Lok Sabha Question No. 1526 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-07-29
Subject: Increasing the Ambit of PMFBY
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Shri Sudheer Gupta, Shri Manish Jaiswal, Shri Chavan Ravindra Vasantrao

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1526

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 29 TH  JULY, 2025

## INCREASING THE AMBIT OF PMFBY

1526

SHRI MANISH JAISWAL SHRI CHAVAN RAVINDRA VASANTRAO SHRI SUDHEER GUPTA

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ ͪष एवं ͩकसान कãयाण मंğी be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether many States and Union Territories are still out of the ambit of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) ;
- (b)  if  so,  whether  the  Union  Government  has  held  any  meetings/deliberations  with  the States/Union Territories which have not adopted the PMFBY;
- (c)  if so, the details thereof and the outcome of the said deliberations;
- (d)  whether the Union Government has conducted any survey to find the lacunae in the PMFBY and if so, the details thereof; and

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- (e)  the details of changes incorporated by the Union Government to increase the ambit of this scheme along with the funds sanctioned for the said scheme during the present financial year?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

कृ ͪष एवं ͩकसान कãयाण राÏय मंğी

(SHRI  RAMNATH THAKUR)

- (a) to (c): The PMFBY, introduced in the country from Kharif 2016 season, is available for all States/UTs and is voluntary for States as well as farmers. States/UTs are free to subscribe under the scheme keeping in view their risk perception and financial considerations etc. Since inception of the scheme 27 States/UTs have implemented the scheme in one or more seasons. Some States/UTs like Bihar, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Gujarat have opted out of the scheme after implementing it for some seasons due to their own reasons. Due to the efforts of Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand have re-joined the scheme while Telangana has announced joining the scheme.

Department  is  regularly  persuading  the  non-implementing  States  to  participate  in  the scheme by writing at the highest levels, in one to one meetings as well as National Review Conferences.  As  a  result,  many  States/UTs  including  Bihar,  Mizoram  and  Ladakh  have expressed keenness in joining the scheme.

- (d) & (e): The review/revisions / rationalization / improvements in the crop insurance schemes is a continuous process and decision on suggestion/ representations/ recommendations of the stakeholders/studies are taken from time to time.   Based on the experience gained, views of various  stakeholders  and  with  a  view  to  ensure  better  transparency,  accountability,  timely payment of claims to the farmers and to make the scheme more farmer friendly, Government has periodically revised the Operational Guidelines of the PMFBY comprehensively to ensure that the eligible benefits under the scheme reach the farmers timely and transparently. Various performance  evaluation  studies  have  also  been  conducted  on  the  implementation  of  crop insurance to examine various aspects of implementation of crop insurance Scheme. Based on the  recommendations  of  the  various  studies/  reports,  the  Scheme  has  brought  in  various technological interventions like YES-TECH,  WINDS, etc. The details of technological interventions in the Scheme are as under:
- a) YES-Tech  (Yield  Estimation  based  on  Technology)is  a  technology  based  yield estimation mechanism which has been developed after 2 years of rigorous testing and pilot runs across 100 districts of the country. Crop Loss assessment and Yield estimation assisted by data inputs from such as Remote Sensing indices, Weather indices, crop phenological information, soil types etc. using approved Technologies/Approaches
- b) WINDS (Weather Information Network & Data System)is again a pioneering initiative of the country to set-up a network of Automatic Weather Stations & Rain Gauges at Taluk/Block and  Gram  Panchayat  level to  create  a  strong  database  of  hyper-local  weather  data  for  the different Govt. and other entities to use for all farmer and farming oriented services.
- c) National Crop Insurance Portal (NCIP)is  developed  by  the  government  as  a  single source of data which ensures subsidy payment, coordination, transparency, dissemination of information and delivery of services including direct online enrolment of farmers, uploading/obtaining  individual  insured  farmer's  details  for  better  monitoring  and  to  ensure transfer of claim amount electronically to the individual farmer's Bank Account.
- d) Digi-Claim-Payment Module - is a dedicated module operationalised for payment of claims from Kharif 2022 onwards in order to rigorously monitor the claim disbursal process. It involves the  integration  of  National  Crop  Insurance  Portal  (NCIP)  with  Public  Finance  Management System (PFMS) and accounting system of Insurance Companies to provide timely & transparent processing of all claims.
- e) AIDE (App for Intermediary Enrolment): A smart-phone App has been designed and rolled out  in  Kharif  2023  for  enrolment  of  farmers  at  their  door-steps  through  a  large  network  of Insurance  Intermediaries.  It  offers  a  completely  paper-less  and  cash-less  experience  to  a farmer.
- f) Krishi  Rakshak  Portal  &  Helpline :  A  pan-India  single  number  integrated  grievance redressal  mechanism  having  digital  portal  and  a  call  centre  has  been  developed  to  enable farmers to lodge their grievances/concerns/queries.

Further, budgetary provision of Rs 12242.27 Crores has been provided by Government of India for the present Financial Year of 2025-26 to meet liabilities pertaining to Central Government share of premium subsidy and other administrative expenses.

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