HYDERABAD: Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has intensified his attack on the Centre by targeting the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY). He said the current policy governing crop insurance in the country was “unscientific and bogus.”
Intervening during question hour in the assembly on Friday, the chief minister said there were a lot of shortcomings in the existing policy which needed to be rectified to ensure that cent per cent benefits reached the grassroots farmers. He said the Telangana government would make suggestions to the Centre after a discussion in the assembly in the next session.
“Farmers need justice, but the PM fasal scheme is not rendering it to them,” KCR said, but hastened to add that it was better to find a solution instead of indulging in blame game.
PMFBY optional for states: Niranjan
He found fault with the guidelines and parameters for compensating for the crop loss due to natural calamities.
Both KCR and agriculture minister S Niranjan Reddy said the Centre had made PMFBY ‘optional’ for states and it was not mandatory. Telangana had decided to implement Centre’s Ayushman Bharat two-and-a-half years after the Centre launched the scheme nationwide. Municipal administration minister KT Rama Rao had earlier termed Ayushman Bharat as a ‘bakwas’ scheme.
Niranjan Reddy informed the House that the state government had paid premium for PMFBY in 2018-19 and 2019-20 and many claims were settled. But, the Centre reviewed the scheme last year and made it optional.
He said the state and centre together had paid Rs989 crore premium but what the farmers got was Rs 817 crore. The remaining Rs 172 crore went to the insurance companies and not the farmers.
“Even progressive agriculture states like Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana, West Bengal and Andhra have opted out of the PMFBY,” he said.
KCR faulted the system of Centre giving compensation to crop and other damages due to natural calamities, saying it had several shortcomings.
