Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Manikrao Kokate has admitted irregularities in the implementation of the Re 1 crop insurance scheme for farmers, noting places of worship were shown as agricultural lands to claim benefits. More than four lakh crop insurance applications, some filed even by those residing outside Maharashtra, have been rejected, Kokate on Tuesday said, adding a "bogus industry" has come to light which involves non-eligible people seeking benefits of the scheme. The minister, however, asserted that no money has been actually lost as funds were not transferred by the government into the bank accounts linked to bogus applications. Speaking to the media here, Kokate said instances of malpractice in the scheme have been identified in several aspects, including cases where mosques, temples and vacant lands were falsely declared as agricultural lands to claim benefits. "I have instructed district collectors to take immediate action," he said. The crop insurance scheme was
Coverage of Rs 2 lakh was offered under PMSBY while a coverage of Rs 5 lakh was offered under GAIS
The Cabinet also decided that when states engaged any insurance company for PMFBY, the insurer would have to stay enrolled for at least three years, against the earlier provision of one to three years
A rise in the number of non-loanee farmers under PMFBY is an indicator of voluntary acceptance of the scheme
With the launch of the module, claims will be disbursed electronically, which will benefit the respective farmers of six states
The Central government agreed to Maharashtra government's demand of extending cut-off date for enrolment of farmers from July 15 to July 23 for Kharif season 2021
In a major farmer outreach, the government on Thursday launched a special drive to enrol more cultivators under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)
Here's a selection of Business Standard opinion pieces for the day
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday demanded that the states' share in the Pradhan Mantri Pik Vima Yojana (PM's crop insurance scheme) should remain at 50 percent
There are two principal changes. The first is the decision to make the scheme voluntary for non-loanee farmers and the second imposes a limit on the premium subsidy to 30 per cent for unirrigated area
Insurers are expecting claim ratio to be as high as 120 per cent this year as unseasonal rains and natural calamities led to high amount of crop damage
PMFBY has failed to impress stakeholders
There are many shortcomings in the design of the PMFBY
Centre is also looking at technological upgradation for smooth data integration and faster claim settlement
To increase the share of coverage of non-loanee farmers, the Centre has fixed a target of 10 per cent incremental growth for companies
Gross cropped area has reduced to 24% in 2017-18 from 30% in 2016-17 when the actual target for the current year was 40%
Insurance cos collected gross premium of Rs 15,891 cr while claims totalled Rs 5,962 cr: CSE report
Says over Rs 32,000-crore released to insurers from 2011-16 without verification of beneficiaries