The Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare of India is set to conduct ‘Fasal Bima Pathshala’ under the ‘Kisan Bhagidari Prathmikta Campaign’. This initiative is part of a Jan Bhagidari movement aimed at creating a partnership with the rural community and educating farmers about the importance of crop insurance through various programs.
About the Kisan Bhagidari Prathmikta Hamari campaign
The Kisan Bhagidari Prathmikta Hamari campaign focuses on engaging insurance companies in organizing educational events and workshops. These sessions are dedicated to informing farmers about PMFBY (Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana)- Fasal Bima Pathshala. They take place throughout the week at the block, gram panchayat, and village levels, with each event involving at least 100 farmers. The sessions address information on crop loss during localized calamities, post-harvest losses, and the process of farmer’s applications. The campaign also introduces the available resources for grievance redressal.
Objectives of the campaign
This campaign aims not only to inform farmers about these key provisions but also to instruct them on how to avail themselves of the scheme’s benefits. The primary objective is to facilitate farmers’ understanding of the PMFBY/RWBCIS (Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme). Through this, farmers can learn how to enroll under the scheme and best utilize its benefits.
Understanding the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna
Launched in 2016, the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana replaced the National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) and Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (MNAIS). The principal objective of this scheme is to offer a comprehensive insurance cover against crop failure, thus helping stabilize farmers’ income. This scheme encompasses all food and oilseed crops and annual commercial/horticultural crops with past yield data. The premium for this scheme is set at 2% for all Kharif crops and 1.5% for all rabi crops. For annual commercial and horticultural crops, the premium is set at 5%.
Premium subsidy and implementation
Premium costs beyond the farmer share are subsidized equally by states and the Government of India (GoI). However, in Northeastern states, GoI shares 90% of the premium subsidy to encourage more uptake in the region. Empanelled general insurance companies carry out the scheme’s implementation. Each state government selects the Implementing Agencies (IAs) through a bidding process.
Revamped PMFBY
PMFBY has seen various improvements since its inception. Now often referred to as PMFBY 2.0, the revamped version features a completely voluntary enrolment for all farmers from the 2020 Kharif season onwards. It provides more flexibility to states and UTs to implement PMFBY and allows them to select any number of additional risk covers/features. Also, it mandates insurance companies to spend 0.5% of the total premium collected on Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) activities.
The Kisan Bhagidari Prathmikta Hamari campaign is an excellent initiative aimed at making farmers more aware of the benefits of PMFBY. By investing time and resources into educating our farming communities, we can ensure they are better equipped to handle the risks associated with their profession.
