Farmers inMaharashtrahave received the lowest-ever payout in 2020 under the Prime Ministers Crop Insurance Scheme (PMFBY) since the scheme began in 2016. Farmers received Rs 823 crore, which amounts to just 14% of the Rs 5,801 crore premium paid to insurance companies, the latest data shows.
Only 12.3 lakh farmers benefited from the claims, also the lowest number since the scheme began. They account for 10% of the 1.2 crore cultivators who had applied for crop insurance in 2020.
Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray has written to Union Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar suggesting a new crop insurance model wherein insurance companies will have a maximum cap of profit upto 20% and maximum risk of 10% against premium collected. This is the model which the state is implementing in Beed district.
Data shows that the highest claims under PMFBY in the state were paid in 2018-19 and 2019-20, where the claims to premium ratio was 94.7% and 112%. In these two years, the state faced drought and natural calamity. However, in the other three years of the scheme, the claims paid by the firms to farmers were lower than the premium collected by them. In 2016-17, the claims to premium ratio was 48.2% and in 2017-18, it was 76.4%. The gap was most glaring in 2020, when it plunged to 14%.
Under the PMFBY, the farmer pays 2% of the premium, while the rest is split between the Centre and state. However, the payout of claims to farmers can extend upto 350% of the premium. If the claims paid are less than the premium, the insurance firm can keep the amount that remains.