Farmers likely to gain from PMFBY revamp

Sushil Manav
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, February 22

A revamp of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) by making it voluntary and bringing in some changes is being touted as a farmer-friendly move though experts fear that this can also lead to hike in premium.

By revamping the PMFBY, the Centre has not only made it voluntary for farmers, but also allowed single-peril insurance. Until now, farmers were required to pay premium for multi-peril insurance.

They said now, farmers would be able to get their crops insured by paying lesser premium on perils like hailstorm, which was actually a bigger risk in states like Haryana.

“The Centre has decided that allocation of business to insurance companies will be done for three years. They were allocated business for a year or even a season earlier. This will cut overhead expenses of insurance companies and hence reduce premium,” said the sources.

The sources said while commercial banks were deducting amount of premium from accounts of farmers for the PMFBY, those taking loans from cooperative banks were in a position of advantage as these banks were not forcing farmers into insurance.

They said now, the scheme had been made completely voluntary, whether or not the farmers were taking loans from banks.

The new norms also provided that for estimation of crop loss claims, a two-step process would be adopted, based on weather indicators, satellite indicators, normal range and deviation range.

The scheme provided that only areas with deviation range would be subjected to crop cutting experiments for assessment of yield losses.

Hailing the revamp as a welcome step, Sanjeev Kaushal, Additional Chief Secretary, Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department, said it would address the biggest grievance of farmers that banks were insuring their crops without their wish.

“Even during pre-Budget consultations with the Chief Minister, several MLAs had demanded that the PMFBY should be made optional and should not be mandatory,” he stated.

Dharam Sharma, former consultant, PMFBY, Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department, said the move would see at least 70 per cent dip in the number of those opting for insurance under the scheme.

“Of the 16 lakh farmers in the state, only 9 lakh loanee farmers are being covered under the PMFBY. Of the other 7 lakh farmers, hardly 12,000 are opting for the scheme on their own. The dip in number will also lead to a hike in premium,” he said.

He expressed the apprehension that three-year contract would restrict corrective measures and improvement in implementation.

Gurjeet Singh Mann, a progressive farmer, said making the PMFBY optional for farmers was a step in the right direction. He said farmers who opted for the scheme must be provided policy document so that they could approach consumer forums in case of denial of claims.