Hailing the announcement of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana by the Central Government, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah on Wednesday said it was for the first time after Independence that the Fasal Bima Yojana had been simplified, and various problems faced by farmers rectified.
“After this scheme, the farmers will be paid speedily using technology. Besides, many new disasters have been included in the disasters’ list,” he said.
“Earlier, there was no provision for compensation for crops destroyed by water-logging in fields and harvested crops destroyed by rain, but now theses have been included,” he said.
“Under the UPA’s capping arrangement, the compensation amount had reduced and premium has gone up from 22-57 percent. The capping has now been removed, and premium has been pegged at 2 percent for kharif and 1.5 percent for rabi and 5 percent for commercial crops. This will enable the farmers to buy crop insurgence at lower premium,” said Shah.
“The financial burden, however, will be borne by both the Centre and the state governments,” he said, adding that under the scheme, the financial burden on the Centre will be five times more than what it was under the previous scheme,” he said.
The Centre has also set up a target to increase coverage from 23 to 50 percent, and using scientific methods, the government wants to take the scheme to reach small land holders.(ANI)