Following repeated reminders from the office of the Agriculture Commissioner, insurance companies have settled the majority of crop loss claims in the state. To date, 44.26 lakh farmers in the state have received Rs 2,501.66 crore in way of compensation for crop loss earlier in the season.

Notwithstanding the timely onset of the monsoon, farmers in the state had to face heavy rain damaging their crop in some areas. Similarly, extremely heavy rain during the withdrawal phase of the monsoon had seen farmers reporting crop loss in many areas. Cultivators in Marathwada, Konkan, Vidarbha and North Maharashtra region suffered maximum damage. A total of 47.65 lakh farmers in the state had filed claims worth Rs 2, 512.81 crore.

While claims were submitted on time, insurance companies delayed settling the same. Farmer organisations like the Kisan Sabha had led numerous agitations for the early settling of the claims.

Agriculture Commissioner Dheeraj Kumar had issued repeated notices to the insurers, warning them of action in case the claims were not settled soon.

Insurance companies had blamed the delay in joint survey and non-payment of the state government’s share as reasons behind the late settlement of claims. Over the past few seasons, claims for crop loss have seen an increase given the frequent incidents of unseasonal rains. The insurers have claimed that the business was loss-making for them. However, there is rising demand for a relook into the whole scheme as the insurance companies had made record profit in good seasons.

According to the latest figures of the 37.35 lakh farmers, who had filed claims of crop loss, 33.99 lakh have received their payment. Of the total Rs 2,278.52 crore claim amount, Rs 2082.40 crore has been paid to the farmers. Officials of the Agriculture Commissionerate said that three companies now have major pending claims and they are expected to be cleared in the next few days.

Nearly 11.30 lakh farmers had filed claims for mid-season adversity (unseasonal rains in the middle of the season mostly in September-October). The total claims filed were around Rs 430.41 crore. In this category, 10.27 lakh farmers have received Rs 419.26 crore by way of compensation.

Source - https://indianexpress.com