Farmers begin foot march to Chandigarh, seek compensation for crop loss

Deepender Deswal

Hisar, September 30

After partial success on the demand to release insurance claims for damaged crops under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima (PMFBY), farmers are heading to Chandigarh in support of compensation to those who lost crops due to floods, deficient rains and pest attack.

On dharna for long

We got partial success after staging a dharna for four months in Hisar. Now, we are heading to the UT to highlight plight of farmers. We will start a ‘pucca morcha’ in Chandigarh until the demands of farmers are fulfilled. Vikram Mittal, a farmer activist

Under the banner of Pagri Sambhal Jatta (PSJ), the farmers said the insurance company was reluctant to release claims worth Rs 700 crore for 2021 and 2022. After the PSJ began a dharna on May 26, the administration intervened and the insurance firm had to release claims worth about Rs 400 crore.

Mandeep Nathwan, PSJ president, said the claims of 67 villages were still pending. The government was also holding up compensation to farmers who had suffered crop losses.

Vikram Mittal, a farmer activist, said it reflected the apathetic attitude of the government. “The claims must be released immediately by the insurance firm. It is shocking that it has been holding up the claims for years. The government must take stringent action for delay in the release of claims,” he said.

“We got partial success after staging a dharna for nearly four months in Hisar. Now, we are heading to Chandigarh on foot to highlight the plight of the farmers. We will start a ‘pucca morcha’ in Chandigarh until the demands of the farmers are fulfilled,” he added.

A district official said, “The insurance firm had released about Rs 400 crore to farmers whose crops were insured under the PMFBY. However, the issue of 67 villages was tricky as the firm’s inquiry revealed that insurance records showed crops in area more than the revenue record of the agriculture area in these villages. This is a matter of overinsurance. The government has released a compensation of about Rs 56 crore for 2020 in Hisar, Uklana and Barwala, and Rs 50 crore (for 2022) in Balsamand and Adampur.”