* Out of 20 districts, only 4 covered
Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, Jan 3: The much talked about Pradhan Mantri Fassal Bhima Yojna (PMFBY) has been a non-starter in Jammu and Kashmir till date.
According to sources, out of 20 districts of J&K UT, the scheme has only been implemented in four districts which included three in Jammu region and one in Kashmir valley so far while no headway has been made in implementing the scheme in other 16 districts of the UT.
Sources said that out of four districts where the scheme has been launched by the Government no insurance cover for Kharif crops has been paid to farmers which were destroyed in hailstorm on October 30 last year especially in Jammu and Samba districts where almost 80 percent Kharif crop of Basmati got perished by the hailstorm as per farmers’ claims.
Sources said that total number of 51,484 farmers were to be covered in four districts of Jammu, Samba, Udhampur and Anantnag in the UT under the scheme and total amount of premium paid by farmers, UT and Central Governments was Rs 1932.73 lakh. Out of this premium, eight percent was to be paid by both UT and Central Governments while two percent was to be paid by the farmers.
The farmers in all the four districts paid the premium but both the UT and Central Governments did not release the funds for payment of premium to the insurance companies with the result the farmers who suffered heavy loss of their Kharif crop were not paid the insurance amount of the damaged crop till date.
Sources said the aggrieved farmers in the four districts are running from pillar to post for the release of premium but to no avail.
Sources said the farmers share of premium in the four districts amounted to Rs 412.33 lakh while the UT share and GoI share was Rs 966.37 lakh each under which 21712 hectares of land were insured for a sum of Rs 20616.43 lakh. However, the UT Government failed to pay the payment to the insurance companies till date with the result the GoI also did not release the payment of premium to insurance companies that led to non payment of insured amount to the aggrieved farmers in time for damaged crops, sources added.
The farmers in the UT are aghast over the attitude of the UT Government in non payment of premium amount to the insurance companies saying that Government was unnecessarily creating hurdles in this regard. They also questioned that if unnecessary hurdles are created in release of premium amount by the Government what is the fun of launching the scheme. The farmers who suffered a heavy loss due to hailstorm last year said that on the one hand the Government is claiming doubling their income by next year and on the other hand hurdles are being created in the implementation of welfare schemes in the UT.
Tejinder Singh, president, JK Kissan Council, while showing his concern over delaying tactics being adopted in the UT in implementation of the Yojna said the claims of the Government are totally hollow. He said “If we can’t give benefit to farmers they will lose all faith in the set up,. The Government of India is ready to pay the payment but the UT Government has to release its share first which it has not done till date”, he added.
Tejinder said that Agriculture was given a new direction in J&K during last one and half year but if such things prevail the farmers will lose their faith in Government. He said, if the Government can’t settle the claims in a time bound manner the farmers can’t be motivated to insure their crops in future.
He said in Punjab and Gujarat States, claims under PMFBY were settled but not in J&K. Every other sector can wait but not agriculture, he added.
The farmers are also demanding more provisions for them in coming budget for their prosperity.
Farmers have sought immediate intervention of Lt Governor, Manoj Sinha in the matter. “The Lt Governor should intervene in the matter immediately and get the premium amount released to insurance companies” said Mir Ghulam Rasool a farmer and member of Fruit Growers Association, Ganderbal, Kashmir. Maintaining that farmers are backbone of country’s economy, he said the Government should make it a priority sector and not delay the implementation of welfare schemes.
Mir said the compensation for damage to crops due to hailstorm and heavy rains has also not been released as per the loss suffered by the farmers in the UT and in some districts the date for compensation has been prepared on the whims and fancies of Revenue Department.
However, the Mission Director Agriculture Department, Kashmir, Iqbal Choudhary said that PMFBY has been implemented in the UT but the delay in release of premium by the Department is that after converting the J&K State into UT, the funds are to be released from Delhi and earlier it was State Government which was empowered to release its share for such schemes. He said he is pursuing the case with Union Government and soon the funds will be released and claims of farmers will be settled.
Director Agriculture Jammu, K K Sharma said the final joint processing assessment of crop cut at the end of season by the Agriculture Department, Revenue Department and Insurance companies has been completed and soon the premium amount will be released and claims of farmers settled.
He said the delay in launching the scheme in other districts of UT was because high premium rates were quoted by insurance companies which exceeded the budget so it was put on hold. “Now the Department is again calling the bids from Insurance companies and we are hopeful to receive reasonable bids to cover the farmers in all the districts of UT”, he added.
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