Former finance minister P Chidambaram targeted the government over its crop insurance scheme Wednesday, alleging that it was designed to profit insurance companies and 84 lakh farmers, including those from Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, had withdrawn from it.
Taking to Twitter, the senior Congress leader claimed that insurance companies had made profits of Rs 6,460 crore in 2016-17 and were set to make profits to the tune of Rs 8,000-9,000 crore after "robbing the farmers".
"As we had cautioned, PM's Fasal Bima Yojana (crop insurance scheme) was designed to profit the insurance companies at the cost of the farmers.
"In 2016-17, insurance companies made a neat profit of Rs 6460 crore. Robbing the farmers to fatten the insurance companies. In 2017-18, insurance companies are likely to make a profit of Rs 8000-9000 crore," he tweeted.
"Is there any wonder that 84 lakh farmers have withdrawn from the scheme? And the bulk of them belong to Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan that will vote shortly," Chidambaram said in another tweet.
The Congress has been accusing the Narendra Modi government of pushing for crop insurance, which, according to the opposition party, is helping private companies and not the farmers.
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