Bhubaneswar: Launching a scathing attack on the Central government over its Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) Scheme, BJD MP Sasmit Patra on Monday said that lakhs of Odisha farmers suffering due to PMFBY non-settlement of claims.
Accusing the NDA government of this, MP Patra said that over the past five years, Rs 1.26 lakh crores have been paid as crop insurance premium across India and Rs 87,320 crore received as claims. The insurance companies made Rs. 40,000 Crores of PMFBY money, affecting the interests of the farmers.
Giving detailed information in a statement, Patra said,” lakhs of Odisha farmers are affected by the Pradhan Mantri Fasal BimaYojana (PMFBY)across Bargarh, Sambalpur, Sonepur, Deogarh, Bolangir, Nuapada and Kalahandi districts of Odisha. the Odisha Government has paid Rs. 3250.48 Crores so far and Odisha farmers have paid Rs. 1009.84 Crores to the insurance companies so far. Adding the Centre’s share, the total payment is Rs. 7510.8 Crores till Kharif 2021. ”
“Till Kharif 2020, the total premium paid to insurance companies was Rs. 6163.28 Crores while the payment by the insurance companies to claims of farmers was Rs. 5098.64 Crores. Thus, the Insurance Companies profited to an amount of Rs. 1064.64 Crores, which is 17.27% of the total Premium Paid. In Odisha between 2018-2020, farmers filed crop insurance claims of Rs. 2090 crores but insurance companies paid only 50% of those claims amounting to Rs. 1026 Crores. The farmers of Odisha are facing repeated harassment by the insurance companies relating to the assessment of their claims and payment under PMFBY,” Patra said.
Six states namely Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Telangana, and WestBengal have opted out of PMFBY and the total area insured has also gone down by 73 lakhhectares (from 567 lakh hectare in 2016-17 to 495 lakh hectare in 2019-20). It is high time that the Union Government rectifies these issues and helps the farmers in times of distress. It should use new technological innovations such as drones to clear assessment of claims expeditiously and allow only Government insurance companies
to undertake PMFBY in order to safeguard the interests of the farmers.
“BJD MPs have repeatedly taken this up in both Houses of Parliament. We will continue to fight for our farmers till their claims are settled,” he further added.
