New Delhi: The Union cabinet on Wednesday decided to make the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) voluntary for farmers, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said.
Addressing an event here, Tomar said that the decision was taken in Wednesday's cabinet meeting following some complaints regarding the scheme launched in April 2016.
PMFBY is compulsory for loanee farmers availing crop loan and Kishan Credit Card (KCC) account for notified crops, while it is voluntary for others. The scheme provides comprehensive crop insurance from pre-sowing to the post-harvest period against non-preventable natural risks at extremely low premium rates of 2 per cent for kharif crops, 1.5 per cent for rabi crops and 5 per cent for horticulture and commercial crops.
The minister said the PMFBY scheme has been made optional. Highlighting the achievements of this scheme, Tomar said the insurance programme has covered 30 per cent of cultivable area.
The minister said insurance claims worth Rs 60,000 crore have been cleared, while Rs 13,000 crore premiums have been collected. The cabinet also gave its sanction of Rs 6,000 crore for the Farmer Producers' Organisation (FPO) as the government has a target of creating 1,000 FPOs in the next five years.
(Inputs from Agencies)
