The strike, to be held under the umbrella of General Insurance Employees' All India Association, is also aimed at voicing opposition to the alleged step-motherly attitude of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority towards public sector companies.

Announcing this in Kolkata on Tuesday, GIEAIA general secretary M S Upadhyay told reporters that seven unions of the four public sector general insurance firms had decided to go on a day's strike as the government failed to pay heed to their demands even after the nationwide strike held on October 29.

"Our main concern is over the favours shown to private sector and the government's proposal to hike FDI limit to 49 per cent. These will lead to greater control by foreign companies and re-introduction of malpractices that prevailed before nationalisation of the sector," Upadhyay said.

The GIEAIA also demanded merger of the four public sector units, which were earlier subsidiaries of General Insurance Corporation.

"We want a merger instead of four public sector companies like the United India Insurance, New India Assurance, Oriental Insurance and National Insurance, there should be one monolith like the Life Insurance Corporation. This will enhance our strength and yield a huge combined surplus fund of over Rs 1,60,000 crore (Rs 1600 billion) at disposal to offer improved service and widen coverage."