Andhra Pradesh rolls out free crop insurance scheme

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has launched ‘YSR Free Crop Insurance’ scheme and credited ₹1,252 crore into the bank accounts of 9.48 lakh farmers in insurance claims for the agricultural season 2019.

“We have introduced the free insurance scheme without levying any premium burden on the farmers,” he said in Amaravati on Tuesday after launching the scheme. “In the past they were made to pay part of the premium, with the State and Central Governments contributing the remaining amount. However, neither the State nor the Centre used to pursue the insurance claims in times of distress. This would result in long delays in settling the claims. In order to resolve this, the government has taken up the issue to benefit farmers and process the claims in a fast-track mode, besides paying the entire premium on behalf of farmers,” he said.

The previous government spent an average Rs 393 crore per annum for three years towards payment of insurance premium, while the farmers paid about Rs 290 crore a year. About 20 lakh farmers were covered under the scheme during 2016-19.

“The number of beneficiaries now has gone up to 49.80 lakh. They need not pay any premium. We paid ₹ 971 crore towards premium for 2019-20.

The compensation for the crop losses during 2020 will be paid in April next.

Source: The Hindu Business Line