Pvt companies made over Rs 10,000 crore under Centre's crop

The Congress today alleged that private companies were the biggest beneficiaries of the Centre's crop insurance scheme while the interests of farmers had been ignored.
Randeep Surjewala, chief spokesperson of the party, claimed today that a premium of Rs 17,184 crore had been paid to ten companies empanelled by the Centre under its 'Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana'.
But the amount provided by these firms to farmers was just Rs 6,804.48 crore, he said.
"The net profit of these insurance companies was Rs 10,376.31 crore," Surjewala claimed.
He alleged that the BJP governments at the Centre and in Rajasthan had betrayed farmers and neglected their interests.

"Farmers have no choice but to commit suicide. Bad loans of corporate sector were written off by the Modi government but it did not waive farmers' loans," he said.

The government has only helped hoarders, he claimed.
Surjewala also attacked the government saying it had reduced the money allotted for farmers' welfare schemes.
"Rampant corruption prevails under the BJP rule both at Centre and in states. Vyapam scam, PDS scam, Lalitgate scam are clear examples but no action was taken," he alleged.
Rajasthan Congress President Sachin Pilot said that Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje should make efforts to get a special package for the state from the Centre.