Bhiwani farmers meet Kiran Chaudhry over crop insurance

A delegation of farmers called on the Rajya Sabha MP Kiran Chaudhry in Delhi today to demand insurance claims for the damage to rabi crops for 2023. After listening to their grievances, Chaudhry assured the delegation that the government would take cognisance of the issue and that appropriate action would be taken soon.

The Rajya Sabha MP said she had already raised the matter in Parliament, and Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Chauhan had also taken note of it. She assured that justice would be done for the affected farmers.

Under the 2023 Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), farmers’ claims were significantly reduced, causing losses worth hundreds of crores of rupees. According to farmers, the crop cutting experiments (CCEs) estimated compensation worth Rs 450 crore, but the yield assessment conducted through the Haryana Space Applications Centre (HARSAC) using satellite imagery reduced it by about Rs 350 crore in two districts. They further alleged that, as per an RTI reply, while 62,237 insured farmers in the district had claims amounting to Rs 310.58 crore, only 25,527 farmers were paid Rs 95.17 crore — resulting in an alleged shortfall of Rs 213.05 crore in Bhiwani district alone.

The farmers also alleged that there was no contract or MoU with the Haryana Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department for providing “technical yield” data for 2023–24 and 2024–25. They pointed out that the state government’s order dated August 29, 2023, clearly requires that claims under the crop insurance scheme be settled on the basis of CCEs, not satellite imagery alone.

Calling it a grave injustice, they reiterated their demand for a high-level investigation and immediate release of the pending insurance claims to the affected farmers.