 "Govt hikes crop insurance scheme allocation, subsidy for DAP fertiliser")
The Union Cabinet has increased the allocation for the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana to Rs 69,515 crore, which will benefit almost four crore farmers. The decision will ensure risk coverage for crops against unavoidable natural calamities, benefiting farmers nationwide through 2025-26.
At a press briefing on Wednesday, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw said the Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved continuation of the crop Fasal Bima Yojana and Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme till 2025-26 with an overall outlay of Rs 69,515.71 crore from 2021-22 to 2025-26. The minister said the decision will help in risk coverage of crops from non-preventable natural calamities for farmers across the country. Vaishnaw also said the government has also approved the creation of fund for information and technology (FIAT) with a corpus of Rs 824.77 crore. This fund will be utilised towards funding technological initiatives under the scheme namely, YES TECH, WINDS, etc as well as research and development. This fund will cause large scale technology infusion in the implementation of the scheme. It will also increase the transparency and claim calculation and settlement, the minister said.
A one-time package of Rs 3,850 crore has also been approved to subsidise DAP fertilisers, the minister said. Aided by this package, the farmers will continue to get 50 kg bag DAP fertilisers for Rs 1,350 and all the extra cost will be borne by the government. Vaishnaw said the global market prices of DAP are volatile due to geo-political reasons and these fluctuations will impact the price of fertilisers in India. He credited the NDA government of doubling the subsidy on DAP than in the UPA years.
What are YES-TECH and WINDS?
Yield Estimation System using Technology (YES-TECH) uses Remote Sensing Technology, assigning a minimum of 30 per cent weight to technology-based estimates. Currently implemented in nine states—Assam, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and Odisha—the initiative aims to resolve CCE-related issues as adoption increases. Madhya Pradesh has achieved 100 per cent integration of technology-aided yield estimation. Claims for 2023-24 were processed seamlessly.
Weather Information and Network Data Systems (WINDS) initiative plans to install Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) at the block level and Automatic Rain Gauges (ARGs) at the panchayat level, increasing network density fivefold for hyper-local weather data. Nine states, including Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan, are actively involved. Implementation has been deferred to 2024-25, allowing states to benefit from enhanced central funding at a 90:10 ratio.
Focus on North Eastern states
Efforts are focused on prioritizing farmers in North Eastern States, with the Centre covering 90 per cent of the premium subsidy. However, due to scheme being voluntary and low gross cropped area in North Eastern States, flexibility has been given to avoid surrender of funds and for reallocation in other development projects and schemes with fund requirement.