BJP hails 'Pradhan Mantri Fasal Beema Yojna'

The BJP on Wednesday welcomed the government announcement of a new crop insurance scheme 'Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana'(PMFBY) to boost the farming sector and ensure farmers' welfare.

"The farmers will be able to avail the benefit of the scheme by paying lower premium for insurance coverage of their crop," Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah told reporters here.

"Under the scheme, the claims of farmers in case of their crop loss will be settled at the earliest," he added.

Dubbing the decision as historical, Shah said, "After independence, this is perhaps the biggest announcement for farmers by any government."

He also said the government has also set a target of extending the coverage of the scheme to 50 percent of farmers which is 23 percent currently.

Under PMFBY, the farmers are required to pay a uniform premium of two percent for all Kharif crops and 1.5 percent for all Rabi crops while it is five percent for annual commercial and horticultural crops.