Government has approved the continuation of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) and Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS) till 2025-26 with total outlay of Rs. 69,515.71 crore for the period 2021-22 to 2025-26. 

The PMFBY, introduced in the country from Kharif 2016 season, is available for all States/UTs and is voluntary for the States as well as farmers.   States/UTs are free to subscribe under the scheme keeping in view their risk perception and financial considerations etc.  Since inception of the scheme 27 States/ UTs have implemented the scheme in one or more seasons.    At present, 23 States/UTs are implementing the scheme. 

All the major work like selection of insurance model, selection of Insurance Companies through transparent bidding process, enrollment of farmers, assessment of crop yield/crop loss for calculation of admissible claims are being performed by the concerned State Government or Joint Committee of State Government officials and concerned insurance company. The roles and responsibilities of each stakeholder are defined in the Operational Guidelines of the scheme for the proper execution of the scheme.

Majority of the claims are settled within the stipulated timelines under the Operational Guidelines of the scheme by the insurance companies.  However, during the implementation of PMFBY, some complaints against insurance companies about non-payment and/or delayed payment of claims; under payment of claims on account of incorrect/delayed submission of insurance proposals by banks; discrepancy in yield data & consequent disputes between State Government and insurance companies,  delay in providing State Government share of funds, non-deployment of sufficient personnel by insurance companies etc.,  were received in the past which were suitably addressed as per provisions of the scheme.

Since the scheme is implemented by the State Government, therefore, in order to resolve the grievances/complaints including those related to claims of insured farmers, provision of Stratified Grievance Redressal Mechanism viz. District Level Grievance Redressal Committee (DGRC), State Level Grievance Redressal Committee (SGRC) has been made in the Revised Operational Guidelines of the Scheme.    These committees have been given the detailed mandate as outlined in the Operational Guidelines for hearing the complaints/ grievances   and to dispose them as per the stipulated procedure.  

To further improve the grievance redressal mechanism, Krishi Rakshak Portal and Helpline (KRPH) has been developed.  A single Pan-India toll free number 14447 has been deployed and linked to the insurance companies database, where farmers can raise their grievances/issues.  Timelines to resolve these grievances/issues has also been fixed.

Department is regularly monitoring the functioning of insurance companies, including timely settlement of claims through weekly video conferences of all stakeholders, one to one meeting as well as National Review Conferences. 

Based on the experience gained, views of various stakeholders and with a view to ensure better transparency, accountability, timely payment of claims to the farmers and to make the scheme more farmer friendly, Government has periodically revised the Operational Guidelines of the PMFBY comprehensively to ensure that the eligible benefits under the scheme reach the farmers timely and transparently.  

This information was given by the Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare Shri Ramnath Thakur in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

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MG/RN/KSR/1903

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