Chhattisgarh records 75% crop insurance claims, govt disburses Rs 5.68 bn

With about 75 per cent of farmers in Chhattisgarh claiming damages under the crop insurance scheme, The state government has disbursed compensation worth Rs 5.68 billion to drought-affected cultivators.

Severe drought hit the state in the kharif season of 2017-18, affecting paddy production. Of the 149 tehsils across 21 districts, as many as 96 were declared drought-hit. As against 8 million tonne (MT) the previous year, only 6.7 MT of paddy could be produced in 2017-18.

According to state government officials, 1,294,189 farmers across the 27 districts of the state insured their crops under the Prime Minister crop insurance scheme. Following scanty rainfall and other reasons, crops of 250,000 farmers were damaged.

“The revenue and calamity management department has distributed compensation worth about Rs 5.68 billion to about 958,000 farmers who had taken the insurance cover,” the state government spokesperson said. The clearing of dues were on near completion.

Earlier, the state government had cracked down on two leading private sector insurance companies for failing to take action. The companies owe Rs 3.53 billion claims to the farmers. The government had set the deadline for the companies to clear the due payment.

The officials said maximum 234,000 farmers who claimed for the damage were from Rajnandgaon that happens to be the home district of Chief Minister Raman Singh. About Rs 1.25 billion were distributed as compensation.

In the three Naxal-infested districts of Dantewada, Bijapur and Narayanpur in Bastar region, 37,000  farmers claimed and were paid Rs 260 million for the crop damage.