Crop insurance

The problems faced by farmers in getting their crop insurance claims approved have laid bare irregularities in the implementation of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), which was launched by the Centre in 2016 with the primary aim of providing ‘financial support to farmers suffering crop loss/damage arising out of unforeseen events’. The Tribune has reported that the application forms of nearly 29,000 farmers in Haryana’s Hisar district have been returned by a leading insurance company, citing reasons such as insured area mismatch and missing land record, crop-sowing certificate or tenant declaration. It’s a double whammy for cotton growers — first their crop was ravaged by rain and now they have to run from pillar to post in pursuit of compensation.

It’s not uncommon for insurance firms to pick holes in the papers submitted by farmers and raise objections on one pretext or the other. The money eventually paid, if at all, is often far short of what is needed to recompense the hapless annadata. That the PMFBY is a win-win scheme for the companies was revealed in 2018 by the reply to an RTI application: these firms earned a gross profit of Rs 15,792 crore in two years after the rollout of the scheme across the country. Noted journalist and activist P Sainath said a couple of years ago that ‘the PMFBY would end up being a bigger scam than the Rafale deal in terms of free handouts to corporations’, adding that the Central and state governments had together allocated over Rs 66,000 crore for crop insurance schemes since 2016.

The PMFBY, which also aims to promote crop diversification and enhance growth and competitiveness of the agriculture sector, and other such insurance schemes are ironically pushing farmers to the brink. The Central and state governments need to closely monitor the functioning of the companies concerned and take exemplary action whenever insurance claims are rejected on flimsy grounds. It’s also imperative to ensure that farmers get timely and adequate compensation for their losses; failure to do so would be perilous for Indian agriculture.

Join Whatsapp Channel of The Tribune for latest updates.