Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will on Monday digitally transfer a crop insurance claim amount of ₹ 3,200 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) to 3 million farmer beneficiaries.

The PMFBY claim amount will be transferred during an event organised for this purpose in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan.

Besides Chouhan, Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma, Union Minister of State for Agriculture Bhagirath Choudhary, and state agriculture minister Kirodi Lal Meena will attend the event.

Of the total claim amount, ₹ 1,156 crore will be transferred to farmers in Madhya Pradesh, ₹ 1,121 crore to 700 thousand farmers in Rajasthan, ₹ 150 crore to Chhattisgarh-based farmers, and ₹ 773 crore to farmers in other states, according to an official statement.

 The Union agriculture minister stated that the Centre has implemented a new simplified claim settlement system in the interest of farmers, wherein claims can be paid proportionately based only on the central subsidy without waiting for the state's premium contribution.

"From the Kharif 2025 season onwards, if a state government delays its subsidy contribution, it will be penalised at 12 per cent, and similarly, if insurance companies delay payments, farmers will receive a 12 per cent penalty," he said in the statement.

The PMFBY, since its launch in 2016, has disbursed claims worth ₹ 1.83 trillion, while farmers have paid only ₹ 35,864 crore in premium.

"This means an average claim payout of more than five times the premium, indicating the government's farmer-friendly policy," he added.

In recent years, several technological innovations, such as YES-TECH, WINDS portal, AIDE mobile app, Krishi Rakshak Portal and Helpline number 14447, have been implemented.

These have not only improved the claim settlement speed and transparency, but also enhanced weather data accuracy and provided farmers with registration facilities at the village level.

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