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Gujarat: Crop insurance helped risk firms garner profit of Rs 791 cr, says Congress

Claiming that farmers were being cheated in the name of crop insurance, he said the claims would have been much higher if the government were the one disbursing it.

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Citing data shared by the state in reply to a question about the premiums paid to insurance companies and claims processed, the Congress on Monday said the firms made a profit of Rs 791.92 crore in just a year through crop insurance.

Visavadar legislator Harshad Ribadiya said that premiums amounting to Rs 2,821.62 crore were paid to the companies for crop insurance across the 33 districts of the state. "Of these, the companies paid up claims amounting to Rs 2,029 crore, creating a profit of Rs 791 core," said Ribadiya.

Claiming that farmers were being cheated in the name of crop insurance, he said the claims would have been much higher if the government were the one disbursing it. "It would also earn the government revenue by way of premiums. In Junagadh alone farmers have paid Rs 33.97 cr in premiums while the Centre and state have shelled out Rs 505.42 crore for the same," said Ribadiya.

Despite this, he said, several claims of farmers continue to be rejected. Under the crop insurance scheme, part payment for premiums is borne by the farmer while the rest is paid by the state and the Centre.

Sagar Rabari of Khedut Samaj said that one needs to look at the total claims made vis-a-vis the claims that have been paid out.

"Overall, the money paid out by way of claims may seem substantial, but it needs to be compared with the actual claim the farmers made. In most cases, farmers don't even get 50% of what they claimed thus leaving them in a loss, not to mention the loss to the exchequer, said Rabari.

About 17.5 lakh farmers sowing about 26.08 lakh hectare are covered under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), that provides crop insurance to farmers. In 2018-19, a total of Rs 3,137 crore was paid as a premium, of which farmers paid Rs 250 crore and the rest was equally shared by the central and state government. Close to 84 lakh hectare land undergoes sowing in kharif (Monsoon) in Gujarat, which has about 48.62 lakh farmers' accounts.

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