Beed farmers vent ire on IMD, seek quick disbursal from insurance firm

PUNE: Farmers from Neknoor, Parli and Majalgaon villages in Beed protested outside India Meteorological Department’s Shimla office and the United India Insurance office on Monday.
They said the weather department had issued a misleading monsoon forecast which led them to invest lakhs of rupees on seeds and fertilizers and the insurance company owed them over Rs 15 crore as insurance money for crop failure in the 2017-18 kharif season.
Vishal Kadam, one of the farmers, said of the 12 lakh claims for crop insurance, six lakh were approved by the government and the insurance company and around Rs 261 crore was set aside as insurance money.
“The scheme is implemented both offline and online. Those who applied for the insurance amount online did not get the money. The authorities said the farmers had not submitted their Aadhaar cards. Those who applied offline through the bank too have not received the money. The insurance company cited delays from the bank about uploading the farmers' details on the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna (PMFBY) portal,” he added.
Bhai Gangabhishan Kashinath Thavare, representing the Shetkari Sangharsh Samiti Beed, said,“ Last year, farmers lost crops like soybean, cotton and mung. We paid insurance premium to the bank, but have not received the money.”
The IMD gave a misleading rain forecast on the basis of which farmers invested money on seeds and other agricultural inputs. However, like last year, this year too it did not rain in Marathwada, which has put farmers in a tough position, he said.
An IMD official said the operational long-range forecast was for the country as a whole and for its four broad homogeneous areas. “No state or district-level forecasts are issued. Therefore, it is unlikely we gave a “wrong forecast” on Marathwada's rainfall,” he said.
An official from United India Insurance Pvt Ltd said the company has disbursed around Rs 246 crore as loss compensation for crop insurance for the 2017 kharif season.
“Close to Rs 15 crore is pending because during enrolment though the bank debited a premium from the farmers' account but did not upload the farmers' details on the PMFBY portal. It is mandatory to disburse the insurance amount only after details are uploaded on the portal,” the official said.