GUWAHATI: The government of Assam has set up eight clusters under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna (PMFBY) to provide insurance benefits to farmers across the state. The scheme is expected to cover at least 5 lakh farmers in 2019-20.
The districts of the state have been divided into 8 clusters, which are arranged in accordance to the risk profiles of the crops.
Agriculture Insurance Company of India Ltd (AIC) will implement the PMFBY scheme in six of the clusters, while HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company Ltd will be responsible for the remaining two clusters.
Speaking to G Plus, an official from AIC said, “The clusters are arranged in a way that the risks are equally distributed. The arrangement aims to ensure that one cluster just does not share the risk and the other just the profit. We have already issued bids for the clusters, rates of which are different.”
Agro-climatic factors have also been considered while creating the clusters. There are six agro-climatic zones in Assam, including North Bank Plain Zone, Upper Brahmaputra Valley Zone, Central Brahmaputra Valley Zone, Lower Brahmaputra Valley Zone, Barak Valley Zone and Hill Zone.
5 lakh farmers targeted
As part of PMFBY, the government of Assam aims to cover approximately 5 lakh farmers in a year, which means it would cover 2.5 lakh farmers each in one crop season.
However, the scheme seeks to cover the maximum number of farmers who grow the crops notified by the government in a notified area during a notified season.
For this ongoing season of Kharif, the government has selected black gram, xaali paddy and jute as the notified crops.
In addition, the government under PMFBY has approved Rs 25 crores as waiver of share of farmers’ premium.
The PMFBY coverage in Assam has gradually increased over the years.
During the 2018 Kharif season (July-October), the scheme covered over 25,000 farmers, as opposed to the over 87,000 farmers covered in the 2018-19 Rabi season (October-March).
The AIC official further added, “Generally it's not easy to predict which districts would benefit the most. But looking at the previous graphs and data, Dhubri, Golaghat and Nagaon would benefit the most from the scheme.”
Aims and objectives
Through PMFBY, the government of Assam primarily aims to expand crop insurance in Assam.
The scheme also seeks to provide insurance coverage and financial support to the farmers in the event of failure of any of the notified crops due to natural calamities, pests and diseases.
In addition, PMFBY proposes to stabilise the income of farmers to ensure their continuance in farming.
Launched in January 2016 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, PMFBY has replaced two existing schemes - National Agricultural Insurance Scheme and Modified NAIS.
The AIC official told G Plus, “The PMFYB actually is a better version of both the NAIS and the modified NAIS. This scheme is a more advanced scheme and it includes the features of the previous schemes that are being scrapped.
“In addition to the older features, PMFBY has added some new features to the scheme as well. The features in the scheme would benefit the farmers more as compared to the previous schemes.”
The government of Assam has provided full subsidies on the premium to the farmers under PMFBY. This means that if the farmer grows the notified crop on up to 1 hectare of land, the farmer would be able to buy the insurance with only Re 1.
