(a) the percentage and the number of the farmers covered under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) before and after its inception;
(b) the details of the number of farmers covered under the PMFBY particularly with regard to Parbhani Parliamentary Constituency, State/year-wise;
(c) whether there is any plan to cover more number of farmers under the PMFBY; and
(d) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?
MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
???? ??? ????? ?????? ?????? (SHRI NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR)
(a): The number of farmer applications has been increased to 765.4 lakh during 2021-22 under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) as against 485.5 lakh farmer applications during 2015-16 under erstwhile crop insurance schemes.
(b): State-wise details of number of farmer applications enrolled during 2021-22 under the scheme are annexed. Claims are worked out insurance unit area wise for the notified crops and not Parliamentary Constituency-wise..
(c) & (d): PMFBY is voluntary for States/UTs as well as farmers. However, Government has taken several steps to create substantial awareness about the scheme amongst beneficiaries and to make the scheme transparent so that more and more farmers can be enrolled under the scheme. The Government has made provision to ensure availability of adequate funds for awareness of PMFBY. The revised Operational Guidelines for PMFBY which came into effect from 1st October 2018 have inter-alia provided that the insurance companies should compulsorily spend atleast 0.5% of the total gross premium collected by them for Information, Education and Communication (IEC) activities.
The Government has actively supported the awareness activities being carried out by the States, implementing Insurance Companies, financial institutions, and CSC network to disseminate key features of PMFBY amongst farmers and members of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs). The Government has also started structured awareness campaigns like ‘Crop Insurance Week/Fasal Bima Saptah’ Kharif 2021 and Rabi 2021-22 seasons, Fasal Bima Pathshalas at village/GP level for knowledge building of farmers on various aspects of scheme implementation and nationwide Doorstep Crop Insurance Policy/receipt Distribution mega drive – ‘Meri Policy Mere Haath’ under Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
National Crop Insurance Portal (NCIP) has been developed for ensuring better administration, co-ordination, transparency, dissemination of information and delivery of services including crediting the claim amount electronically to the individual farmer’s Bank Account. To bring more transparency use of technology including Remote Sensing Technology, Smartphones, Drones, crop insurance apps for reporting estimation of crop losses to ensure early settlement of claims has also been utilized in implementation of the scheme.