Lok Sabha Question No. 2008 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-03-14
Subject: Crop Insurance
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: KONDA VISHWESHWAR REDDY, YOGI ADITYANATH, SUKENDER REDDY GUTHA, RAVNEET SINGH, RAMDAS CHANDRABHANJI TADAS

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, COOPERATION AND FARMERS WELFARE

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2008

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE  14 TH  MARCH, 2017

## CROP INSURANCE

2008.  SHRI KONDA VISHWESHWAR REDDY:

SHRI YOGI ADITYA NATH:

SHRI GUTHA SUKENDER REDDY:

SHRI RAVNEET SINGH:

SHRI RAMDAS C. TADAS:

Will  the  Minister  of  AGRICULTURE  AND  FARMERS  WELFARE      ‡ãðŠãäÓã एवं  कसान कयाण ½ãâ¨ããè

be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  it  is  true  that  the  Government  has  introduced  new  Crop  Insurance Scheme stressing the need of advantage to the farmers, if so, the details thereof along with the salient features of the scheme;
- (b) the details of the States where Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) has been implemented so far;
- (c) the  details  of  the  precautions  taken  by  the  Government  to  make  the  scheme Suraksha  Kavach  more  advantageous  to  the  farmers  from  getting  out  of  burden  of premiums and crop losses;
- (d) the details of beneficiaries covered under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana till October, 2016, State-wise;
- (e) the details of claims filed under PMFBY and the amount disbursed against the claims till October, 2016, State-wise;
- (f) the  details  of  average  premium  charged  by  private  insurance  companies  and agricultural Insurance Company of India; and
- (g) whether it is  also a fact that abnormal delays are taking place in settlement of claims  of  farmers,  if  so,  the  remedial  measures  taken  by  the  Government  for  early settlement of claims and avoid losses to the farmers?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF  STATE IN THE  MINISTRY OF  AGRICULTURE AND  FARMERS  WELFARE

## ‡ãðŠãäÓã एवं  कसान  कयाण ½ãâ¨ããÊã¾ã  ½ãñâ  Àã·¾ã  ½ãâ¨ããè (  SHRI PARSHOTTAM RUPALA)

(a) to (e): Yes,  Madam. After review of erstwhile Crop Insurance Schemes, Government has launched Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) and Restructured  Weather  Based  Crop  Insurance  Scheme  (RWBCIS)  from  Kharif  2016 season.    To  make  the  scheme  more  advantageous  for  farmers,  many  innovative solutions have been incorporated in the new  schemes.  The  PMFBY  provides comprehensive  crop  insurance  from  pre-sowing  to  post  harvest  losses  against  nonpreventable  natural  risks  at  extremely  low  maximum  premium  rate  of  2%  for  Kharif crops, 1.5% for Rabi Crop and 5% payable by farmers for annual commercial/horticultural crops, which  premium  rates  are also applicable  under RWBCIS.   The balance of actuarial/bidded premium is shared by the Central and State Government on 50 : 50 basis.    Further, not only has cap on premium which had earlier led to reduction in sum insured been removed under both schemes, but sum insured has been made equal to the Scale of Finance thereby providing maximum risk coverage to the farmers.  In an effort to provide more realistic assessment of losses, the unit area of  insurance  has  been  reduced  from  Tehsil/district  level  to  village/village  panchayat level  for  major  crops  and  to  individual  farm  level  for  localised  risks  of  hailstorm, landslide and inundation.   While settlement of claims is done on the basis of yield loss assessment at the end of season, some measure of immediate relief is also provided to insured farmers in case of adverse seasonal conditions during the crop season due to which expected yield during the season is likely to be less than 50% of the Threshold Yield in the concerned insurance unit.

Details  of  States  which  have  implemented  PMFBY  during  Kharif  2016  and number of farmers covered under the scheme are at Annexure-I.

In respect of Kharif 2016 the cut off date for submission of yield data was one month  from the date of harvest of Kharif crops. Therefore, yield based final assessment of  claims  was  only  undertaken  after  that.  Details  of  some  claims  due  to  prevented sowing, mid-season adversity and localised calamities which were reported by October, 2016  in  a  few  States  and  which  were  settled  after  completion  of  due  process  in  the following months are at Annexure-II.

(f):    As  per  provision  of  PMFBY/RWBCIS  actuarial  premium  rate  charged  by  the companies is determined through the bidding process and varies depending upon the risk associated with crop and area/ cluster.   As per available information for Kharif 2016 the  average  premium  rate    on  the  basis  of  business  was  12.29%    and  12.65%  by Agriculture Insurance Company of India Ltd. (AIC) and other companies including  both private and General Insurers'(Public Sector) Association (GIPSA) companies respectively.

