Making crop insurance work

PMFBY has failed to impress stakeholders

The government’s move to revisit the flagship crop insurance scheme — the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) — is a welcome step to make this well-intentioned risk-mitigation measure beneficial for the farmers. However, whether such a review called for setting up a high-level group of ministers (GoM) headed by the defence minister and having the home minister, among others, as a member is debatable. Field experts, along with representatives of the stakeholders like farmers, insurance companies, and the state governments, could perhaps do a better job. The need for a review and revamp of the PMFBY was felt soon