Lok Sabha Question No. 1599 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-12-09
Subject: Coverage of Climate vulnerable Regions under PMFBY
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Adv Gowaal Kagada Padavi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

## DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1599

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 9 TH  DECEMBER, 2025

## COVERAGE OF CLIMATE VULNERABLE REGIONS UNDER PMFBY

1599. Adv Gowaal Kagada Padavi:

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

(a) whether the Government has launched any new component under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) in 2025 to enhance insurance coverage in climate-vulnerable regions of Maharashtra, if so, the details thereof;

(b)  the  number  of  farmers  enrolled  under  PMFBY  during  2024-25  from  Maharashtra particularly from Nandurbar district;

(c) whether the Government has received complaints regarding delayed claim settlement or inaccurate loss assessment in tribal regions;

(d) if  so,  the  corrective  measures taken to strengthen digital crop-loss assessment and satellite-based monitoring;

(e) whether the Government plans to extend premium-subsidy support for tribal farmers with small holdings below 2 hectares; and

(f)  the  details  of  the timeline  by  which  PMFBY  claim-disbursement reforms will  be fully operational in Maharashtra's drought-prone and hilly districts?

## ANSWER

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

(a) : No Sir.

(b)  :  During  2024-25,    total  220.40  lakh  farmer  applications  including  1.16  lakh  farmer applications in Nandurbar district have been enrolled in Maharashtra State under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY).

(c) to (f) :    As per provisions  contained 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) nonpayment/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.

Government has taken various steps to strengthen implementation of this scheme all over India 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 payment 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.
-  The Government has actively supported the awareness activities being carried out by the States, implementing Insurance Companies, financial institutions, and Common  Service  Centres  (CSCs)  network  to  disseminate  key  features  of PMFBY amongst farmers and members of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs).
-  Structured awareness campaign 'Crop Insurance Week/Fasal Bima Saptah' has been initiated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare since Kharif 2021 season onwards.  Along with this, 'Fasal Bima Pathshalas' are also being organized  at  village/GP  level  for  knowledge  building  of  farmers  on  various aspects of scheme implementation.
-  Government  had  also  organized  a  nationwide Doorstep  Crop  Insurance Policy/receipt Distribution mega drive - 'Meri Policy Mere Haath'. Hard copies of crop insurance policy receipts are distributed to farmers enrolled under PMFBY through special camps at gram Panchayat/village level.

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.

Premium-subsidy  support  for  all  willing  farmers  including  tribal  farmers  with  small holdings below 2 hectares is already available under provisions of the Scheme.

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