(g): There  are  some  instances  of  delay  in  settlement  of  claims  of  farmers,  which pertain to erstwhile schemes and which may interalia be attributed to reasons such as delay in submission of yield data or release of funds by States/Union Territories etc.  To address such issues under the new schemes several measures have been incorporated namely, timelines have been stipulated for completion of every activity, be it submission of proposals by banks  to insurance companies,  assessment  of  yield by State Government agencies, processing and settlement  of  claims by insurance  companies, the last to be done within three weeks of receipt of yield data from State.  To expedite the  yield  data  submission,  the  Department  has  deployed  CCE  Agri  App  and  made  it mandatory for States to transmit data through CCE Agri App/smartphones.   Further, new remote sensing technology is also being experimented to achieve more accurate yield loss assessment for purposes of accurate claim settlement.  Most importantly, the National Crop Insurance Portal has been launched to facilitate online flow of information and service delivery among stakeholders.   Accordingly, under the new scheme claims for Kharif 2016 are being settled as per the stipulated time frame upon receipt of yield data and  share in premium  subsidy from States.

| ANNNEXURE-I State-wise coverage of farmers under PMFBY   | ANNNEXURE-I State-wise coverage of farmers under PMFBY   | ANNNEXURE-I State-wise coverage of farmers under PMFBY   |
|----------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------|
| S.No.                                                    | STATE                                                    | NO. OF FARMERS COVERED                                   |
| 1                                                        | ANDHRA PRADESH                                           | 859867                                                   |
| 2                                                        | BIHAR                                                    | 1485539                                                  |
| 3                                                        | CHHATTISGARH                                             | 1396333                                                  |
| 4                                                        | GOA                                                      | 742                                                      |
| 5                                                        | GUJARAT                                                  | 1842355                                                  |
| 6                                                        | HARYANA                                                  | 695281                                                   |
| 7                                                        | HIMACHAL RADESH                                          | 111582                                                   |
| 8                                                        | JHARKHAND                                                | 828346                                                   |
| 9                                                        | KARNATAKA                                                | 1555552                                                  |
| 10                                                       | MADHYA PRADESH                                           | 3791832                                                  |
| 11                                                       | MAHARASHTRA                                              | 10940569                                                 |
| 12                                                       | MANIPUR                                                  | 9177                                                     |
| 13                                                       | MEGHALAYA                                                | 63                                                       |
| 14                                                       | ORISSA                                                   | 1763506                                                  |
| 15                                                       | RAJASTHAN                                                | 4985279                                                  |
| 17                                                       | TAMILNADU                                                | 16056                                                    |
| 18                                                       | TELANGANA                                                | 591952                                                   |
| 20                                                       | TRIPURA                                                  | 1902                                                     |
| 21                                                       | UTTAR PRADESH                                            | 3389529                                                  |
| 22                                                       | UTTARAKHAND                                              | 129386                                                   |
| 23                                                       | WEST BENGAL                                              | 3089434                                                  |
|                                                          |                                                          | 37484282                                                 |

## ANNEXURE-II

## State-wise details of claims filed during Kharif 2016 under PMFBY till October, 2016

(Rs. in lakhs)

|   Sr. No. | States           | Prevented Sowing   | Mid-season adversity   | Localised calamities   |
|-----------|------------------|--------------------|------------------------|------------------------|
|         1 | Chhattisgarh     | -                  | 1099.58                | 8.00                   |
|         2 | Karnataka        | -                  | 18.16                  | -                      |
|         3 | Maharashtra      | -                  | 117.56                 | 575.21                 |
|         4 | Madhya Pradesh   | -                  | 941.27                 | 660.22                 |
|         5 | Uttar Pradesh    | -                  | 3075.75                | 55.27                  |
|         6 | Gujarat          | 1.21               | -                      | -                      |
|         7 | Andhra Pradesh   | -                  | -                      | 86.02                  |
|         8 | Bihar            | -                  | -                      | 0.33                   |
|         9 | Haryana          | -                  | -                      | 493.39                 |
|        10 | Himachal Pradesh | -                  | -                      | 0.03                   |
|        11 | Manipur          | -                  | -                      | 0.13                   |
|        12 | Rajasthan        | -                  | -                      | 6.05                   |
|        13 | Tamil Nadu       | -                  | -                      | 0.60                   |
|        14 | Telangana        | -                  | -                      | 0.16                   |

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