Centre should share 90 pc of PMFBY premium amount: Bihar Min

Bihar Cooperative minister Alok Kumar Mehta today said the Centre should share 90 per cent of the premium amount, besides bringing uniformity in the premium rates of various states, in order to implement Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) in the state.
He told the Legislative Council that Bihar government was committed to implement PMFBY but was facing practical difficulties in implementing the crop insurance scheme as it would increase financial burden on the exchequer due to high rates of premium amount in the state.
"There is no uniformity in the premium rate of various other states," Mehta said, adding that Bihar's average minimum weighted premium was 14.92 per cent after the bidding in which six insurance companies participated.

"When compared to Bihar, the premium rate of its neighbouring states is very low. West Bengal's premium is 3.25 per cent, UP 4.09 per cent, Chhattisgarh 4 per cent, Madhya Pradesh 9.55 per cent and Jharkhand 13.82 per cent," he said.
As per the guideline of PMFBY, it was expected that the insured sum would be around Rs 10,000 crore for Kahrif 2016, Mehta said, adding Rs 1,500 crore would be the amount of the premium for the season.
Going by the formula for the scheme, both the state and the Centre would have to give Rs 650 crore each towards payment of premium, while the remaining Rs 200 crore would be given by farmers as premium amount.

"Keeping these factors in mind, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar requested the Centre at the Inter-State Council meeting to bring uniformity in the premium rates of various states, besides the ratio of state and Centre should be 10:90 in view of high level of premium rate," Mehta said in the Council.
Countering the minister, Leader of Opposition Suhsil Kumar Modi said the government was facing huge financial crunch in the wake of prohibition and hence, it was making an alibi not to implement the scheme in the state.