Thiruvananthapuram: A section of agriculture officers in the state have alleged that they received the application forms for the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (crop insurance scheme) of the Agricultural Insurance Company of India when it was nearing the deadline of January 15 this year, making the central scheme inaccessible to a large section of farmers. It was early last year that the NDA government had launched PMFBY, a new crop insurance policy aimed at bringing down the burden of premiums on farmers who take loans for agricultural farmers.
As per the PMFBY, the premium will be two per cent of the sum insured for the kharif season crops and 1.5 per cent for the rabi crops. Earlier only those farmers who had availed loan for cultivation were eligible for crop insurance; the website of PMFBY now says that all farmers are eligible for the scheme irrespective of whether they had availed a loan or not. Several agricultural officers rued that unused application forms have been stacked in their offices.
“The State Crop Insurance Scheme and the Agricultural Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme are already in force,” said an agricultural officer in Kollam. “We are in the dark as to how to prioritise the state and national schemes. Farmers do not demand that they be included in the PMFBY scheme despite the awareness campaigns we held last year. Not a single farmer has been roped in to the central scheme in my ward.” Several officers based in Thiruvananthapuram are yet to hear about the scheme.
One official told DC that such central schemes are being implemented for the sake of circulating it towards the fag end of the deadline giving little time to proceed with it. The nationalized banks completed their processing of the scheme on January 31. Agricultural Insurance Company of India regional manager D. Rajesh told DC that it will take one month to know how many farmers have been enlisted in the PMFBY scheme.
