Farmers in Mayiladuthurai district have sought the intervention of the State government to resolve bottlenecks in assessing crop damages due to natural disasters and disbursement of compensation under the crop insurance scheme.
Under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, farmers growing notified crops are eligible for insurance coverage in the event of crop failure because of natural calamities including heavy rain and drought.
Farmers have to pay a 2% premium for all kharif crops and 1.5% for all rabi crops. The premium to be paid by the farmers is 5% for the annual commercial and horticulture crops. The Central and State governments would pay the balance premium to the private insurance companies.
For the financial year 2022-23, the total premium paid under the crop insurance scheme from Tamil Nadu was ₹ 2,319 crore. This included the premium of ₹825 crore and ₹1,375 crore paid by the Central and State governments respectively, with farmers contributing ₹120 crore, said R. Anbazhagan, district president, Delta Pasana Vivasayigal Sangam.
Though heavy rain lashed the State last year, the amount of compensation paid to farmers by insurance companies was only ₹560 crore, said Mr. Anbazhagan and alleged that the private insurance companies were making a profit out of the crop insurance scheme.
Due to the flaws in the assessment of crop damages, compensation was paid only to 67 villages in Mayiladuthurai district and the remaining 277 villages were not classified as disaster-hit areas, he said.
The farmers have pressed the State government to take up and solely manage the implementation of the scheme instead of involving private companies. They have also demanded doing away with the crop insurance scheme and providing ₹10,000 per acre for kuruvai and samba seasons, each as financial aid.
Collector A.P. Mahabharathi said the grievances put forth by the farmers regarding the crop insurance scheme would be brought to the notice of the State government. Sources in the Agriculture Department said in the first phase, a total of ₹49.68 crore had been disbursed as compensation to nearly 38,650 farmers in Mayiladuthurai district due to natural calamities in 2022-23. Steps were under way to pay compensation to the rest of the beneficiaries.
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