Crop insurance claims of farmers declined by more than 60% to Rs 9,570 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) for the 2020-21 crop year from the year-ago period in view of no major crop losses, as per the official data.
Nonetheless, much of the crop insurance claims registered for 2020-21 and 2019-20 crop years have been cleared by the central government.
Crop insurance claims in the 2019-20 crop year (July-June) stood at Rs 27,398 crore. PMFBY was announced in 2016-17 with several improvements over the earlier crop insurance schemes.
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The operational framework of the scheme was revised from Rabi 2018 and Kharif 2020, respectively, in order to ensure that the benefits reached farmers adequately and timely.
According to the data, about 445 lakh hectares of farmland was insured by 612 lakh farmers under the PMFBY with a total sum insured amount of Rs 1,93,767 crore during 2020-21, PTI reported.
However, the total claims reported were Rs 9,570 crore for 2020-21. Out of which, claims reported from the Kharif season were Rs 6,779 crore, while from Rabi season Rs 2,792 crore.
"The claims at Rs 9,570 crore for 2020-21 were significantly lower as there were no major losses unlike previous year," an Agriculture Ministry official told PTI.
Maximum crop insurance claims were reported from Rajasthan at Rs 3,602 crore, followed by Maharashtra at Rs 1,232 crore and Haryana at Rs 1,112.8 crore during 2020-21.
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During the 2019-20 crop year, about 501 lakh hectare was insured by 613 lakh farmers under the PMFBY with a total sum of Rs 2,19,226 crore.
The claims reported from the Kharif season remained higher at Rs 21,496 crore, while from Rabi season at Rs 5,902 crore of the 2019-20 crop year.
Maximum crop insurance claims were reported from Maharashtra at Rs 6,757 crore, followed by Madhya Pradesh at Rs 5,992 crore and Rajasthan at Rs 4,921 crore during 2020-21.
The official said the crop insurance claims of farmers for 2019-20 has almost been cleared. The outstanding claims of Rs 1,200 crore will be cleared soon.
About Rs 6,845 crore crop insurance claims of farmers for 2020-21 has also been cleared, the official added.
(With inputs from PTI.)