Tenants of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC)-owned premises, protesting the continued exploitation by their landlord, will sit on a dharna at Azad Maidan on Thursday to draw government's attention to their plight.Tenants of the 140 LIC-owned buildings in the city are protesting the indiscriminate increase in rents, discrimination in transfer of tenancies and various other problems affecting them for decades.

While LIC, one of the city's biggest landlords, continues with ``its policy of non-conformation of the Public Premises Act (PPA),'' its tenants claimed they are at their ``tether's end in finding ways to deal with the problem.'' Several meetings between LIC tenants groups and the Minister of State for Housing Raj Purohit proved futile since the insurance giant is headquartered in New Delhi. However Purohit has promised the All India LIC Tenants' Action Committee that he would support their dharna and will also address the group tomorrow. S V Sapre of theCommittee addressing the media today said,``The LIC has been demanding grossly increased rents with a condition that it will be hiked by another 25 percent every three years. Besides, while many illegal sub-tenants are being regularised after LIC extracts a hefty premium, many transfer of legal heirs are pending for years. Even for minor repairs and installation of Air conditioners, the insurance monolith charges a huge non-refundable amount illegally.''

``Despite a set of guidelines issued by the Centre under the PPAct, the LIC continues with its high handed tactics to harass us,''said A Tayade, a tenant of Bhatia Bhavan, one of the many ill maintained LIC owned buildings.

College reunion on Saturday

The St Xavier's Institute of Education invites all ex-students to a reunion at 40A, New Marine Lines, on Saturday, March 13 between 5 pm and 7 pm. Call Dr Elaine Charles on 2014666 and confirm your entry.