HC notice to Centre, TN on PIL seeking crop insurance amount

The Madras High Court today issued notice to the Centre and the Tamil Nadu government on a PIL seeking to settle the balance insurance claim for the samba season of crop year 2016-17 for affected farmers in 33 revenue villages in the state.

A division bench comprising Justice S Manikumar and Justice Subramonium Prasad issued the notice on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by the Farmers Legal Movement.

It posted the matter for further hearing to September 27.

According to the petition, farmers in the state ended up with nil yield during the samba season due to various reasons, including non-availability of Cauvery water for irrigation.

They were entitled to get Rs 62,500 per hectare under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bhima Yojana (PMFBY) scheme.

The New India Insurance company, the implementing agency in the state, ought to have paid the full amount by June, 2017 as all the claimants had paid the premium, it submitted.

However, after several representations, only 25 per cent of the claim was paid that too in April and May this year, the petition claimed, seeking a direction to settle the remaining amount.