PM crop insurance scheme not much help for Barmer farmers

THE COMPANY OFFERED ₹258.59 CR AGAINST THE CLAIMED AMOUNT OF ₹1,034.36 CR. IT IS ₹120.20 CR LESS THAN THE PREMIUM AMOUNT

BARMER: The ambitious PM crop insurance scheme does not seem to be helping farmers in Rajasthan’s Barmer district.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the PM Crop insurance scheme in 2015 and farmers were assured that they need not worry about failure of monsoon or crop damage.

Barmer district is presently facing a severe drought situation. Based on the crop assessment report submitted by a central team, the state government has declared drought in 2,691 of total 2,775 villages in Barmer. As per the report, due to erratic monsoon, crops have been dam- aged across 1,266,418 hectares, out of a total cultivated area of 1,518,190 hectares.

Official data revealed that Bajra was sown in 880,609 hectares, while Moth and Mung were in 304,910 hectares. Gwar was across 295,661 hectares and Groundnuts in 3,478 hectares.

Under PM Crop insurance scheme, insurance company ‘Tata AIG Pvt Ltd.’ has covered approximately 35 per cent of total cultivated area, which is 54,404 hectares.

C o mpa n y h a s covered 308,213.15 hectares crop of bajra against total cultivated area 880,609. Similarly against total cultivated Moth and Mung on 309,410 hectares, the company covered 106,718.5 hectares, Gwar 103,481.35 hectares against total cultivated 295,661 and groundnut 1,217.3 hectares against 3,478 hectares.

The company announced to pay ₹19,000 per hectare for Bajra crop, ₹14,500 per hectare for Moth and Mung, ₹20,500 per hectare for Gwar and ₹37,000 per hectare for groundnut.

According to PM crop insurance scheme, a farmer has to pay only 2 percent of total premium amount, while the state and central government bear the rest of the amount in 50-50 percent share.

In Barmer, 403,637 farmers were covered under the scheme. Including the farmer’s share which is 2 percent, the state and the central government had paid ₹378.79 cr to the insurance company.

After failure of monsoon that damaged crop in 1,266,418 hectares, the administration submitted a claim worth ₹1,034.36 crores for the farmers under PM crop insurance scheme. The cl ai m break- up was as f ol - lows: ₹646 cr for bajra, ₹199.27 cr for moth and moong, ₹181.50 cr for gwar and ₹7.59 cr for ground- nut. The company has, however, offered to pay only 25 % of the total claim. The company offered ₹258.59 cr against the claimed amount of ₹1,034.36 cr. It is ₹120.20 cr less than the premium amount.

Himanshu Gupta, district collector Barmer, confirmed that they have submit the claim worth ₹1034.36 cr to the insurance company under PM Crop insurance scheme. He said that instead of paying the claimed amount , t he company has offered to pay only 25 % which is ₹258.59 cr. Gupta said that this amount is not justified as area is facing severe drought situation and farmers were expecting relief from the crop insurance scheme.

Gupta said that they have informed the state government about this and the state government has sought central governments intervention in this matter .

hen contacted, Shailendra Shrivastav, deputy manager of Rajasthan at ‘Tata AIG Pvt Ltd’, refused to comment on the issue.

Barring the financial year 2010-11, Barmer has been continuously facing severe drought situation over the last 10 years.

This year, out of total 2,775 villages, 2,694 have been declared drought affected. In crop assessment report, 100 % crop damage has been reported in 2,191 villages, 75 % in 503 villages while rest 47 villages reported 50 % crop damage.

Agriculture department official said that it is not for the first time when insurance company was not paying the due compensation to farmers.

Kishorilal Verma, assistant director at agricultural department in Barmer, said that earlier in 2016, against total claim of ₹547.19 cr, the company paid ₹170 cr only.

Verma said that later they asked the company for revised assessment, after which company paid more ₹158.10 cr.

According to Verma, in 2016 out of total 5.50 lakhs farmers, 4,51,000 farmers had got the benefit of crop insurance scheme.

Verma added that in 2017, the company paid ₹238.82 cr against the claimed amount of ₹ 266.52 cr.