Parliament Question: Delay in disbursement of Crop Insurance to Chandrapur Farmers

O.I.H GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2755 TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 16TH DECEMBER, 2025 DELAY IN DISBURSEMENT OF CROP INSURANCE TO CHANDRAPUR FARMERS 2755. SMT. DHANORKAR PRATIBHA SURESH: Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ िष एवं िकसान क(cid:670)ाण मं(cid:361)ी be pleased to state: (a) whether there has been serious delay in disbursement of crop insurance (peak insurance) and Government subsidy despite heavy losses to Kharif crops like cotton, soyabean and paddy due to heavy rains/excessive rainfall in Chandrapur district of Maharashtra; (b) if so, the number of farmers declared eligible for the 2023 Kharif season in areas like Mool taluka of Chandrapur district and the number who are still waiting for insurance compensation along with the main reasons for the delay; (c) whether the Government proposes to investigate the alleged discrimination against Chandrapur compared to neighbouring districts in the distribution of financial assistance and the use of obsolete rules in determining compensation; and (d) the time by which the Government proposes to implement a time-bound action plan to immediately disburse the pending insurance amount and assistance to all eligible farmers? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ िष एवं िकसान क(cid:670)ाण रा(cid:475) मं(cid:361)ी (SHRI RAMNATH THAKUR) (a) : No Sir. As prescribed in the Operational Guidelines of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), majority of the claims are settled within the stipulated timelines i.e within 21 days of the receipt of requisite yield data from the concerned State Government, by the insurance companies However, during the implementation of PMFBY, some complaints were received in the past about payment of claims which are primarily on account of (a) delay in providing State Government share of subsidy (b) non-payment/delayed payment or under payment of claims on account of incorrect/delayed submission of insurance proposals by banks (c) discrepancy in yield data & consequent disputes between State Government and insurance companies etc. The pending claims on account of these issue are settled after their resolution as per provisions of the scheme. (b) : Details of number of farmer applications enroll, claims paid & pending and number of farmer applications benefitted in Chandrapur district of Maharashtra under PMFBY are given below :Yea Seaso Application Paid Pending Farmers Application r n Enrolled Claims Claims Benefitted (In No.) (Rs. In Crore) (In No.) 202 Kharif 3,41,283 211.10 0.43 1,06,083 3 Rabi 9,362 2.07 0.01 1,489 202 Kharif 3,38,464 45.64 0.17 56,184 4 Rabi 19,445 1.17 0.01 973 Tot 7,08,554 259.98 0.62 1,64,729 al (c) : The PMFBY is mainly implemented on ‘Area Approach’ basis and comprehensive risk coverage for crops of farmers against all non-preventable natural risks from pre-sowing to post-harvest stages of the crops at very minimum premium for the farmers is provided under the scheme. Admissible claims/crop loss, in this case, are worked out and paid directly to the insured farmer’s account by the insurance companies through DigiClaim module on National Crop Insurance Portal (NCIP), based on the yield data per unit area furnished to the insurance company by the concerned State Government and claim calculation formula envisaged in the Operational Guidelines of the scheme. However, losses due to localized risks of hailstorm, landslide, inundation, cloud burst & natural fire and post-harvest losses due to cyclone, cyclonic/unseasonal rains & hailstorms are calculated on individual insured farm basis. The extent of loss and claims in such case are assessed by a joint committee comprising representatives of State Government and concerned insurance company within stipulated time frame under the Operational Guidelines of the scheme. Therefore, claims under PMFBY are worked out and paid as per provisions of the scheme and without and discrimination with any State or district. (d) : Government has taken various steps to strengthen implementation of this scheme all over India including Maharashtra to ensure effective implementation, timely compensation and to bring transparency and ensure timely settlement of claims:  Government has undertaken development of National Crop Insurance Portal (NCIP) as a single source of data ensuring subsidy payment, co-ordination, transparency, dissemination of information and delivery of services including direct online enrollment of farmers, uploading/obtaining individual insured famer’s details for better monitoring and to ensure 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 NCIP with Public Finance Management System (PFMS) and accounting system of Insurance Companies to provide timely & transparent processing of all claims.  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.  As per the Operational Guidelines of PMFBY, in case payment is not made timely by Insurance Company, a penalty of 12% is auto-calculated and levied through National Crop Insurance Portal (NCIP) w.e.f. Kharif 2024.  Similarly, if State Government delayed its premium subsidy from stipulated time period, a penalty of 12% is to be paid by them also.  Tranche based claims settlement has been initiated from 2025-26. 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 etc. have already been taken to improve timely settlement of the claims to farmers.  Opening of Escrow account has been made mandatory under PMFBY for ensuring timely release of state share of subsidy for implementing season, thereby controlling delayed claim settlement to eligible farmers. This enable States to ensure that the premium subsidies payments are not delayed beyond the prescribed timelines as per provisions of Operational Guidelines. Following technologies for Objective Crop Damage & Loss Assessment and transparency have also been implemented w.e.f. 2023-24 under the scheme: i. YES-TECH (Yield Estimation System Based on Technology) for gradual migration to Remote-Sensing based yield estimation to help assess yields as well as fair and accurate Crop Yield Estimation. This initiative has been launched for paddy & wheat crops from Kharif 2023 wherein 30% weightage to yield estimation will mandatorily be assigned to YES-TECH derived yield. Soybean crop has been added from Kharif 2024 season. ii. WINDS (Weather Information Network and Data System) for setting up of Network of Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) & Automatic Rain-Gauges (ARG) to the tune of 5 times of existing network for collecting hyper-local weather data at GP & Block level. This will be fed into a National database with interoperability & sharing of data in coordination with India Meteorological Department (IMD). WINDS provides data not only for YES-TECH but also for effective drought & disaster management, accurate weather prediction and offering better parametric insurance products. ******