Stricter norms for new crop insurance scheme

The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) will be stricter to insurers, states who do not adhere to its norms. Ashish Kumar Bhutani, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare, Government of India said that a policy of 'one season one rate' will be followed.

PMFBY will have actuarial yield-based scheme with provision for upfront premium subsidy to be released to insurers. The sum insured will be same for both loanee and non-loanee farmers. Also, there would be no capping and there will be full claim amount paid against the sum insured.

This scheme will also cover localised risks like inundation and post harvest losses. A detailed protocol for assessment of losses and payment of claims for post harvest losses, prevented sowing and localised risks will be followed. Speaking at an agriculture insurance seminar, Bhutani said that they will insist on use of technology like remote sensing so that fudging of data can be avoided.

 

He added that no extensions would be allowed. "There will be strict adherence to seasonality discipline and no extensions can be allowed. If a state decides to give extensions, it will have to bear the entire cost of the subsidy," he added.

The government is planning to spend Rs 5500 crore for the crop insurance scheme that was announced earlier. In his budget speech finance minister Arun Jaitley said that the farmers will pay a nominal premium for the coverage.

The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana that has approved by the cabinet in January. Here, there will be a uniform premium of 2% to be paid by farmers for all Kharif crops and 1.5% for all Rabi crops. In case of annual commercial and horticultural crops, the premium to be paid by farmers will be only 5%. The balance premium will be paid by the government.

Here, there is no upper limit on government subsidy and even if balance premium is 90%, it will be borne by the government. Insurance executives said that the Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (MNAIS) had high premium rate due to which farmers could not afford it.

It is anticipated that there would be clusters that would be formed of districts to implement the scheme. Senior insurance officials said that that how the clusters are classified will define how the premiums will be fixed.