End privatisation in crop insurance: AIKS appeals to Centre

The All India Kisan Sabha has appealed to the Centre to end privatisation in the field of crop insurance, while alleging that out of the huge premium collected from farmers only a "minuscule amount" has been given to them as insurance payment.
"The corporate houses are getting the major chunk of the premium while farmers have been distributed mere 3.31 per cent of the total premium collected," the Sabha today alleged.
In a press conference held here, it also said that on May 15, a delegation of AIKS had met Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh and submitted a memorandum with a set of demands.

"One of our demands was that privatisation in the field of crop insurance be stopped," a AIKS official said.
In a major farm sector sop, the Centre on January 13 last year had announced a new Rs 17,600-crore crop insurance scheme to cover loss of crops due to natural calamities like drought at a very low premium payout by farmers.
Under the scheme Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), the state will also provide a matching contribution while farmers will pay only only 2 per cent of the premium fixed by the insurance company for kharif foodgrains/oilseeds crops and 1.5 per cent for rabi foodgrains/oilseeds crops.