Rain-hit farmers to get 50% more compensation: PM

With the damage to crops due to unseasonal rains snowballing into a political hot potato, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday announced higher compensation for farmers.

The Prime Minister also asked banks to restructure agriculture loans and insurance companies to proactively settle the claims. 

Modi expressed concern over the problems being faced by farmers due to abnormal weather. “Helping farmers in this time of distress is the government’s responsibility. We have sent teams of Central Ministers to the affected areas to assess the extent of damage,” he said. The Prime Minister said the Central and state governments along with banks and insurance companies would do their level best to provide succour to farmers.

The Prime Minister announced the relief package for farmers at the launch of the Mudra Bank. Modi said the government has decided to increase the quantum of compensation to affected farmers by 50 per cent over the existing level and also relaxed the norms for availing assistance from the earlier crop damage threshold of 50 per cent to 33 per cent.

Unseasonal rains and hailstorms in March, especially in the North, have destroyed crops prompting state governments to ask for relief from the Centre. Haryana has sought Rs 1,300 crore relief package. Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Minister Ram Vilas Paswan had visited the state to assess the damage.

Paswan said today the Centre is very concerned over the damage to crops due to unseasonal rain. The Centre has relaxed the wheat procurement norms on the basis of requests received from states such as Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan where procurement has started.

Paswan said wheat is yet to arrive in Haryana and UP. Both states have been asked to collect the wheat samples from affected areas and get them tested at regional FCI labs to avoid delay and submit reports to the Centre. 

Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said details of crops damage from Rajasthan have been received by the Central Government and a team will visit the state tomorrow.

The Prime Minister in his address announced that the criteria of 50 per cent crop damage for providing compensation to farmers has been reduced to 33 per cent which will help more people get better compensation for the crop loss. 

"Also, the amount of compensation has been increased by 50%. If earlier, he was getting Rs 100 as compensation, now he will get Rs 150, if it was Rs 1 lakh, he will get Rs 1.5 lakh," Modi said. Later, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan said he has directed banks to restructure loans of the farmers in distress.