Sharp drop in crop insurance beneficiaries, payments: Data

The number of farmers receiving insurance payouts under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) has seen a 79 per cent decline since 2019 in Karnataka, but the state government says it has ensured promptness in the settlement of claims.

There were 7.59 lakh farmers in 2019 who received the insurance in 2019. This number nosedived to 1.55 lakh in 2021, according to agriculture department data.

As a consequence, the insurance amount also decreased from Rs 876 crore in 2019 to Rs 100 crore in 2021.

Launched in 2016 as a flagship scheme, the PMFBY came under criticism for tardy implementation and that it allegedly favoured insurance firms.

Under the scheme, farmers pay between 1.5 per cent and 5 per cent of the insurance premium with the rest shared equally by the Centre and states.

Agriculture Commissioner Brijesh Kumar Dikshit said the total insurance premium paid since 2016 is Rs 8,650 crore against which farmers have received claim settlements worth Rs 6,622 crore - 76 per cent of the total premium amount - excluding the 2021-22 Rabi and summer season.

“Under PMFBY, whenever there was crop failure, it has been covered,” Dikshit said, pointing out that payment was 269 per cent in the 2018-19 Rabi and summer season.

“What’s important is to see the percentage of claims that got settled against the number of claims raised. Of late, I have not come across any case where a claim was initiated and the insurance company refused payment,” he said.

The only problem, according to Dikshit, is when payments do not succeed if the farmer’s bank account is not linked with Aadhaar.

Dikshit also said that Karnataka has recovered nearly
Rs 200 crore from insurance companies, making it one among five states to manage this. However, farmer leader Kuruburu Shanthakumar is not convinced. “Say, if one lakh people pay premium, only 1,000 get insurance,” he said.

According to data, between 2019 and 2021, only 42 per cent of 32 lakh farmers registered for PMFBY got paid.

“In one hobli, insurance is paid only if the total crop loss is more than 33 per cent,” Shanthakumar said. “Crop insurance should be individual-based, just like vehicle or health insurance.”

Dikshit specified that the 33 per cent clause is under the NDRF. “In the event of floods, farmers can get relief under both PMFBY and NDRF,” he said.

Former Congress minister Priyank Kharge said the PMFBY is a “big scam” going by the difference between the number of registered farmers and those who got the insurance.

Dikshit said farmers have a misconception that they will get something in return if they pay the premium. “They mistook insurance for assurance.”

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