Telangana working on new crop insurance scheme: Agriculture Minister

Singireddy Niranjan Reddy said that the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) introduced by the Modi government had miserably failed to come to the rescue of farmers.

Hyderabad: Stating that the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) introduced by the Modi government had miserably failed to come to the rescue of farmers, Agriculture Minister Singireddy Niranjan Reddy said the State government was working on introducing a comprehensive crop insurance scheme for farmers.

Replying to a question raised by Congress member T Jeevan Reddy during Question Hour in the State Legislative Council on Friday, the Minister said the State government was working on a crop insurance scheme which could provide relief to farmers during natural calamities. The State government was studying crop insurance schemes being implemented by various States. “We are studying the crop insurance schemes being implemented in Rajasthan and West Bengal,” he said.

---

Insurance companies would take up crop insurance schemes only when they get profit, hence the State government was looking into a working model which could benefit both the farmers and insurance companies, he said. “The government is studying all the aspects before introducing the crop insurance scheme,” he said.

Commenting on the PMFBY, the Minister said there were high expectations that the PMFBY would prove to be a boon for farmers who battle unpredictable monsoons, unseasonal rains, drought and floods, but it turned out to be a failure as it could not provide relief to farmers. The scheme has been beset by a number of problems for farmers with unpaid dues in thousands of crores while insurance companies have pocketed the money, he said, adding that Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Gujarat had opted out of PMFBY.

The State and Central governments paid a premium of Rs..2,415 crore for four years, but the farmers got claims for about Rs.1893 crore, causing a loss of Rs.525 crore. “We opted out of the PMFBY as it was not beneficial for farmers. The scheme is beneficial only for insurance companies. We will come up with a scheme that is more beneficial for farmers,”he said.

He said the State government was providing an input subsidy of Rs.10,000 per acre to farmers who suffered crop losses due to hailstorms in March and April and Rs.151.65 crore was released for the purpose. The balance of Rs.160 crore would be released soon, he said.