BARGARH: Hundreds of farmers from three-gram panchayats of Paikmal block on Tuesday blocked Padampur-Jagdalpur road at Lakhmara protesting non-payment of insurance claims under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY).
The farmers of Lakhmara, Badikata and Bhengrajpur gram panchayats, united under the banner of Rajborasambar Krushak Sangathan, started the road blockade at 9 am, wearing masks and maintaining social distancing. They lifted the blockade at 5 pm as no officials visited the spot to hold discussions with them.
Farmer leader Ramesh Mahapatra said farmers of the gram panchayats are yet to get their insurance claims for crop loss due to scanty rainfall during 2019 kharif season. He said the farmers had drawn the attention of the administration towards the issue on several occasions but in vain.
The farmers’ crops were insured by Oriental Insurance Company. While farmers from Lakhmara are eligible to get 53.60 per cent of the sum insured, those from Badikata and Bhengrajpur are supposed to get 71.50 per cent and 26.25 per cent of sum insured respectively. The farmers from the three panchayats are supposed to get `7 crore in total for the crop loss. They should have received their share by March 31, 2020, said Mahapatra.
Padampur Sub-Collector Tanmaya Darwan said he has talked to the State coordinator of the insurance company over the matter. He said the amount has not been released due to some technical problems.