Govt makes crop insurance schemes voluntary for farmers

New Delhi: The government on Wednesday made its flagship crop insurance schemes voluntary for farmers with existing crop loans or those willing to take new ones, as it seeks to address the concerns raised by farmers' body and states in implementation of these programmes.

"The Union Cabinet has approved revamping of 'Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)' and 'Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS)' to address the existing challenges in implementation of crop insurance schemes," an official statement said. Under the PMFBY, which was launched in February 2016 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it is mandatory for loanee farmers to take insurance cover under this scheme. The PMFBY provides comprehensive crop insurance from pre-sowing to post-harvest period against non-preventable natural risks at extremely low premium rate of 2 per cent for kharif crops, 1.5 per cent for rabi crops and 5 per cent for horticulture and commercial crops. The Cabinet approved modification of certain parameters/provisions of ongoing PMFBY and RWBCIS schemes. "Enrolment under the scheme to be made voluntary for all farmers (both PMFBY/ RWBCIS)," Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar told reporters here. He said currently 58 per cent of total farmers are loanee and the remaining 42 per cent are non-loanee.

The number of farmers opting for these crop insurance schemes may drop immediately but the enrolment would eventually pick up, Tomar said. The minister said the government would launch a campaign for creating awareness among farmers about the need to take a crop insurance policy. 

Source: Shillong Times