Arrangements are being made to assess the crop loss of farmers due to floods, droughts, or any other natural disasters and weather events. Remote sensing will be used for this. If insurance companies delay giving compensation to farmers, they will have to pay the money with 12 percent interest per annum.

Till now, the damage was assessed by inspecting the site during crop cutting. But now the central government has decided that the damage will be assessed through a satellite-based system. Remote sensing is a technique in which there is no need for a site visit to get information about any object. Information about the actual condition of the object is obtained through satellite.

When was crop insurance started?

The central government started the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana in 2016 to compensate for the loss of crops of farmers. Under this, claims of more than one lakh 70 thousand crore rupees have been paid so far. The crop insurance scheme is run jointly by the central and state governments. However, complaints were coming from many states about delays in the resolution of insurance payment claims. There were many reasons.

Some states were delaying paying their share of premium subsidy. There was also a discrepancy in giving the details of the produce. Similarly, differences between insurance companies and states, non-availability of account details for transferring the compensation amount to the accounts of eligible farmers, incorrect or incomplete entry of individual farmers' data on the National Crop Insurance Portal, delay in sending the premium of farmers as well as not sending the share of the farmers' premium to the concerned insurance company, etc. were included.

No claims can be settled on time.

Due to all these reasons, most of the pending claims were not being settled on time. The Center took cognizance of this and separated its premium from the states so that the insurance amount could be released on time. Along with this, the insurance companies were also reined in. It was made mandatory for the state governments to pay compensation within thirty days from the date of receipt of the final details of crop loss. If the stipulated period is exceeded, the companies will have to pay the amount at the rate of 12 percent interest per annum.

The farmer's premium share is limited to two percent for Kharif crops, 1.5 percent for Rabi, and five percent for commercial and horticultural crops. The central government has also made arrangements to bring transparency in claims by transferring payments directly to farmers through the National Crop Insurance Portal on the DigiClaim platform launched in Kharif 2023.

A Krishi Rakshak portal and a dedicated toll-free helpline (14447) number have also been issued for redressal of complaints. With its help, farmers can track their insurance-related complaints and get a solution within a stipulated time frame.

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