Minister for agriculture Eknath Khadse informed the state assembly on Friday that the deadline for paying premium was July 31 and insurance companies have refused to extend the same.
While farmers in the state have been doubly hit with a delayed monsoon and the need for sowing again, the government, it seems, has multiplied their misery by failing to meet the deadline for paying premium for the crop insurance scheme.
Minister for agriculture Eknath Khadse informed the state assembly on Friday that the deadline for paying premium was July 31 and insurance companies have refused to extend the same.
Khadse said the premium for the season was Rs176 crore and the central and state governments chip in for the same.
Leader of opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil as well as NCP MLA Dilip Walse-Patil had raised the issue through point of procedure and point of information. Khadse said there was only one alternative, which was to approach union finance minister Arun Jaitley, and he would explore the same.
Khadse informed the House that additional chief secretary to the agriculture department DK Jain was sent to New Delhi to request union minister Radha Mohan Singh and officials to extend the deadline because farmers were already facing hardship and also gram panchayat elections.
Khadse said that despite the detailed discussion, officials in the union agricultural ministry had expressed inability to extend the deadline. He added that he himself had spoken to the union secretary and then Singh on this issue on Thursday night.
The state government, at present, provides crop insurance benefits to farmers and, for the last kharif season, the agriculture department has provided crop insurance worth Rs1,595 crore.
The crop insurance scheme is run though the Agriculture Insurance Company of India, which is a state-run firm.
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