Parliament Question: Crop Insurance Claims for Damage of Crops

O.I.H. GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3874 TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 11TH AUGUST, 2026 CROP INSURANCE CLAIMS FOR DAMAGE OF CROPS 3874. SHRI RAM SHIROMANI VERMA: Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ(cid:874)ष एवं (cid:873)कसान क(cid:227)याण मं(cid:287)ी be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government is aware that despite crop damage due to floods and natural disasters, many farmers in Shravasti and Balrampur are not receiving insurance claims on time and if so, the reasons therefor; (b) the details of claims received, claims sanctioned and payments made under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) in the said districts during the last five years, district-wise; and (c) whether the Government is considering to implement any new system for speedy disposal of crop insurance claims and to connect maximum number of farmers with this scheme and if so, the details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ(cid:874)ष एवं (cid:873)कसान क(cid:227)याण रा(cid:207)य म(cid:287)ं ी (SHRI RAMNATH THAKUR) (a) & (b): Details of claims reported, claims paid and claims pending in Shravasti and Balrampur districts of Uttar Pradesh during last five years ii.e. 2021-22 to 2025-26 under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) are given below : (Rs. in crores) District Reported Claims Paid Claims Pending Claims Shravasti 34.19 33.86 0.32 Balrampur 17.89 17.68 0.22 Majority of the claims are settled within the stipulated timelines under the Operational Guidelines of the PMFBY i.e within 21 days of the receipt requisite yield data from the concerned State Government by the insurance companies. However, some claims remained pending, primarily on account of unverified bank account details of enrolled farmers.(c) : Government has taken following steps to improve claims settlement timelines and to improve the insurance coverage under the scheme : (i): For timely settlement of claims under the scheme: - The National Crop Insurance Portal (NCIP) is the single source of data for subsidy payment, dissemination of information, delivery of services including online enrollment of farmers, uploading/obtaining individual insured famer’s details and transfer of claim amount electronically to the individual farmer’s Bank Account. - In order to rigorously monitor claim disbursal process, a dedicated module namely ‘Digiclaim Module’ has been operationalized for payment of claims from Kharif 2022 onwards. It involves integration of National Crop Insurance Portal (NCIP) with Public Finance Management System (PFMS) and accounting system of Insurance Companies to provide timely & transparent processing of all claims. - W.e.f. Kharif 2024, in case payment is not made timely by Insurance Company, penalty.of 12% is auto-calculated and levied through NCIP. - Delinking of Central Government share of premium subsidy from that of State Governments has been implemented so that farmers can get proportionate claims relating to the Central Government share. - 12% penalty is also levied from Kharif 2025 on State Government for delay in release of State share of subsidy. - Opening of ESCROW Account by the State Government concerned for deposit of their premium share in advance as per provisions of the scheme has been made mandatory w.e.f. Kharif 2025 season for bringing financial discipline. - Also, towards leveraging technology in implementation of the scheme, various steps like capturing of yield data/Crop Cutting Experiments (CCEs) data through CCE-Agri App & uploading it on the NCIP, allowing insurance companies to witness the conduct of CCEs, integration of State land records with NCIP and usage of remote sensing based yield estimation through YES-TECH have already been taken to improve timely settlement of the claims to farmers. - Crop Loss Assessment App (CLAP), developed as a digital mobile application to streamline and improve the efficiency of crop loss assessments for loacalised calamities/post harvest losses for individual farms and land parcels under PMFBY. The use of CLAP has been made mandatory for all the States/UTs under the scheme.(ii): With a view to improve insurance coverage: - AIDE (App for Intermediary Enrolment): A smart-phone App has been designed and rolled out in Kharif 2023 for enrolment of farmers at their door- steps through a large network of Insurance Intermediaries. It offers a completely paper-less and cash-less experience to a farmer. - The Government has actively supported the awareness activities being carried out by the States, implementing Insurance Companies, financial institutions, and Common Service Centres (CSCs) network to disseminate key features of PMFBY amongst farmers and members of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs). - Further, a structured awareness campaign ‘Crop Insurance Week/Fasal Bima Saptah’ has been initiated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare since Kharif 2021 season onwards to increase the awareness about benefits of the scheme, sensitize the stakeholders and to increase overall enrolment of farmers, with special focus on identified aspirational/tribal districts. Along with this, ‘Fasal Bima Pathshalas’ are also being organized at village/GP level for knowledge building of farmers on various aspects of scheme implementation. - Government had also organized a nationwide Doorstep Crop Insurance Policy/receipt Distribution mega drive – ‘Meri Policy Mere Haath’. Hard copies of crop insurance policy receipts are distributed to farmers enrolled under PMFBY through special camps at gram Panchayat/village level. - Apart from this, other activities for awareness generation involve the publicity of key features and benefits of the scheme through advertisements in leading National and local newspapers, airing of audio-visual spots on regional / local channels, distribution of IEC material in local languages, dissemination of SMS through Kisan/ National Crop Insurance Portal (NCIP) portal and organisation of online workshops of all stakeholders including farmers, Panchayat Members, and other key stakeholders. ******