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Crop Insurance
In a veiled attack on the previous BRS regime, Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Thursday said his government would not make the mistake of borrowing funds with higher interest rates and impose a heavy burden on people, even as he highlighted his vision to develop Telangana as the 'future state'. In his Independence Day address after hoisting the National Flag at the historic Golconda Fort here, the CM said the government is already making efforts to restructure the state debts and he met with the World Bank President during his recent visit to the US in this regard. "I am delighted to announce that talks with the World bank representatives were cordial over extending financial assistance with low interest rate for state development. My government will not commit the mistakes of borrowing funds with higher interest rates and putting a heavy burden on people," he said. "The total state debt at the time of formation of Telangana was Rs 75,577 crore and it has increased to Rs
Crop insurance claims worth around Rs 2,761.10 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) were pending till 2021-22, with maximum pendency of claims in Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Gujarat, Parliament was informed on Tuesday. The admissible claims under the PMFBY are generally paid by the concerned insurance companies within two months of completion of harvesting period and one month of notification for invoking the risks of prevented sowing, mid-season adversity and post harvest losses. It is also subject to receipt of a total share of premium subsidy from the concerned government within time. "However, settlement of few claims in some states got delayed due to reasons like delayed transmission of yield data; late release of their share in premium subsidy, yield-related disputes between insurance companies and states...," Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, in his written reply to the Lok Sabha, said. As per the data placed by the minister, about Rs 2,761.10 cr
The Odisha government on Monday announced that it will provide free crop insurance to all farmers in the state for the next three years. Cooperation Minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak made the announcement after a review of his department by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. "The Cooperation Department would bear the premium of the insurance from the 2023 Kharif season to the 2025-26 Rabi season. Odisha is the first state in the country to provide free crop insurance to farmers," he said. He said the department has been providing short terms agriculture loans to the farmers at low interest rates. As promised during the elections, the state government has increased the interest-free loan cap from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh. Under the scheme, more than 7 lakh small and marginal farmers have been provided loans, amounting to Rs 16,683.57 crore during the 2022-23 financial year, Nayak said.
Agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Friday informed Parliament that for every Rs 100 of premium paid by farmers under the flagship scheme Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), they have received about Rs 514 as claims. Since implementation of PMFBY in 2016, around 38 crore farmer applicants have been enrolled and over 12.37 crore (provisional) have received claims, he said in his written reply to the Rajya Sabha. "During this period, nearly Rs 25,252 crore were paid by farmers as their share of premium against which claims of over Rs 1,30,015 crore (provisional) have been paid to them. Thus, for every 100 rupees of premium paid by farmers, they have received about Rs 514 as claims," the minister said. PMFBY was launched with an aim to address problems of high premium rates for farmers and reduction in the sum-insured due to capping. In a separate reply, the minister said the PMFBY is available for all states/UTs and is voluntary for them. It is also voluntary for the .
Amid reports of some insurance companies making profits in the government's flagship crop cover scheme PMFBY, the Centre is planning to revamp the programme to rationalise premium rate and encourage participation of more insurers. The likely key changes to the scheme will be implemented from 2023-24 crop year (July-June) after the cabinet approval, according to sources. The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), launched in February 2016, aims to provide financial support to farmers suffering crop loss/damage arising out of natural calamities. Under this scheme, maximum premium payable by farmers is 2 per cent for all food and oilseeds crops grown in the kharif (summer) season, 1.5 per cent for same crops grown in rabi (winter) season and 5 per cent for commercial and horticulture crops. The difference between premium and the rate of insurance charges payable by farmers is shared equally by the Centre and states. The scheme was last revamped in 2020 to enable voluntary ...