More than 4.30 lakh crop insurance applications under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) were rejected in Maharashtra during the Kharif 2024 season due to irregularities, the legislative council was told on Monday.

State Agriculture Minister Manikrao Kokate stated in a written reply that the rejections were primarily due to discrepancies such as insurance on government-owned land, municipal land, areas exceeding actual landholdings, and non-eligible crops.

"No financial loss has occurred to the government as no premiums were paid for these invalid claims," Kokate stated while responding to a question asked by BJP MLC Chitra Wagh.

As many as 4,30,443 crop insurance applications under the PMFBY were rejected during the Kharif 2024 season. In comparison, 2,85,468 applications were rejected during the Kharif 2023 season, the minister stated.

Kokate said the scrutiny process had flagged several irregularities including fraudulent geo-tagging of non-agricultural land as agricultural land.

"The government is committed to ensuring transparency and preventing misuse of the scheme," he added.

Kokate further stated that Beed district emerged as a hotspot for irregularities in both years (2023 and 24).

He said the licences of 11 Common Service Centre (CSC) operators in Beed were revoked due to fraudulent practices during Kharif 2024 and complaints were filed against them. Across the state, action was taken against a total of 21 CSC operators.

Since the scheme's inception in Kharif 2016, Maharashtra has seen widespread participation from farmers. For Kharif 2024 alone, approximately 15 lakh farmers applied under PMFBY, covering around 113 lakh hectares of farmland, the minister stated.

Source - https://www.business-standard.com