As BJD is planning to make non-settlement of crop insurance claims of Bargarh farmers as a major issue during the by-election to Padampur Assembly constituency, Cooperation Minister Atanu Sabyasachi on Wednesday urged Union Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar to direct the insurance companies for speedy disbursal of the crop insurance claims of the affected farmers.

Nayak met the union minister in New Delhi and expressed the state government’s displeasure to the dilly dallying attitude of insurance companies towards the genuine claims of the farmers.Apprising Tomar that the farmers who sustained crop loss during 2021 kharif season have been waiting for long to get crop loss compensation but the insurance companies have held up the crop insurance claims on several technical grounds which are not acceptable.

While the farmers are struggling to come out of the economic hardship they faced during the Covid-19 pandemic, inordinate delay in the settlement of crop insurance claims of the farmers under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) has led to law and order situation in a few western Odisha districts.

Dubbing the action of the insurance companies as anti-farmer, Nayak said that the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) of the centre met on November 3 and heard the disputed pertaining to 189 out of 225 crop units. Though the TAC is yet to submit the final report, discussions at the meeting suggest that the decision may not favour the farmers.

Seeking personal intervention of the union minister, Nayak requested Tomar to direct the TAC to take into consideration of the recommendations of the state level technical advisory committee (STAC) before arriving at a decision on the disputed claims.

Nayak further informed Tomar that the profit motive of the insurance companies has become a deterrent factor for farmers as evident from the declining number of registration under the centrally sponsored insurance scheme.To support his claims, Nayak said 11.49 lakh farmers have registered their names for crop compensation under PMFBY in 2022 kharif as against 12.29 lakh in the previous year.

Source - https://www.newindianexpress.com