Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana

A single overarching concept. It takes the most successful aspects of every earlier plan and, at the same time, improves upon it by eliminating any deficiencies or flaws that were present in the earlier versions. The National Agricultural Insurance Scheme and the Modified NAIS will be phased out in favour of the new PMFBY programme once it is fully implemented.Farmers will be required to pay a standard premium with just 2 percent for any and all crops harvested during the Kharif season, and 1.5 percent for any and all crops harvested during the Rabi season. When it comes to annual crops grown for commercial or horticultural purposes, farmers will only be required to pay a 5 percent premium for their produce. The premium rates that need to be charged by farmers are quite low, and the government will pay the balance premium to ensure that farmers receive the entire insured amount in the event that their crops are destroyed as a result of natural disasters.

The government does not place a cap on the amount it will subsidise. Even in the event that the remaining premium reaches ninety percent, the government will be responsible for paying it.In the past, there was a clause that placed a cap on the premium rate, which led to a reduction in the amount of compensation that was paid out to farmers. This limiting was done to restrict the amount of money the government would have to spend on premium subsidies. This limitation has been lifted, and farmers can now file claims against the total amount of their insurance coverage without any reduction.

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana scheme

Shri Narendra Modi, the current Prime Minister of India, initiated the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna on February 18th, 2016. In the 2016 Kharif crop year, the plan was launched in 21 states, while in the 2016-17 Rabi crop year, it was carried in 23 states as well as 2 unincorporated territories. According to the most recent available statistics (as of March 31st, 2017), a total of approximately 3.7 billion farmers were covered during the Kharif 2016 season for 3.7 billion hectares of land by paying a premium of 16212 billion rupees, which resulted in a sum insured of 128568.94 billion rupees.The PMFBY offers a complete insurance cover in the event that the harvest does not succeed, which assists in maintaining the income of farmers. The scheme applies to all food and oilseed crops as well as annual commercial and horticultural crops in which historical production information is accessible and for which a sufficient amount of crops cutting experiments (CCEs) are carried out as part of the General Crop Estimation Survey (GCES). Empaneled general insurance companies are responsible for carrying out the scheme. Through competitive bidding, the relevant state government chooses the Implementing Agency (IA). Loanee farmers who wish to purchase notified crops must participate in the system in order to obtain a Crop Loan or a KCC account; participation in the programme is voluntary for farmers who do not purchase notified crops. The Ministry of Agriculture is in charge of overseeing the programme at this time.

PMFBY Objectives

• To offer insurance coverage as well as financial assistance to farmers in the case that any of the crops that have been notified for coverage fail to produce a harvest due to the presence of natural disasters, pests, or illnesses.

• To provide financial security for farmers and support their continued participation in agriculture. 

• To persuade farmers to use cutting-edge agricultural methods and to stimulate their adoption.

• To provide a steady supply of finance to the agricultural industry.

• PMFBY’s overarching objective is to raise agricultural output by assisting farmers in acquiring all-encompassing crop insurance that protects them from the pre-sowing through the post-harvest stages against the entirety of the range of natural perils that are beyond their control.

Revamping the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana

Since it was first introduced in 2016, the PMFBY has been beneficial to the livelihood of millions of farmers. On the other hand, in order to guarantee a scheme that is implemented in a manner that is both more effective and efficient, the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana has been approved for a redesign by the national government (PMFBY).

With the redesigned PMFBY 2.0, the government intends to make extensive use of technological resources in order to find solutions to the problems that prevent claims from being evaluated and paid in a timely manner.

• Non-Voluntary Up till Now: The PMFBY has been a voluntary programme solely for farmers who have not taken out agricultural loans from banks. On the other hand, it has been a compulsory system for farmers who have taken out agricultural loans from banks.

• No Upper Limit on the Central Subsidy: Up until this point, there has been no upper limit on the central subsidy. As a consequence of this, the insurance companies have never demonstrated the necessary eagerness or purpose to actively engage individuals in the scheme.

• Over the past three to four seasons, in a number of jurisdictions, there has been a significant backlog of settlement work regarding state subsidies paid to insurance firms. As a result, there have been delays in the prompt settlement of claims.

Conclusion

To bring about the vision of Atma Nirbhar Krishi in overall as well as Atma Nirbhar Farmers in specific, the government is actively working on revising the PMFBY programme with the intention of ensuring an accurate and clear evaluation of the production, as well as a rapid calculation as well as reimbursement of assertions to the farmers. The Prime Minister’s Food and Basic Needs Program (PMFBY) intends to assist agricultural production by offering assistance to keep comprehensive risk coverage for crop production of farmers against any and all non-preventable environmental threats from the which was before phase to the post-harvest phase.