Since the inception of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) in 2016-17, against the premium of Rs. 21,614 crore paid by farmers, the claims amounting to Rs. 97,719 crore has been paid to 834.6 lakh farmer applications, informed Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar in Lok Sabha on July 28.
The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) was launched to support production in agriculture by providing farmers with affordable crop insurance to cover the crops from all non-preventable natural risks from pre-sowing to the post-harvest stage.
How has the scheme been helping farmers?
The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) is available for all States/UTs and farmers whether a loanee, non-loanee, sharecropper or tenant farmers on a voluntary basis. The benefits of the scheme are available to all the farmers who grow notified crops in areas/insurance units notified by the concerned State Government.
Further, farmers get insured for their crops. PMFBY provides a comprehensive insurance cover against the failure of the crop thus helping in stabilizing the income of the farmers. The scheme covers food and oilseed crops.
Further, a penalty provision @12% per annum for late settlement of claims by insurance companies and late release of funds by State Governments have also been stipulated under the scheme, which ensures that farmers get their claims settled in time.
To also ensure timely payment of claims, the use of smartphone/CCE-Agri App for real time transfer of data on national crop insurance portal has been initiated by the government. Furthermore, it has also launched crop insurance app through which farmers can enroll themselves under the scheme, track their crop insurance and get all information about it.
According to Union Minister, the PM Fasal Bima Yojana aims to provide security cover to each farmer. The scheme had achieved a milestone figure of Rs 95,000 crore of claims paid to farmers against a premium of Rs 17,000 crore deposited by the farmers.
To assist farmers to understand the scheme, its benefits, and the process of crop insurance in a better manner, there are on-ground coordinators, PMBFY e-brochure, FAQ booklet, and guidebook. These help farmers to understand how to enroll in the scheme with the National Crop Insurance Portal (NCIP), Common Service Centres (CSC), insurance companies, banks, how to claim insurance under various circumstances, grievance redressal, and reporting crop loss.
According to a press release by the Ministry dated July 1, 2021, till the said date, the scheme has insured over 29.16 crore farmer applications (5.5 crore farmer applications on a year-on-year basis). Over the period of 5 years, more than 8.3 crore farmer applications have benefited from the scheme. Moreover, Rs.95,000 crores claims have been paid as against Rs. 20,000 crore farmers share.
Further, the government has been revising and revamping the operational guidelines from time to time to ensure better transparency, accountability, timely payment of claims to the farmers and to make the scheme more farmer-friendly.
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