Pvt insurer yet to release dues pending for 5 yrs, farmers write to minister

Juni Mandardi Seva Sahkari Mandali Limited (JMSSML) president Ramesh Vasoya, a primary agricultural society (PAC) of Mandardi Navi-Juni village in Rajula taluka, wrote to the minister Wednesday. In his letter, the president complained that Universal Sompo General Insurance Company (USGIC), the insurance company from whom the farmers had purchased crop insurance for their Kharif crops in 2019, has not cleared insurance payout of farmers till date.

Vasoya told The Indian Express that 26 farmers had purchased the crop insurance through JMSSML after taking crop loans from Amreli District Central Cooperative Bank for the 2019 kharif season. Their groundnut crop was damaged by rains during harvest. However, only six got the insurance payout, he says. The six include Vasoya himself, his two brothers, their father, and two other farmers from the Vasoya family. The insurance company paid him Rs 59,152 in two equal installments in July 2023 and March 2024.

A farmer looks on as a mini tractor sows groundnut on his field in Kharachiya village of Rajkot on June 13, 2024. . (Express Photo by Gopal Kateshiya)

“However, the remaining 20 farmers have not been paid a penny. We have sent repeated reminders to the insurance company through email and in-person also at its Ahmedabad office, but have not got any response so far. Therefore, we have sought the intervention of the Agriculture Minister now,” said Vasoya, who is also a member of the board of directors of Rajula Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC).

In his letter to the minister, he has stated, “…it has not paid the insured amount to the rest of the farmers till date, despite them having duly paid the insurance premium,” the PAC president stated requesting action to be taken in the interest of farmers.

Mahesh Sojitra, whose farm is located near Vasoya, is among those who have not received any insurance payout against the damage to his groundnut crop. “Our farms are separated by a mud track and my crop had suffered equal damage. But the insurance company has not paid me a penny,” Sojitra, a 25-bigha farmer who had paid Rs 1,310 as his two per cent share in the premium for purchasing crop insurance, said.

Another farmer Dilip Oza said the insurance company is simply not listening to them. “It is not even listening to the state government,” he said. Oza had paid the insurance company Rs 4,120 in premium.

As per PMFBY, the Central and state governments share equal burden of paying the remaining 98 per cent premium. The effective premiums paid for insuring the crops of Sojitra and Oza work out to Rs 65,500 and Rs 2.06 lakh respectively.

Amreli District Central Cooperative Bank general manager BS Kathad said the complaints are not limited to Mandardi village alone. “Farmers from many villages across Amreli have been complaining to us that they have not got their crop insurance dues till date. However, we are helpless as we have no direct role in PMFBY and the affairs are handled by the state government and respective insurance companies. Therefore, we are suggesting farmers to address their grievances to their local MLAs or other elected representatives,” said Kathad.

Neither USGIC nor Raghavji Patel could be contacted for their comments.

In 2020, while suspending PMFBY in the state, then chief minister Vijay Rupani had said that insurance companies were quoting high premiums. He had said that the state government was paying Rs 1,600 crore-Rs 1,700 crore to insurance companies as its share of premium for purchasing crop insurance, though only around 17 lakh of the 56 lakh farmers in the state were preferring to get their crops insured. While suspending PMFBY, the state government had launched Mukhya Mantri Kisan Sahay Yojana (MMKSY) under which the government pays compensation to farmers directly.