Sena MPs meet PM, urge him to plug 'loopholes' in crop insurance scheme

A delegation of Shiv Sena MPs on Tuesday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and urged him to plug "loopholes" in the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Bima Yojana.

The MPs complained that several farmers in Maharashtra have not received adequate compensation for their losses under the crop insurance scheme.

The scheme has benefitted insurance companies more than farmers, they said.

Assembly polls in Maharashtra are due later this year and the issue is already gathering traction in the state. The Shiv Sena has already been vocal about the issue in the state that has seen several farmer suicide cases due to crop failure and drought.

Vinay Raut, Shiv Sena's leader in the Lok Sabha, told reporters that the compensation should be based on the best crop production in the five previous years.

Buldhana MP Prataprao Jadhav said insurance companies should also have their offices at block and district levels to facilitate farmers to register their claims.

He said farmers cannot file their claims online in 24 hours during natural calamities due to lack of Internet facilities.

Having an office at the block, tehsil and district level will greatly help them, he added.

The delegation also demanded that the insurance scheme be made mandatory for the farmers.

"The scheme is new and there are loopholes in it which have to be plugged," he said.

Krupal Tumane, the party lawmaker from Ramtek, said the delegation also highlighted the issue of "lethargy" shown by the public sector banks in disbursing loans to farmers.

He said nationalised banks have, until June 30, disbursed loans to only 11 per cent farmers, which is hurting agriculturists.