PM Fasal Beema Yojana to launch a doorstep distribution drive

The Centre is set to launch a doorstep distribution drive for the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Beema Yojana (PMFBY) that entered its seventh year on Friday.

"The PMFBY will be launching a doorstep distribution drive to deliver crop insurance policies to the farmers under 'Meri Policy Mere Hath' in all the implementing states," the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare said in a release.

The campaign aims to ensure that all farmers are well-aware and equipped with all information on their policies, land records, the process of claim and grievance redressal under PMFBY.

The launch announcement was made on February 18, 2016 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Sehore, Madhya Pradesh. The implementation started with the Kharif season that year and has entered its seventh year with the 2022 Kharif season.

"A flagship scheme of the government of India, PMFBY aims to provide financial support to farmers suffering crop loss/damage arising out of natural calamities. Over 36 crore farmer applications have been insured under PMFBY, with over Rs 1,07,059 crore worth claims already been paid as on February 4, 2022," the release said.

Launched six years ago, the scheme was revamped in 2020, enabling voluntary participation of the farmers. It also made it convenient for the farmer to report crop loss within 72 hours of the occurrence of any event -- through the Crop Insurance App, CSC Centre or the nearest agriculture officer -- with claim benefits getting transferred electronically into the bank accounts of the eligible farmer.

Integration of land records with the PMFBY's National Crop Insurance Portal (NCIP), Crop Insurance mobile app for easy enrollment of farmers, remittance of farmer premium through NCIP, a subsidy release module and a claim release module through NCIP are some of the key features of the scheme, it said.

Through its state/district level grievance committees, the scheme also enables farmers to submit their grievances at the grassroots level. This includes acknowledging and resolving farmer grievances through IEC activities such as Crop Insurance Week, which is celebrated twice bi-yearly, PMFBY Paathshaala, social media campaigns, a toll-free helpline and email communication.

The recent announcement by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her 2022-23 Budget speech on the use of drones for crop insurance will further strengthen the integration of technology for smooth implementation of the scheme on the ground, the release added.