Centre to expedite crop insurance for kharif 2021 season to Barmer farmers

The Centre on Wednesday said it will expedite the payment of a Rs 540 crore claim of the kharif 2021 season to eligible farmers of Barmer district, Rajasthan.

The decision was taken in a high-level meeting chaired by Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar.

Minister of State for Agriculture Kailash Choudhary, CMD of Agriculture Insurance Company (AIC) and Agriculture Commissioner in the Rajasthan government were present at the meeting.

On the central government's initiative, AIC had last week said it has settled partial claims amounting to Rs 311 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY).

"Following the review meeting held today, the insurance company will pay an additional claim amount of Rs 229 crore to the farmers," an official statement said.

A total claim payment of Rs 540 crore to the eligible farmers of Barmer will be expedited, it added.

Addressing the meeting, Tomar said PMFBY has provided better financial security cover to crores of farmers in case of crop loss.

"By taking decisions in the interest of the farmers, the Government of India is trying to make it easier for the farmers so that they do not face any problem while taking crop insurance," he said.

Under the PMFBY, the central government will soon initiate prompt steps to give proper benefits to the farmers on the issue of small claims after discussing with the state governments and insurance companies, he added.

During the meeting, there was a comprehensive discussion on the ease of the crop insurance scheme and the proposed solutions for small claims, in which it was also decided to make consolidated payment for all eligible applications while paying claims to farmers in future, the statement said.

Launched in 2016, the PMFBY provides comprehensive risk insurance against crop damage due to non-preventable natural risks from pre-sowing to post-harvest for the crops/areas notified by the concerned state government.