The government on Thursday named Dinesh Kumar Mehrotra as the new acting chairman of the Life Insurance Corporation of India for a period of three months or till further orders, whichever is earlier.

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The appointment was made through a government notification.Mehrotra relieves Rakesh Singh, who was appointed as the interim chairman on May 3, 2011 in order to replace TS Vijayan.Vijayan completed his 5-year term in May.

The 58-year-old Mehrotra joined LIC as a direct recruit officer in 1977. He started at the Jamshedpur division, and has had an illustrious career spanning over 34 years.

He was posted in LIC’s foreign office at Suva in Fiji from 1985-89 and later led the company’s overseas thrust as executive director of international operations.

“I am happy that someone from LIC itself is appointed and will continue to serve as the chairman of the same company,” says SB Mathur, secretary general of Life Insurance Council and a former chairman of the insurance behemoth.

Rakesh Singh, apart from being an interim chief, was also additional secretary in the department of financial services.

The appointment of Singh, who is in charge of Nabard, was seen as contrary to the recent practice of appointing chairman from within the organisation.

Mehrotra is described as ‘a dynamic team builder and people-oriented in nature,’ in a statement on his appointment.

His abilities will be tested as LIC battles to salvage its reputation after a scandal involving bribes paid to top officials in its finance arm and a probe into its investments.