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Punjab agri dept seeks ₹400 crore to launch crop insurance scheme
The Punjab agriculture department has sought ₹400 crore from the state finance department to kickstart the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, which aims to provide insurance cover to farmers against crop loss
The Punjab agriculture department has sought ₹400 crore from the state finance department to kickstart the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), which aims to provide insurance cover to farmers against crop loss.
Launched in 2016 by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union government as one of its flagship schemes, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) dispensation in Punjab is looking to implement it, reportedly amid a central push aimed at cutting expenditure on disaster relief funds. States such as Telangana, Gujarat and Bihar, which had initially rejected the scheme, have also adopted it now.
The scheme, partly sponsored by the Centre, was launched countrywide in 2016 but the then SAD-BJP government in Punjab had rejected it, stating that its parameters were unsuitable for the state’s farmers. The farmers were also against the adoption of the scheme in view of the additional burden of the insurance premium that they would have to bear.
Later, during the Congress regime, it was proposed to start a state-level crop insurance scheme but it remained a non-starter.
What led AAP to adopt the scheme?
Unprecedented crop loss in the last two seasons and the resultant burden on the state treasury in the form of compensation to farmers has led the AAP government to adopt the PMFBY. Once implemented, farmers pay part of the sum insured as premium while the balance premium is shared between the Centre and the state government.
In the last two cotton seasons, the Punjab government had to pay ₹700 crore for crop loss. Last year, the wheat yield fell by 15% owing to sudden rise in temperature at the time of maturing of the crop, resulting in heavy losses for the farmers. Before that, basmati crop also suffered heavy losses. The total losses to farmers were pegged at ₹1,500 crore.
2024 rabi sowing season the launch deadline
The Punjab government has fixed the 2024 rabi (wheat) sowing season – October to November – as the deadline to launch the scheme.
On February 27, top state functionaries including chief minister Bhagwant Mann, agriculture minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal and chief secretary VK Janjua would meet to take the implementation of the scheme to a conclusive end.
“The agriculture department has asked the finance department to allocate ₹400 crore so that we have funds to kick start the scheme,” said Dhaliwal adding that a lot of preparations are required before launch of the scheme.
Stating that a blueprint for a Punjab-specific scheme would soon be ready, chief secretary Janjua said, “Of late, the state has been seeing a lot of crop damage, particularly cotton, leading to losses for farmers. The area under cotton has also come down to 2.5 lakh hectares (from 10 lakh hectares). Our government wants to support the farmers by insuring their crop.”
