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Following a BusinessLine article dated February 18 (‘ When cover for farmers came a cropper ’), settlement has been done to 146 farmers of Jalna district in Aurangabad (Maharashtra) under the crop insurance scheme (for Kharif 2017) by the insurer, IFFCO Tokio.
Here’s a quick recap of what had happened: Jalna was badly hit by a drought during the 2017 kharif season with most farmers in the district losing their crops.
Having paid the premium under the crop insurance scheme (Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna or PMFBY in short), they were hopeful that the insurance company will pay for the loss. However, many farmers in the district did not receive the insurance amount.
When the author was in Jalna in February to report on the ground realities in the execution of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, the farmers shared their grief.
Interestingly, all the 146 fruit farmers in Jalna district, who didn’t get their insurance settlement, had paid their premium through the SBI branch in Badnapur. Others who had paid premium through the Common Service Centres or through banks other than SBI or through branches of SBI other than the one in Badnapur had received their settlement from IFFCO Tokio.
The Manager of the SBI branch in Badnapur was not very forthcoming. He just said that the premium and the documents relating to the farmers had been sent to the insurer.
When the author managed to track down the agent, he said that the bank didn’t send the details of the farmers on time and this resulted in the company not processing the papers.
It also turned out that the insurance company had not applied for the government’s subsidy on premium for those farmers.
PMO informed
When BusinessLine published the story on February 18, both SBI and IFFCO Tokio wrote to the paper offering some explanation, but continued to pass the buck.
The paper then took up the issue on social media and brought it to the notice of the State government and the PMO. In a few days following this, the aggrieved farmers got a message from the insurance company that action will be taken on the pending claim settlement.
On March 26, 146 farmers of Jalna were settled their due amount in full. With the region staring at drought this year again, the farmers are happy that they have some money to meet their daily needs.
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