page_title: Khuda Buksh
section_title: Life insurance leader, East Pakistan (1952–1968)
hierarchical_section_title: Khuda Buksh / Life insurance leader, East Pakistan (1952–1968)
caption_attribution_description: English: EFU Personnel with guests
context_page_description: Khuda Buksh was an eminent Bengali life insurance salesman and humanitarian from the Indian subcontinent. For four decades he represented the “life and soul of the insurance industry” throughout the region, leaving his indelible mark on the business in three separate countries: British India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Buksh, or “Insurance Giant, ” as he became known, gained fame in the 1940s, specifically for his salesmanship in East India. From the 1950s to 1960s, he helped build one of Pakistan's top insurance companies from scratch, placing it on the world map. He was the pioneer of life insurance industry growth and development in Bangladesh; his name became "synonymous with the life insurance industry," and he is even referred to, in Bangladesh, as the “Father of Insurance.”
context_section_description: At the EFU, located at Dacca, Buksh became the life manager in charge of East Pakistan in July 1952. At the time, there was widespread fundamentalist propaganda against insurance, which portrayed it as being un-Islamic. The general public, from solvent businessmen to the lower-middle class, also believed insurance to be associated with death. Moreover, the educated were reluctant to join the insurance profession due to the negative religious and culturally prejudiced views against life insurance workers. Buksh made his life's goal to not only change preconceived ideas about insurance, but to create and sustain a positive image of insurance workers and the services they offered. He again took advantage of his "magnetic personality," and "exemplary integrity" recruited, motivated, and trained hundreds of young people every year in the insurance business, particularly a "huge section of the unemployed, ambition-less" young people. During this period, he helped provide jobs to the children of numerous poverty stricken Bengali Muslim families. In order to  develop a salesman's confidence, improve sales talks, and build enthusiasm for the job, he freely shared his practical knowledge and field experience gained over many years and imparted to the newly recruited agents for their training. He gave them an objective analysis of the career: 
  Keep your watchful eyes ever vigilant so that no breadwinner of your area of activities dies leaving his family uncared for. Fight out like Hercules the colossus of un-certainty, unrest, of hard times by offering life assurance protection. Attain belief in the job. Have firm conviction that life assurance is the most noble profession. Have faith that intelligent and honest endeavor never goes unrewarded. You must develop determination and enthusiasm . . .  Make contact with as many people as you can. Spend the major portion of your time in presence of your prospects, act courteously, be tactful in presentation and you will find that it is easier to get than to miss business.
   While working to employ them, he  also developed the kind of positive competition that would challenge employees to excel at work and in social interactions. He excelled at turning novice trainees into efficient insurance agents. He visited every agent's home and inspired them with his enthusiasm, motivational words, and kindness. He also offered to mitigate their financial and personal problems. He often helped them with his "extra-ordinary convincing capability" to secure business by accompanying them to meet with prospective clients. At the same time, he continued to  forge close connections with professional, social, cultural, and  education organizations, such as Rotary Club of Rotary International, to increase awareness of life insurance in the greater society. "He devised inventive techniques and motivated his sales force to challenge the public's negative perception of life insurance."
  Initially, the insurance policies were issued from the head office in Karachi, with clients in Dacca, Chittagong and other places.  This caused unusually long delays and to avoid these, Buksh convinced management to have policy renewals, premiums and other arrangements done from Dacca. He increased manpower in Dacca regional office and  other divisional and sub-divisional towns. Thus a new class of insurance workers were created and the insurance business grew in East Pakistan because of his "extra-ordinary foresight."
  A "workaholic," Buksh created a large number of field organizations, built a strong force across East Pakistan and became a "champion in the life insurance business." Nevertheless, he fiercely protected the interests of insured people and settled life insurance claims without delay. He would sometimes attend the funeral services of an insured person, hand-delivering an insurance benefit check to the surviving family members in order to raise their morale. Under Buksh's leadership the company business showed an upward trend with a paid-for business from Rs. 25.4 million in 1953 to Rs. 42.8 million in 1957. By March 19
caption: A Group photo of EFU personnel (managers, officers, agents and staff) and guests from other insurance companies, Dacca,  East Pakistan, July 1953.  
    An announcement in the Pakistan Observer for agents training at Dacca EFU office, July 17, 1959[34]
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