Maharashtra finds 4.14 lakh bogus crop insurance claims under PM Fasal Bima Yajana

In some cases, farmers tried to claim insurance for non-existent crops and in some others, they tried to claim for crops on lands not owned by them, it is learnt. A senior official in the department said a large number of applications have been filed through common service centres (CSCs) based on bogus information and in some cases, real land owners are not even aware about claims made on their farmland. The agriculture department will now cross-verify and physically inspect all districts in the state before processing the claims, the official said.

When contacted, Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Manikrao Kokate said, “Some farmers from outside the state have applied under the scheme. Several people have applied for crop insurance on non-agricultural plots, temples, mosques and even the government plots. We have ordered all the district collectors to take action against 96 CSCs that have indulged in the irregularities and have submitted the applications using bogus land documents and information.”

“We have rejected 4.14 lakh applications and saved government’s money. In fact, we have averted a scam. To ensure there are no irregularities, we have instructed officials to take feedback from farmers and others to check whether any rectifications are required in the scheme,” said Kokate.

The agriculture department has rejected 4.14 lakh applications for the year 2024 that they termed “bogus” or “manipulated” and hence rendered ineligible to avail of insurance under the PMFBY. According to data available with the state government, a total of 1.68 crore applications were received for insurance of crops in 2024. At 4.14 lakh claim rejections, it comes to nearly 2.5 per cent of the total applications, which is the highest in any year since the scheme was launched.

While the number of rejections stood at 11,761 out of the total 1.04 crore applications in 2022, the number shot up to 3.8 lakh out of the total 2.42 crore applications in 2023, taking the rejection percentage to 1.57 per cent.

Data from districts shows that of the total 4.14 lakh rejected applications, the highest number is from Beed at 1.09 lakh bogus claims, accounting  for one-fourth of the total bogus claims. Dhananjay Munde is the MLA from Parli assembly constituency in Beed district and was the agriculture minister till November 2024. Beed is followed by Jalgaon with 33,786 such claims, with Parbhani coming third with 21,315 bogus claims.

When asked about the total liability for government or insurance companies for the these rejected claims, a senior official in the department said they are yet to calculate the amount as several factors have to be taken into account, including type of crop sown, total area of land sown, type of soil and the season.

“However, per hectare rate of insurance is minimum Rs 20,000 and upto Rs 90,000, depending on the crop. For moong (green gram), it is Rs 20,000 per hectare, for soyabean it is Rs 50,000 per hectare, cotton Rs 55,000 per hectare and for onion, it is Rs 90,000 per hectare. We are yet to calculate the aggregate amount,” he said.

Commissioner of state agriculture department, Raosaheb Bhagade, confirmed the development and said the report is under consideration at the ministry level and action would be initiated as per rules.

According to an official with the agriculture department, “Some attempted to insure a crop on the land that belongs to the goverment or its departments such as MIDC or others, and even on other farmers’ land without actually sowing it. Some farmers applied to insure a crop, which was not actually sown by them. Some even applied for insurance over non-agricultural land belonging to religious places, social and religious trusts or other entities.”

He said that in one case, a farmer in Maharashtra’s Chandwad tehsil of Nashik district applied for crop insurance on a land where there was a petrol pump. In a similar instance in Nashik, some people applied for insurance on non-agriculture land of over 100 acres, by showing crop plantation on the same.

An agriculture department official said, “Realising the issue and misuse of the scheme in 2024, we decided to start cross-verification and physical inspection in advance when the farmers applied for the insurance. This way, we have managed to curb the misuse of the scheme… We have now sent the list and report of all the rejected applications to the government for further action.”

“There are two types of actions that we can take. One is criminal and the other is banning farmers from applying for the government insurance for five years if they are found  submitting bogus data to misuse the scheme,” said a senior official in the department adding that with advance inspection, crores of excequer’s money have been saved and the process will continue further too.

On getting information about the rampant misuse and modus operandi used by farmers to avail of scheme benefits, the agriculture department started cross-verification and physical inspection across all districts before the claim payment can be processed.

“Thousands of farmers have insured land despite having no plantation or land ownership. There are cases where many CSC operators have prepared bogus proposals in the name of farmers and uploaded them on the insurance scheme website without their knowledge,” a source from the department said, adding that a report is being prepared that will be submitted to the government and action will be initiated in the coming weeks.

As per the Central government scheme, farmers of non-horticulture crops pay just one rupee for premium while the rest is borne by the state and central government.