NE NEWS SERVICE
AMARAVATI, JUN 26
As the sowing of kharif crops picking up across Andhra Pradesh, the Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday announced that the government will bear the farmers’ share of crop insurance premium under the PMFBY and collect a nominal amount of Rs 1 from them.
Hon'ble CM @ysjagan released crop insurance claims to a tune of Rs.596.4 Cr pertaining to Rabi 2018-19, benefiting 5,94,005 farmers across the state, notably helping them during the tough times of #COVID19. The amount was directly credited into the bank accounts of beneficiaries. pic.twitter.com/hDSQqzVgPy
— CMO Andhra Pradesh (@AndhraPradeshCM) June 26, 2020
A pending claim payout to the tune of Rs 596.36 crore has also been released to 5.94 lakh farmers after the current government paid the pending state’s share of crop insurance premium of Rs 122.61 crore for the 2018-19 rabi season, he said in a statement.
The state government is implementing the Centre’s flagship scheme Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), which provides for comprehensive crop insurance from pre- sowing to post-harvest period against non-preventable natural risks at extremely low premium rates. Under the scheme, a farmer has to pay 2 per cent premium for kharif crops, 1.5 per cent for rabi crops and 5 per cent for horticulture and commercial crops. The balance amount of premium is equally shared by central and the respective state governments.
“Normally one month before the agriculture season, the premium amount is paid. But for the rabi season of 2018-19, both farmers and Centre had paid their share but the State had failed to pay the amount of Rs 122.61 crores, thus the farmers could not get their claims,” the Chief Minister said.
The previous government did not pay the insurance premium for the Rabi 2018-19 season and neglected the agriculture sector, he alleged.
“To avoid such inconvenience, the government has decided to pay the premium amount on behalf of the farmer and collect a nominal Rs 1 from them and once the e-cropping is done, the premium amount will be paid to the farmers,” he added.
The Chief Minister said that e-cropping will be in force at Rythu Bharosa Kendras (RBKs) and the government will pay the premium immediately. Agriculture Minister K Kannababu, Agriculture Mission Vice Chairman MVS Nagai Reddy, Special Chief Secretary Poonam Malakondiah, Agriculture Department Commissioner Arun Kumar were among others present at the video conference
Jagan unveils mobile app to strengthen RBKs
Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday launched a mobile app to monitor the services being rendered by Rythu Bharosa Kendras (RBKs) to farmers from time to time.
The app will give updates on the government policies and schemes on agriculture and its allied fields besides the facilities available at RBKs and their utilities among others.
In a statement, the government said the app will also help in giving feedback to the government on the various programmes it has been implementing.
“The data of all the activities of RBKs will be stored in the App and it will be monitored by the government at a high level on real-time basis,” it said.
The app will oversee the functioning of various RBKs through the dash board, draw a comparison and suggest measures of better performance.
Agriculture Minister K Kannababu, Agriculture Mission Vice Chairman MVS Nagi Reddy, Agriculture Special Chief Secretary Poonam Malkondaiah, Agriculture Commissioner Arun Kumar and others were present on the occasion, the statement from CMO said.
