BJP, Cong MPs raise issue of insurance claims to Bhiwani farmers in LS

As the farmers bodies, the All India Kisan Sabha and the Samkukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) have resorted to indefinite dharna in Loharu town of Bhiwani district alleging an Rs 350 crore scam related to kharif 2023 cotton, the MPs from Hisar and Bhiwani-Mahendragarh Lok Sabha constituencies have also raised the issue in Parliament.

The BJP MP from Bhiwani-Mahendragarh Dharambir Singh and Hisar Congress's MP Jai Prakash while taking up the matter in the Lok Sabha alleged that the farmers were denied nearly Rs 300 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) and urged the Union Agriculture Minister to take action against the insurance firm.

Singh claimed that for the kharif 2023, legitimate crop-cutting experiment (CCE) data collected in the field was ignored, and instead, the yield estimates were derived using technology-based methods. He alleged that the decision to adopt this method was taken at a Haryana State-Level Technical Committee (STAC) meeting on August 20, 2024, during the enforcement of the election model code.

In its reply, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare said while the YES-TECH (Yield Estimation System Based on Technology) model was adopted by 10 states, including Haryana for paddy, wheat, and soybean. And thus cotton is not yet covered under the YES-TECH system for verification of losses. However, he added that due to a yield data dispute in Bhiwani and Charkhi Dadri, the STAC decided to obtain village-wise technical yield estimates from the Haryana Space Applications Centre (HARSAC). The Ministry said the decision was taken after both the State Government and the insurer firm agreed on it and that no appeal was made to the Central Technical Advisory Committee (CTAC) to challenge it.

The minister also confirmed receiving a complaint from the Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Sabha against the settlement of cotton claims through the technology-based method and added that the affected farmers could appeal against the decision of the STAC as per the Grievance Redressal Mechanism provided in the scheme through the State Level Grievance Redressal Committee (SGRC). The committee has been given the detailed mandate as outlined in the operational guidelines for hearing the complaints/ grievances and to dispose them as per the stipulated procedure, the minister said in the reply.

According to information, in Bhiwani district, Rs 95.17 crore was paid for 35,693.82 hectares, benefiting 25,527 farmers, while in Charkhi Dadri, Rs 11.26 crore was paid for 6,587.33 hectares, benefiting 5,988 farmers. Farmer groups, however, contended that these payments fell far short of actual losses and were continuing protests demanding full compensation, which was decided on the basis of the CCE.