Farmer applications in crop, weather insurance schemes rose in Dakshina Kannada over five years: Agriculture Ministry

Farmers' applications under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) and the Restructured Weather, Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS) in Dakshina Kannada have been increasing year after year over the last five years, the Union Ministry of Agriculture has informed.

Applications have risen from 56, 114 in 2020, 21 to 2.77 lakh in 2024, 25, Ramnath Thakur, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, said in the Lok Sabha on February 10.

Applications grew to 92, 238 in 2021, 22, to 1.43 lakh in 2022, 23 and to 2.25 lakh in 2023, 24. The total number of applications over five years was 7.95 lakh, the Minister informed while responding to the question of Captain Brijesh Chowta, Member of Parliament of Dakshina Kannada.

Of ₹1,115.78 crore of reported claims under the two insurance schemes, ₹1,110.41 crore were paid, and claims to the tune of ₹5.37 crore were pending to be settled during the five-year period, he said.

The Minister said a majority of the admissible claims under PMFBY were settled within the stipulated timelines under the operational guidelines of the scheme by the insurance companies. However, during the implementation of the scheme, some complaints were received in the past about payment of claims which are primarily on account of delay in providing State government share of subsidy; non-payment/delayed payment or under payment of claims on account of incorrect/delayed submission of insurance proposals by banks; discrepancy in yield data and consequent disputes between State Government and insurance companies etc.

“The pending claims on account of these issue are settled after their resolution as per provisions of the scheme,” the Minister said.

Both PMFBY and RWBCIS are mainly implemented on an ‘area approach’ basis. In addition, comprehensive risk coverage for farmers’ crops against all non-preventable natural risks — from pre-sowing to post-harvest stages — is provided under the scheme at a very minimum premium.

Admissible claims, in this case, are worked out and paid directly to the insured farmer’s account by the insurance companies through the DigiClaim module on the National Crop Insurance Portal (NCIP), based on the yield data per unit area furnished to the insurance company by the concerned State government and the claim calculation formula envisaged in the operational guidelines of the scheme. As the claims are being worked out on an average shortfall in yield, specific reasons for crop loss are not recorded.

The Minister added that the arecanut crop has been notified in various districts of Karnataka under the RWBCIS for the monsoon and post-monsoon seasons, and insurance compensation is provided under the said scheme in case of crop loss due to weather conditions.

Reviews, revisions, rationalisation and improvements in the crop insurance schemes are a continuous process and decisions based on suggestions, representations or recommendations of the stakeholders are taken from time to time, he said. Based on the experience gained, views of various stakeholders and with a view to ensure better transparency, accountability, timely payment of claims to the farmers and to make the scheme more farmer friendly, the government has periodically revised the operational guidelines of the PMFBY comprehensively in 2018, 2020 and 2023 to ensure that the eligible benefits under the scheme reach the farmers timely and transparently, the Minister said.