Gujarat, five other states opt out of crop insurance scheme

Tribune News Service

Karam Prakash

New Delhi, April 2

Gujarat is among six states that have opted out of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana on the back of delay by insurance companies to settle claims.

The other five states to have opted out of the Centre’s flagship scheme are Bihar, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand and West Bengal.

Of the 28 states and eight Union Territories, 19 states and three UTs are implementing the crop insurance scheme, the Union Ministry of Agriculture told the Lok Sabha recently. The ministry said delayed transmission of yield data and late release of the state’s share in premium subsidy, yield-related disputes between insurance companies and states, non-receipt of account details of some farmers, and incomplete details of farmers on the National Crop Insurance Portal were some of the reasons for the delay in settling insurance claims.

The Centre has already slashed the budgetary allocation for the scheme. A budgetary allocation of Rs 13,625 crore has been made for the central scheme for 2023-24 against the budget estimate of Rs 15,500 crore for 2022-23.

Meanwhile, the Standing Committee on Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Food Processing (2022-23), in its 52nd report, which was tabled in the Rajya Sabha recently, had recommended to the government to look into the reasons for the delay in settlement of claims by insurance companies.

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