The Centre on Wednesday extended two crop insurance schemes — PMFBY and RWBCIS — for one more year till 2025-26 and also created a separate Rs 824.77 crore fund for technology infusion in the implementation of flagship schemes.
Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) and Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS) have been extended to align it with the 15th Finance Commission period.
A decision in this regard was taken in the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“The schemes have received positive response from the farmers and therefore, the allocation for PMFBY and RWBCIS has been enhanced,” Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told reporters.
Asked about the ongoing farmer agitation in Punjab and why the government is unable to convince them, Vaishnaw said, “If you would have moved around during Haryana elections, farmers gave great feedback on ‘Andolan’ versus real welfare versus ‘good to farmers’, you would have yourself seen”.
The total outlay for PMFBY and RWBCI has been enhanced to Rs 69,515.71 crore for 2021-22 to 2025-26, higher from Rs 66,550 crore for 2020-21 to 2024-25.
For the targeted infusion of technology in the implementation of the crop insurance schemes, the minister said the Cabinet also approved the creation of a separate Fund for Innovation and Technology (FIAT) with a corpus of Rs 824.77 crore.
It will help in the use of technology for faster assessment of crop damage, claim settlement and lesser disputes. It will also help in using digital technologies for easier enrolment and greater coverage, Vaishnaw said.
In a statement, the agriculture ministry said the fund will be utilised towards funding technological initiatives under the scheme namely, YES-TECH, WINDS, etc as well as research and development studies.
Yield Estimation System using Technology (YES-TECH) uses remote sensing technology for yield estimation with a minimum 30 per cent weightage to technology-based yield estimates.
Nine major states are currently implementing, including Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Other states are also being on-boarded expeditiously.
With the wider implementation of YES-TECH, Crop Cutting Experiments and related issues will be gradually phased out. Under YES-TECH, claim calculation and settlement have been done for 2023-24. Madhya Pradesh has adopted 100 per cent technology-based yield estimation.
Weather Information and Network Data Systems (WINDS) envisages setting up Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) at the block level and Automatic Rain Gauges (ARGs) at the panchayat level.
Under WINDS, a five times increase in current network density is envisaged to develop hyper-local weather data.
Under the initiative, only data rental costs are payable by central and state governments. Nine major states are in the process of implementing WINDS, including Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Puducherry, while other states have also expressed willingness to implement.
WINDS could not be implemented by States during 2023-24 due to various background preparatory and planning work required before tendering.
Accordingly, the Union Cabinet has approved 2024-25 as the first year of implementation of WINDS compared to 2023-24 earlier to give benefit to state governments with higher central fund sharing in a 90:10 ratio.
According to the ministry, all efforts are made and will continue to be made to saturate all farmers of northeastern states on priority. To this extent, the centre shares 90 per cent of premium subsidy with northeastern states.
However, due to the scheme being a voluntary and low gross cropped area in northeastern states, flexibility has been given to avoid surrender of funds and for reallocation in other development projects and schemes with fund requirements.
In terms of policies issued, PMFBY is the country’s largest insurance scheme and third-largest in terms of total premiums. About 23 states and Union territories are implementing it.
PMFBY and RWBCIS offer financial assistance to farmers suffering from crop loss or damage caused by various unforeseen events.
PMFBY covers crop losses based on yield risk, while RWBCIS focuses on weather-related risks. (Agencies)
