Parliament Question: Performance of PMFBY in Tamil Nadu

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2644 TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 04TH AUGUST, 2026 PERFORMANCE OF PMFBY IN TAMIL NADU 2644. SHRI MALAIYARASAN D: Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ िष एवं िकसान क(cid:670)ाण मं(cid:361)ी be pleased to state : (a) the total number of farmers enrolled under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) during the last five years in the country, State/UT-wise particularly in Kallakurichi constituency of Tamil Nadu; (b) the details of total premium collected from farmers and the share of Union and State Governments under the scheme during the last five financial years; (c) the number of claims reported, approved and settled under PMFBY along with average time taken for settlement of claims across States; (d) whether instances of delay in settlement of crop insurance claims and denial of eligible compensation have been reported under the scheme in Tamil Nadu, if so, the details thereof; and (e) the steps taken by the Government to improve transparency, grievance redressal and timely payment of claims under PMFBY along with measures proposed for strengthening the scheme further? 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): State/UT-wise details of number of farmers enrolled during last five years under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) and Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS) are given in Annexure. Further, 8,73,793 farmer applications were enrolled under the scheme in Kallakurichi district of Tamil Nadu during 2021-22 to 2025-26. (b): The actuarial/bidded/tendered premium rates are charged by implementing agencies under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY). However, extremely low premium rate across the country for the season is charged from the famers, which is maximum 2% of sum insured for Kharif crops, maximum 1.5% of sum insured for Rabi crops and maximum 5% of sum insured for commercial/horticultural crops. Remaining part of actuarial premium is shared by the Central and State Government in the form of assistance to make the scheme affordable to farmers.From Kharif 2023, 3 Alternate Risk Transfer Models (ARTM) other than standard PMFBY namely, cup and cap model (80:110), cup and cap model (60:130) and profit and loss sharing model have been implemented under which in case of claims below certain threshold, portion of the premium paid by the Government as subsidy will go back to the Government and in case of claims above the threshold, Government are required to pay the additional claims. Total liability of State and Central Government is dependent on the total claims generated in different clusters of a State and the ARTM model adopted by the State based on which excess premium becomes recoverable or claim liability becomes due. Total premium collected by insurance companies from farmers, States and Central Government during last five years i.e. 2021-22 to 2025-26 under the scheme is Rs.18,351.69 crore, Rs.66,177.87 crore and Rs.55,738.64 crore, respectively, out of which Rs.15,552.29 crore have been refunded by the insurance companies to the States and Central Government under ARTM. (c) & (d): Total claims reported and claims paid during last 5 years under the scheme are Rs.91,318.21 crore and Rs.86,731.59 crore respectively. Majority of the claims are settled within the stipulated timelines under the operational guidelines of the scheme by the insurance companies. However, some claims remained pending including in Tamil Nadu, mainly on account of unverified bank account details of enrolled farmers. As per timelines given in the Operational Guidelines of the scheme, insurance companies have to settle the claims within 21 Days from calculation of claims on National Crop Insurance Portal (NCIP) and receipt of premium subsidy by Insurance Companies. In case payment is not made as per timelines mentioned above penalty of 12% is auto- calculated and levied through NCIP w.e.f. Kharif 2024 season. (e) : The following steps have been taken by the Government to bring transparency, to increase coverage, grievance redressal and ensure timely settlement of claims: (i): For timely settlement of claims under the scheme: - Government has undertaken development of National Crop Insurance Portal (NCIP) as a 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. - 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) With a view to improve Grievance Redressal: - 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. - 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 have also been fixed.Annexure PMFBY & RWBCIS: State-wise details of farmer applications enrolled from 2021-22 to 2025-26 as on 24.07.2026 State/UTs Applications Enrolled (In Lakh) A & N Islands 0.01 Andhra Pradesh 368.76 Assam 48.70 Chhattisgarh 380.29 Goa 0.02 Haryana 491.88 Himachal Pradesh 20.78 Jammu & Kashmir 9.76 Jharkhand 50.11 Karnataka 150.66 Kerala 8.73 Madhya Pradesh 824.82 Maharashtra 778.92 Manipur 0.21 Meghalaya 1.59 Mizoram 0.01 Odisha 581.75 Puducherry 1.87 Rajasthan 1,881.54 Sikkim 0.15 Tamil Nadu 284.61 Tripura 11.87 Uttar Pradesh 391.08 Uttarakhand 12.84 Total 6,300.97 *******