MP’s agriculture minister wants to opt out of PM’s crop insurance scheme, says not all benefit

The minister said the Central government has asked the states whether they are willing to continue and has given them the freedom to opt out if they have a similar scheme in mind.

“We want to start Mukhya Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana by making changes in the central scheme. We will form our own company. We will include provisions of Revenue Book Circulars 6-4 that deals with compensation in natural calamities,’’ the minister said. The proposal will need clearance from Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, he said.

To be part of the Prime Minister’s Crop Insurance Scheme, farmers pay 2% premium rate for Kharif and 1.5% for rabi crops on the sum insured. The balance premium is shared between the Centre and states.

On May 1, Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the Congress government had not deposited the state’s share even though farmers had deposited their premium for kharif 2018 and rabi 2018-19 crops. He said his government deposited Rs 2,200 crore immediately after coming to power in March. This allowed the government to settle claims worth Rs 2,981 crore and transfer the money to farmers’ account on May 1.

Patel said private insurance companies have benefited from the crop insurance scheme more than the farmers. In one particular year, he said the private companies received a premium of Rs 5,000 crore but farmers got only Rs 3,000 crore.

Regional Organisation Secretary of Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS) Mahesh Chaudhary said the organisation has opposed the scheme because private insurance companies benefit at the expense of farmers.

“The current scheme has many shortcomings. If the state government starts a company, the premium collected will remain with the government if insurance claims are not required to be settled,’’ he said.

Congress MLA Sachin Patel, who was agriculture minister in the Kamal Nath government, said the Congress government too wanted to opt out of the scheme. “There is no transparency in the scheme. We wanted to make it optional for farmers,’’ he said, adding that the Congress government never sent any proposal to the Centre but discussed opting out of it.