Telangana Govt’s Rythu Bima scheme turns five

Rythu Bima is the first of its kind scheme under which the government pays the premium, while the insurance claim amount is remitted to the account of the nominee of the insured farmer within 1 week to 10 days of the death of the farmer

Hyderabad: Rythu Bima, the world’s largest insurance scheme for the lives of farmers being implemented by the Government of Telangana, turned five years on Tuesday. Called otherwise as the farmers group life insurance scheme, it is sponsored fully by the State government. It has won world-wide acclaim along with Rythu Bandhu as part of the twin initiatives that helped in a major way to bail out farmers from distress.

As part of Rythu Bima, the State government provides a life insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh each to farmers. So far, a total of 1,08,040 families of farmers during the last five years were extended Rs 5,402 crore as compensation. Rythu Bima is the first of its kind scheme under which the government pays the premium, while the insurance claim amount is remitted to the account of the nominee of the insured farmer within one week to 10 days of the death of the farmer.

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The insurance coverage will not reduce the impact of loss that one bears in such situations. It provides monetary reimbursement during financial crises. It not only protects the insured person from financial woes but also helps in checking mental stress arising out of it. It will also help them in taking care of financial liabilities, such as loan payments.

It is the responsibility of the agriculture extension officer and panchayat secretary to ensure that the farmer’s nominee got the insurance amount. The farmer’s family should get the death certificate within 48 hours and on producing death certificate, the claim gets processed by the authorities concerned. The scheme was launched covering 31.25 lakh farmers and a premium of Rs.636 crore was paid by the State government to LIC in 2018. The public sector Life Insurance Corporation has made arrangements for setting up special cells to disburse insurance money.

Over 41.04 lakh farmers would be covered under the insurance scheme during 2023-24 and an amount of Rs.1,477 crore was paid as the insurance premium by the State government. It is enough to have a plot of land, if the farmer is recognized as a farmer and dies, the family will be given Rs 5 lakh.

Health and Finance Minister T Harish Rao, who tweeted on Tuesday mentioning that Rythu Bima turned five, thanked Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao for implementing the scheme benefiting farmers all over the State.