Farmers inMaharashtrawill be able to opt for the crop Insurance scheme by paying Re 1, with the state funding their share of 2% premium. The cabinet approved the decision, which had been announced in the statebudgetin March.
The cabinet also okayed a model that will cap the profit of insurance companies.
“The farmer will only have to register for the crop insurance scheme by paying Re 1. There will be no premium for them,” said deputy CMDevendra Fadnavis. The state cabinet also approved another budget announcement: the NamoShetkari Mahasanman Nidhi, a sum of Rs 6,000 to be paid for one crore farmers in the state to supplement the Rs 6,000 paid by the Centre under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi SammanNidhi Yojana.
As a result, a sum of Rs 12,000 will be deposited in the account of each farmer of the state every year. The state’s grant will be paid in three instalments of Rs 2,000 each. The state had proposed a budgetary outlay of Rs 6,900 crore for the scheme for 2023-24.
The cabinet also decided to bring an area of 25 lakh hectares in the state under in the next three years, to promote natural farming. The scope of Dr Panjabrao Deshmukh Organic Farming Mission will be expanded by establishing 1,000 bio-input source centres. This had also been announced in the state budget in March.