Insurers settle farmers' Rs 11,899-cr claims under PMFBY for 2017 kharif season

Insurance companies have settled Rs 11,899-crore claims of eligible farmers under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bhima Yojana (PMFBY) for the kharif 2017 season, the government said today.

The claims are settled by both private and public sector general insurance companies. Under the flagship crop insurance scheme, both central and states provide premium subsidy in the 50:50 ratio over and above farmers' premium.

"During kharif 2017 alone, claims of Rs 16,448 crore have been estimated and Rs 13,768 crore has been approved. Out of which, Rs 11,899 crore has been settled by the insurance companies," Minister of State for Agriculture Parshottam Rupala said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

In the 2016-17 crop year, total claims to the tune of Rs 15,352 crore were paid to the farmers, he said.

To a query on drop in coverage under the PMFBY during 2017-18, the minister said this is mainly due to factors like the announcement of debt waiver scheme in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, farmers' perception of mitigated risk, duplication due to Aadhar, among others.

The minister explained that the PMFBY guidelines provide for settlement of claim within 21 days of receipt of clear crop yield data from the states and also state share of subsidy has been provided.

A provision has been made for 50 per cent release of state share of premium subsidy in advance on the basis of estimated coverage and 50 per cent on receipt of final data from the insurance companies, he said.

The minister further highlighted that various modules have been developed on the national crop insurance portal for seamless flow of information and service delivery.

The government also consistently follows up with the stakeholders to resolve issue sand fast-track claim settlement, he added.