Farmers enrolled under Fasal Bima Yojana down by 12% in Kharif 2019

The number of farmers in Gujarat enrolled under the government-sponsored crop insurance scheme, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), has fallen by 12 percent during the Kharif season of 2019, stated the latest report from the State Level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC). However, the total premium paid by farmers to insurance companies has risen by 16 percent compared to the last Kharif season.

In the Kharif season of 2018, 15.53 lakh farmers were covered under the PMFBY in Gujarat, where a total of Rs 366 crore was paid as premium by farmers in the state. In comparison, during the recently concluded Kharif season of 2019, only 13.69 lakh farmers got enrolled under the PMFBY which is a fall of 12 percent, stated the report released on Tuesday.

The number of farmers enrolled under PMFBY as per SLBC is lesser than the estimate of officials of the state’s Agriculture Department. The Indian Express was earlier told that of the total 56.36 lakh farmers in Gujarat, 19 lakh farmers got enrolled under the PMFBY during Kharif, 2019, where a total premium of over Rs 3,400 crore was paid to insurance companies. Of the total premium paid, Rs 3,000 crore has been borne by the state government and the Central government in equal measure, while the remaining amount of Rs 400 crore was paid by farmers.

The SLBC reports pointed that despite the dip in the number of farmers covered under the crop insurance scheme, the area covered under PMFBY in Gujarat rose by 13.51 percent to 25.45 lakh hectares, and the total sum assured also rose to Rs 14,137 crore. When asked about the dip in farmers covered under PMFBY, despite the rise in area covered and rise in premiums, Vikram-aditya Singh Khichi, Executive Director of Bank of Baroda who chaired the SLBC meeting on Tuesday told this newspaper, “The PMFBY was discussed in the meeting, but this point (about the dipping enrollment of farmers) did not come up or else it would have been discussed.”

Sagar Rabari, head of Gujarat-based Khedut Ekta Manch — a body of farmers — said, “Earlier this year, farmers in Bhavnagar decided to disassociate themselves with PMFBY, saying that it cannot be mandatory. A case in this regard has been filed in the court.” Rabari said it was difficult to explain the increase in area covered under PMFBY. “However, regarding the rising premiums, I can say that the insurance companies upped their premiums earlier in the year. The premiums paid directly by farmers under PMFBY have remained unchanged, but that paid by the Central and state governments have undergone a change,” he added.

The SLBC report also showed that despite the unseasonal rains caused due to cyclones at the fag end of the Kharif season, the claims of only 20,000 farmers were settled by insurance companies till November 11, 2019, where a total of Rs 47.22 crore was paid as settlement. In comparison during the Kharif season of 2018, claims of over 12.01 lakh farmers were settled where Rs 2,334 crore was paid as compensation by the insurance companies. When asked about the tepid response in the settlement of claims of farmers during Kharif season of 2019, Khichi said, “Whatever is found as per the survey (of crop loss conducted jointly by the state government and insurance companies) is paid to the farmers.”

This year, after unseasonal rainfall caused losses to farmers at the fag end of the Kharif season, the Gujarat government on November 13 announced a relief package of Rs 700 crore. On November 23, this relief package was jacked up to Rs 3,795 crore and included all the 56.36 lakh farmers in 18,369 villages of the state. The state government further declared that the relief package covers even those farmers who remained unaffected by unseasonal rains and farmers who are already covered under PMFBY.

On Wednesday, spearheaded by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, the state government organised formal events at eight different spots including Rajkot, Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Mehsana, Dahod, Bhavangar, Surat and Kutch to distribute the relief packages. A total of 16 crops were covered in PMFBY for Kharif season, 2019. These included paddy, cotton, jowar, ragi, tur, moong, math, urad, groundnut, sesamum, maize, castor, banana and bajra.

Source: The Indian Express