The Centre on Tuesday informed the Lok Sabha that nearly all claims under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) have been settled, asserting that the crop insurance scheme now ensures timely and transparent compensation for farmers across the country.

Replying to a starred question raised by Congress MP from Sirsa Kumari Selja regarding delays or non-payment of PMFBY claims, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said more than 20 lakh grievances were registered across the country between January 2024 and February 2026 through the Krishi Rakshak Portal and the toll-free helpline 14447.

He said almost all complaints had been resolved during this period.

In Haryana, a total of 41,526 complaints were received, out of which 99.5% were redressed, the minister informed the House.

The government’s reply included grievance data for nearly 23 states and three Union Territories. However, the data for Punjab was not included in the response.

Highlighting the scale of the scheme, Chouhan said during the past three years 40.76 crore applications were enrolled under PMFBY across the country. During this period, Rs 54,883 crore was disbursed as insurance claims to 9.82 crore farmers.

In Haryana alone, the scheme recorded 2.99 crore applications, and more than Rs 3,149 crore was paid to over 56 lakh farmers as compensation for crop losses.

The minister acknowledged that occasional delays in claim settlement occurred due to factors such as late release of state subsidy shares, discrepancies in yield data, or delayed submission of insurance proposals by banks.

Chouhan also highlighted several steps taken by the government to improve transparency and ensure faster claim settlement.

These include the National Crop Insurance Portal (NCIP) for online enrolment and electronic transfer of claims, and the Digiclaim Module for monitoring payments.

He added that penalty provisions of 12% interest have been introduced for delays in claim disbursement by insurance companies or state governments. From kharif 2025, states have also been required to maintain escrow accounts for advance deposit of their premium share.

The minister further outlined the use of technology to improve crop-loss assessment, including YES-TECH, which uses remote sensing for yield estimation, and WINDS, a system designed to provide hyper-local weather data.

These initiatives, he said, are aimed at ensuring accurate crop assessment and fair insurance payouts to farmers.

Source - https://www.tribuneindia.com