurance professionals.
Q: How does NIA bridge the gap between academic learning and industry expectations, and what initiatives are being undertaken to promote deeper collaboration with insurers and regulators?
A: The academy’s faculty and director (NIA) regularly interact with industry practitioners to understand current market trends, products, market conditions, and challenges. Secondly, NIA also invites the senior executives, like CEO’s, Regulators, and Senior Brokers, to interact with the faculty, participants, and students regularly. More importantly, we have industry experts and alumni representatives in our curriculum review committees, and we also get industry feedback about our MDP training and the PGDM programme regularly.
All these inputs are incorporated into the curriculum of our MDP as well as PGDM programmes. They help bridge the gap between the industry and Academic learning. Moreover, these activities also help us in improving our industry connections and deeper collaboration with the industry and regulators.
Q: In the face of rapid digital transformation and evolving risks, how is NIA updating its academic curriculum to stay aligned with current and future demands of the insurance industry?
A: As discussed earlier, the industry feedback and our regular interactions with practitioners and industry experts help us in reviewing our curriculum regularly. Considering the recent developments in digital innovation and technological developments, we have incorporated certain new topics like Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Insurance Business, Digital Transformation in Insurance Industry, Cyber Security and Insurance, and Disaster Risk Management etc. Further, our faculty periodically visits the insurance companies and understands what their training requirements are. Our curriculum and or the programme brochures are circulated 3 to 4 months before the finalization.
Similarly, after the programmes are completed, the faculty prepares the feedback on the programmes and prepares the report along with the participants’/students’ feedback and submits it along with the suggestions to the director of the academy to take the necessary action, ensuring continuous improvement. These practices help the academy to meet the changing needs of the industry.
Q: NIA has a strong reputation for insurance research. Could you share how the institution contributes to policymaking, thought leadership, and the development of best practices in the Indian insurance landscape?
A: NIA faculty are actively involved in various insurance research and consultancy projects right from their inception. Recently, we completed research in the area of Cyber Security Risk and Underwriting, Disaster Risk Financing Strategy for Kerala Government, Agricultural Insurance, and Insurance Protection Gap etc. We share our research reports with the industry as well as the regulators regularly. Some of our faculty and the director have been inducted as members of various technical group committees of IRDAI in the past.
Q: How is NIA engaging with global insurance institutes and international programs to offer global perspectives to Indian students and professionals?
A: NIA has a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with various institutions and universities abroad, for various insurance technical outcomes and to study the best practices. We have an MoU with the Institute of Risk Management (IRM), UK, for developing a professional training programme in Enterprise Risk Management and introducing a specialised curriculum in our PGDM programme.
Collaboration with IUMI – International Union of Marine Insurance, Hamburg, Germany, Glasgow Caledonian University (London), UK, for the introduction of a course in Insurance and Risk Management in India. These collaborations would help us in reaching out to the international market as well as enhancing the quality of education in India.
Q: How is NIA addressing the learning needs of working professionals and insurance executives through executive education and short-term certification programs?
A: NIA has a wider range of training programmes combining the insurance technical subjects, right from life insurance, annuity, pension, motor insurance, health insurance, to liability, aviation, and cyber insurance, and managerial skill development programs, like leadership, communication & presentation, problem solving, conflict management and decision making, etc., we have around 250 to 300 programme in a year and also train over 8,000 insurance executives from India as well as afro-Asian regions. We conduct executive management programmes with different levels of duration, short-term courses for 2 or 3 days, and a week-long programme to one month for the young executives from the insurance industry.
Our faculty periodically visits the insurance companies and understands what their training requirements are. Our curriculum and or the programme brochures are circulated 3 to 4 months before the finalisation.
Q: How has NIA performed in terms of campus placements in recent years, and what steps are being taken further to strengthen industry connections and placement opportunities for students?
A: NIA has 100% placement records for the last 20 years, right from the inception of our PGDM course in 2004-6 till the current batch 2023-25. The highest package offered is 20 lakhs, the top 10% of the students get over Rs.18 lakh, and the average package is 12.74 lakhs. Our recruiters are from all leading insurance companies, broking firms, IT companies, and multinational companies, including Swiss Re, Accenture, Cap Gemini, and Infosys.
NIA has been taking various steps to reach out to companies in the overseas market and also global consulting companies to visit our campus and join in our placement endeavour. We are also trying to collaborate with international universities for student and faculty exchange, and participation in joint research and education programmes. I am sure that all these efforts would help in augmenting the placement opportunities for the students in the future.
Q: What are your strategic goals for NIA in the next five years, and how do you envision the institution’s role in transforming the Indian insurance education landscape?
A: NIA’s vision is to become a global institution of excellence in learning and research in Insurance, Pension, and allied areas. To accomplish the vision, NIA has been taking various steps to strengthen its collaboration with international best universities in risk management in Insurance.
NIA has already tied up with several internationally popular institutions like IRM, UK, RIMS, USA, IUMI, Germany, and a few universities in UK., etc. NIA is planning to establish a centre of excellence with some of the key subject areas of the insurance industry, like Pension, Risk Management, Actuarial Science, Artificial Intelligence, Cyber Security, and Underwriting etc. NIA also aims to attain a deemed university in the next academic year. We aspire to be the advisory body for policymakers and the insurance industry in India as we encourage undertaking and creating an ambience for policy research in Insurance, Pension, and allied sectors.
Further, NIA has great plans to collaborate with international professional bodies and institutions and introduce certification courses in the relevant areas of insurance /reinsurance, with a view to augmenting the technical capability of the people working in the insurance industry.
NIA has been taking various steps to reach out to companies in the overseas market and also global consulting companies to visit our campus and join in our placement endeavour.
