Insurance claims of Haryana farmers pending since FY17

Vijay C Roy

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 21

For over 6,700 Haryana farmers, mismatch in data compiled by banks has resulted in delay in settlement of insurance claims from the insurance companies under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY). Some of the claims are pending since 2016-17 despite the fact that the dues should be paid within two months from the end of harvest, which means the kharif 2018 claims should have been paid latest by January 2019.

According to state government officials, most of the complaints are related to difference in the insured area mentioned in the bank records and the insurance companies due to clerical mistakes committed at the bank level. Farmers who have suffered crop losses in 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 are yet to receive insurance compensation because of these mistakes.

Banks deduct the insurance premium from loanee farmer’s account. According to the officials, since banks are given 4% commission for enrolling and entering the details of the insured farmers, these types of mistakes should not happen. 

Taking cognisance of the matter highlighted in a bankers’ meeting recently, the state government has asked the insurance companies to settle the claims as soon as possible.

“As the beneficiaries are the same and there is no dispute with regard to the identification of the farmers, their accounts, crop sown and loss, we fail to understand why these insurance companies are rejecting their claims,” said Haryana Additional Chief Secretary (Finance & Planning) TVSN Prasad said while addressing the bankers and insurance companies. 

To avoid further confusion, the committee has requested the controlling heads of the banks to sensitise their field functionaries to ensure correct feeding of the data on the PMFBY portal to avoid rejection of claims.

Also, to avoid such situation in future, banks will send SMS containing crop, area, premium amount, address and land record on the farmers’ mobile number for their consent and validation. 

The annual outgo as insurance premium from the state is around Rs 750 crore which comprises the share of farmers, state and the Centre for both the seasons — kharif and rabi. The farmers pay 2% of the sum insured as a premium while the rest is borne by the state and Centre under the scheme. Under the kharif season, the state has notified four crops — cotton, paddy, bajra and maize — while under rabi, it has notified five crops — wheat, barley, mustard, gram, and sunflower.

Since the inception of the scheme, around 8.40 lakh farmers in the state have received Rs 1,933 crore as claim while the total premium paid to the insurance companies by all stakeholders was Rs 1,399 crore. Out of the total premium, the farmers’ share was Rs 535 crore. 

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana 
Insured farmers 

• Kharif crops: 8.25 lakh to 8.50 lakh
• Rabi crops: 7.50 lakh to 7.90 lakh
• Claims pending: 6,700 since 2016-17