With opposition parties attacking the BJP-led Haryana government over the 'Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana', the state government today claimed the scheme is being carried out in a "transparent and fair manner".
Congress and INLD have alleged that the plan was aimed at "benefiting only private insurance companies", adding insurance premiums are "compulsorily deducted" from farmers' accounts in banks.
"The selection of insurance companies for implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana in Haryana has been done in a completely transparent and fair manner. The bids were invited from the insurance companies through the e-tendering system.
The insurance companies empanelled by the government of India are alone eligible to participate in the bidding process," said a spokesperson for the Haryana Agriculture department.
"The premium payable to the insurance companies in Haryana is one of the lowest in the country. Therefore, there is no question of favouring any insurance company by the State Government," he claimed.
Under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, the maximum premium payable by the farmer is only 2 per cent of sum insured in case of Kharif crops, 1.5 per cent in case of Rabi crops and 5 per cent in case of commercial and horticulture crops.
This is the lowest premium among all crop insurance schemes implemented in the country, the spokesperson said, adding that the remaining premium will be paid by the state government and central government as subsidy.
Besides, the Haryana government has decided to take only 2 per cent premium from farmers for cotton crops and the remaining 3 per cent of the farmers' share will be paid by the state over and above its normal share.
The sum insured in respect of various crops has been increased under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana and made equal to the amount of crop loan.
Under the earlier schemes, the premium payable by the farmer was quite high and, therefore, the sum insured was reduced to keep the premium low, he said, adding that this reduced the amount of claim payable in case of damage to crops.
Under the new scheme, there are possibilities of payment of higher claim amounts in view of the increase in the sum insured. The scheme covers the damage caused to the crops by inundation apart from hailstorm and post-harvest losses of crops due to unseasonal rains for the first time, he said.
The scheme is being implemented on 'area approach' with 'village' as the insurance unit. The nature of crop insurance is unique and its implementation at 'individual field' level is not feasible due to the problems in assessing the historical yields and the actual yields, he said.
However, the claims for the damage caused to crops by
inundation and hailstorm and post-harvest losses caused by unseasonal rains are covered on individual field basis, the spokesperson said.
The scheme is compulsory for those farmers who have availed crop loans from banks for the crops covered under the scheme.
