Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman reviews Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana

Stresses the importance of carrying out awareness activities &  need for States to release Premium Subsidy on time to ensure timely settlement of claims

Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman chaired a meeting to review the implementation of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) through video conferencing.  The meeting was attended by Shri Debasish Panda Secretary (Financial Services) , Shri Sanjay Agarwal ,Secretary DAC&FW , senior officials from Department of Financial Services, Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare (DAC&FW), General Insurance Companies implementing PMFBY and Scheduled Commercial Banks.

A presentation was made by Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & FW wherein the journey of PMFBY since Kharif 2016 as well as challenges encountered and the status of implementation for the current Kharif 2020 crop season, especially after the Revamp of PMFBY, were discussed.

The Finance Minister highlighted the need of carrying out awareness activities to ensure dissemination of information among all farmers in view of Scheme becoming voluntary for all farmers and the need for States to release Premium Subsidy on time to ensure timely settlement of claims. Smt Sitharaman suggested that stringent follow up should be done with States where subsidy is pending specially those which are not implementing the Scheme in Kharif 2020 with a view to ensure payment of all pending claims to farmers at the earliest.  

Secretary DAC&FW informed that leveraging technology was one of the main focus areas in revamped PMFBY and the Department was working towards migrating to technology assessment of yield by 2023 and survey would be conducted after Rabi-2020-21 to ascertain the impact of the revamped PMFBY.

Premium subsidy timeliness urged to ensure farmers' crop insurance claims are settled promptly under the voluntary PMFBY. Review emphasised timely release of Premium Subsidy by States and rigorous follow-up where subsidies and payments are pending to ensure prompt claims settlement under the now voluntary Scheme; awareness activities are required to secure informed farmer participation.