To make the PM Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) more meaningful for farmers, the government has taken several steps. Over 5 years of the scheme, the Union government has given farmers about ₹90,000 crores. The Union minister for Agriculture Narendra Singh Tomar claimed on Wednesday.
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“The scheme is a landmark crop insurance scheme covering the entire crop cycle against damages arising from natural risk that is not preventable. During the Covid-19 shutdown, the system was fully operational, distributing claims of over ₹8741.3 crore to ₹69.70 lakh farmers across India.” Tomar said during a virtual interaction with PMFBY stakeholders to mark the completion of the flagship crop insurance scheme for five years.
Tackling Problems
Ashish Bhutani, CEO of PMFBY, gave a presentation on the scheme, stating that there were some difficulties in implementing the scheme, but most of them were resolved through measures taken in consultation with stakeholders involved.
He said a variety of improvements have been made to strengthen the framework. This included keeping the scheme voluntary for farmers, authorizing insurance firms to work in a clusters for a span of 3 years, encouraging them to spend on infrastructure, not allowing defaulting states to adopt the scheme during subsequent cropping seasons, and using a two-step improved yield estimation method.
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In addressing the meeting attended by 150 representatives, including government officials, banks and insurance companies, Tomar said that there is a need to raise awareness of PMFBY so that the scheme can be used by many more farmers. The scheme plans to incorporate the land records of farmers with the PMFBY portal and to use satellite imagery and remote sensing to enhance tracking and settlement claims.
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