Lok Sabha Question No. 2755 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-12-16
Subject: Delay in disbursement of Crop Insurance to Chandrapur Farmers
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Smt. Dhanorkar Pratibha Suresh

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2755

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 16 TH  DECEMBER, 2025

## DELAY IN DISBURSEMENT OF CROP INSURANCE TO CHANDRAPUR FARMERS

2755. SMT. DHANORKAR PRATIBHA SURESH:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE क ृ िष एवं िकसान कʞाण मंũी be pleased to state:

(a)  whether  there  has  been  serious  delay  in  disbursement  of  crop  insurance  (peak insurance)  and  Government  subsidy  despite  heavy  losses  to  Kharif  crops  like  cotton, soyabean  and  paddy  due  to  heavy  rains/excessive  rainfall  in  Chandrapur  district  of Maharashtra;

(b) if so, the number of farmers declared eligible for the 2023 Kharif season in areas like Mool  taluka  of  Chandrapur  district  and  the  number  who  are  still  waiting  for  insurance compensation along with the main reasons for the delay;

(c)  whether  the  Government  proposes  to  investigate  the  alleged  discrimination  against Chandrapur compared to neighbouring districts in the distribution of financial assistance and the use of obsolete rules in determining compensation; and

(d) the time by which the Government proposes to implement a time-bound action plan to immediately disburse the pending insurance amount and assistance to all eligible farmers?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE FOR AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE क ृ िष एवं िकसान कʞाण राǛ मंũी (SHRI RAMNATH THAKUR)

(a) : No Sir.  As prescribed in the Operational Guidelines of  the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY),  majority of the claims are settled within the stipulated timelines i.e within 21 days of the receipt of requisite yield data from the concerned State Government,  by the insurance companies       However, during the implementation of PMFBY, some complaints were received in the past about payment of claims which are primarily on account of (a) delay in providing State Government share of subsidy  (b) non-payment/delayed payment or  under  payment  of  claims  on  account  of  incorrect/delayed  submission  of  insurance proposals  by  banks (c)  discrepancy in  yield  data  &  consequent  disputes  between  State Government and insurance companies etc.  The pending claims on account of these issue are settled after their resolution as per provisions of the scheme.

(b) : Details of number of farmer applications enroll, claims paid & pending and number of farmer  applications  benefitted  in  Chandrapur  district  of  Maharashtra  under  PMFBY  are given below :

| Yea r   | Seaso n   | Application Enrolled   | Paid Claims    | Pending Claims   | Farmers Application Benefitted   |
|---------|-----------|------------------------|----------------|------------------|----------------------------------|
|         |           | (In No.)               | (Rs. In Crore) | (Rs. In Crore)   | (In No.)                         |
| 202 3   | Kharif    | 3,41,283               | 211.10         | 0.43             | 1,06,083                         |
| 202 3   | Rabi      | 9,362                  | 2.07           | 0.01             | 1,489                            |
| 202 4   | Kharif    | 3,38,464               | 45.64          | 0.17             | 56,184                           |
| 202 4   | Rabi      | 19,445                 | 1.17           | 0.01             | 973                              |
| Tot al  |           | 7,08,554               | 259.98         | 0.62             | 1,64,729                         |

(c) : The PMFBY is mainly implemented on 'Area Approach' basis and comprehensive risk coverage for crops of farmers against all non-preventable natural risks from pre-sowing to post-harvest stages of the crops at very minimum premium for the farmers is provided under the scheme.     Admissible claims/crop loss, in this case, are worked out and paid directly to the insured farmer's account by the insurance companies through DigiClaim module on National Crop Insurance Portal (NCIP), based on the yield data per unit area furnished to the insurance company by the concerned State Government and claim calculation formula envisaged in the Operational Guidelines of the scheme.

However, losses due to localized risks of hailstorm, landslide, inundation, cloud burst &  natural  fire  and  post-harvest  losses  due  to  cyclone,  cyclonic/unseasonal  rains  & hailstorms are calculated on individual insured farm basis.    The extent of loss and  claims in  such  case  are  assessed  by  a  joint  committee  comprising  representatives  of  State Government  and  concerned  insurance  company  within  stipulated  time  frame  under  the Operational Guidelines of the scheme.

Therefore, claims under PMFBY are worked out and paid as per provisions of the scheme and without and discrimination with any State or district.

(d)  :  Government  has  taken  various  steps  to  strengthen  implementation  of  this scheme  all  over  India  including  Maharashtra  to  ensure  effective  implementation,  timely compensation and to bring transparency and ensure timely settlement of claims:

-  Government has undertaken development of National Crop Insurance Portal (NCIP) as  a  single  source  of  data  ensuring  subsidy  payment,  co-ordination, transparency, dissemination of information and delivery of services including direct online enrollment of farmers, uploading/obtaining individual insured famer's details for better monitoring and to ensure transfer of claim amount electronically to the individual farmer's Bank Account.
-  In order to rigorously monitor claim disbursal process, a dedicated module namely 'Digiclaim Module' has been operationalized for payment of claims from Kharif 2022 onwards.  It involves integration of NCIP with Public Finance Management System (PFMS) and accounting system of Insurance Companies to provide timely & transparent processing of all claims.
-  Delinking  of  Central  Government  share  of  premium  subsidy  from  that  of  State Governments has been implemented so that farmers can get proportionate claims relating to the Central Government share.
-  As per the Operational Guidelines of PMFBY, in case payment is not made timely by Insurance Company, a penalty of 12% is auto-calculated and levied through National Crop Insurance Portal (NCIP) w.e.f. Kharif 2024.
-  Similarly, if State Government delayed its premium subsidy from stipulated time period, a penalty of 12% is to be paid by them also.
-  Tranche based claims settlement has been initiated from 2025-26.
-  Also,  towards  leveraging  technology  in  implementation  of  the  scheme,  various steps like capturing of yield data/Crop Cutting Experiments (CCEs) data through CCE-Agri  App  &  uploading  it  on  the  NCIP,  allowing  insurance  companies  to witness the conduct of CCEs, integration of State land records with NCIP etc. have already been taken to improve timely settlement of the claims to farmers.
-  Opening of Escrow account has been made mandatory under PMFBY for ensuring timely  release  of  state  share  of  subsidy  for  implementing  season,  thereby controlling  delayed  claim  settlement  to  eligible  farmers.  This  enable  States  to ensure  that  the  premium  subsidies  payments  are  not  delayed  beyond  the prescribed timelines as per provisions of Operational Guidelines.

Following  technologies  for  Objective  Crop  Damage  &  Loss  Assessment  and transparency have also been implemented w.e.f. 2023-24 under the scheme:

- i. YES-TECH  (Yield  Estimation  System  Based  on  Technology) for gradual migration to Remote-Sensing based yield estimation to help assess yields as well as fair and accurate Crop Yield Estimation . This initiative has been launched for paddy &  wheat  crops  from  Kharif  2023  wherein  30%  weightage  to  yield  estimation  will mandatorily be assigned to YES-TECH derived yield. Soybean crop has been added from Kharif 2024 season.
- ii. WINDS (Weather Information Network and Data System) for setting up of Network of Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) & Automatic Rain-Gauges (ARG) to the tune of 5 times of existing  network for collecting hyper-local weather data at GP & Block level.  This will be fed into a National database with interoperability & sharing of data in coordination with India Meteorological Department (IMD).  WINDS provides data not  only  for  YES-TECH  but  also  for  effective  drought  &  disaster  management, accurate weather prediction and offering better parametric insurance products.

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