The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana will end up being a bigger scam than the Rafale deal in terms of free handouts to corporations, alleges noted journalist P Sainath, who is also the founder editor of People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI).who is an expert on agrarian and farmer related issues.
In a series of tweets, the author of “Everybody Loves A Good Drought” says, “Already, since 2016, the central and state governments have together allocated over Rs66,000 crore to crop insurance schemes”.
P. Sainath@PSainath_orgThose dissatisfied with their ‘compensation’ (ranging from Rs. 40 – 560 for loss of Soybean crop in PArbahani district) have nowhere to go. There is no dispute redressal mechanism.
P. Sainath@PSainath_orgNote that the CAG report. No., 7 of 2017 also has several unpleasant observations to make about the PMFBY. Including its lack of a dispute redressal mechanism. It also observes a decline in the number of farmers opting for the scheme. #pmscropinsurancescheme
Tweeting about huge hidden transfer of public money to private insurers, he says, “These three years have also seen serious farmer distress and crop failure in several regions. In the ‘compensations’ paid out to farmers, it is hard to spot any funds that have come out of the pockets of the insurance companies, mainly private, but also including public entities like the Life Insurance Corporation or LIC.”
“The payouts have come from the premiums given by the farmer, and by state and central governments – and account for only a fraction of even those premiums, leaving over huge sums of public money for the insurers. And the first claimant on any ‘compensation’ is the bank that gave the farmer the loan he or she is unable to repay,” he added.
Here is a video by Mr Sainath on hidden transfer of public money to private insurers under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana…
November 22, 2018 at 4:18 pm
The scheme has benefited corporate insurance companies more than the needy farmers