Bogus farm insurance claims: Maharashtra panel suggests 5-year ban from subsidies for misusing scheme

Confirming the development, a elder authoritative successful the Agriculture Department said, “The committee has made immoderate stringent recommendations including banning these farmers from availing immoderate authorities subsidy for a play of 5 years and besides blacklisting and taking transgression enactment against the communal work centres (CSCs) operators, who were progressive successful facilitating the misuse of the scheme. It has besides suggested to summation the premium magnitude to astatine slightest Rs 100 from existing premium of Rs 1.”

Last month, Agriculture Minister Manikrao Kokate said that astatine slightest 4.14 lakh harvest security claims submitted by farmers successful 2024 nether the PMFBY were recovered to beryllium bogus pursuing which a 25-member committee was formed nether the enactment of the authorities Agriculture Commissioner, Raosaheb Bhagade.

The committee submitted its study successful January to Principal Secretary of Agriculture Department Vikas Chandra Rastogi.

The authoritative said that among different recommendations, the committee has besides suggested to discontinue the prevailing security strategy and to acceptable caller conditions and norms.

It has been recommended that the security sum magnitude for each crops should beryllium kept aforesaid and that farmers should beryllium prohibited from insuring an country of much than 2 hectares.

It has besides recommended besides that determination should beryllium nary duplication of fiscal assistance that is provided to the farmers and farmers should beryllium provided fiscal assistance lone nether 1 scheme.

“The committee has said that farmers should beryllium fixed compensation for the nonaccomplishment of harvest lone nether 1 strategy oregon assistance -either nether the nationalist catastrophe alleviation money oregon nether the security scheme. The National Disaster Relief Fund strategy should beryllium utilized much efficiently for harvest nonaccomplishment compensation, alternatively of the security scheme. In galore cases during the earthy calamities , the farmers instrumentality benefits nether different schemes adjacent arsenic they person received compensation from the NDRF and different authorities government’s assistance,” the authoritative said.

Even arsenic the committee has made these sweeping recommendations, the authoritative said that “since the harvest security subsidy strategy is being implemented arsenic per the Central Government’s guidelines, hence the authorities authorities volition not beryllium capable marque immoderate changes without the support of the Center. However, the recommendations could beryllium referred to the Centre for their reappraisal to curb the cases of bogus harvest insurance.”

He confirmed that the study has been sent by the Secretary to the minister, Manikrao Kokate for review.

“With the support of the Minister, the study volition beryllium presented again successful the furniture gathering for a last determination and could beryllium referred to the Centre,” helium said.

PMFBY is the Centre’s harvest security strategy that allows farmers to insure their crops astatine a highly subsidised premium of 1 rupee.

The Indian Express has connected January 22 reported that portion determination are implicit 4.14 lakh bogus claims determination were instances wherever farmers tried to assertion security for non-existent crops and successful immoderate others, they tried to assertion for crops connected lands not owned by them.

A elder authoritative successful the section said a ample fig of applications person been filed done communal work centres based connected bogus accusation and successful immoderate cases, existent onshore owners are not adjacent alert astir claims made connected their farmland.

It was revealed that the farmers adjacent tried to insure crops connected the onshore owned by government, onshore having shrines and mosques and adjacent connected the non agriculture lands and non existing agriculture plots.