HYDERABAD: Describing the Central government's Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) as a bogus scheme, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Friday said that none of the farmers received any benefits from it due to the unscientific insurance policy.
The CM said that the Centre has to revisit the issue as there are shortcomings and also stressed the need to make changes for the welfare of ryots. "There are a lot of shortcomings in the existing policy, which needs to be rectified to ensure that the benefits of crop insurance reach the farmers at the grassroots level," he said.
Intervening during the Question Hour, on the supplementary question raised by BJP members Raja Singh and Raghunandan Rao, he pointed out that whenever the State government submits a preliminary report to the Centre on the losses suffered by farmers due to heavy rains or floods, the Central government sends a team to assess the damages, and quite often these teams turn up very late. "At times, they come after three or four months, delaying the process further," he said.
"During the assessment, crop insurance claim is approved only if an entire village or mandal gets affected and crop insurance is not given if a section of farmers suffers losses in a particular village or mandal. Under the PMFBY scheme, it is the insurance companies which is getting profits with the farmers' money," he added.
While criticising the Centre for not releasing the required funds, he said that it is also ignoring the reports submitted by experts like MS Swaminathan.
Referring to the damage caused by Cyclone Gulab, he said that the State government has already instructed the District Collectors to enumerate crop losses and other damages and after receiving the reports, the government will extend aid.
"If tenant farmers suffered losses due to cyclone, the government will treat those cases on humanitarian grounds and extend help. The MLAs can bring these issues to the notice of government for necessary action," he said.