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Journalism of Courage
Maharashtra has seen a drastic dip in the enrolment for the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, which allows farmers to insure their crops against losses due to natural calamities. Enrolment has plummeted from last year’s 76.31 lakh to 31,39.15 lakh, as of July 31, with farmers saying the scheme has become “non-viable” owing to the rollback of the Rs 1 premium by the state government and stringent compensation rules.
Why have many farmers decided not to insure their crops?
This is the first year that Yuvraj Patil, who grows soyabeans over 16 acres in Shelgaon village in Nanded district’s Ardhapur taluka, has decided not to insure his crops. His reason: the Rs 1,100/hectare premium is not viable given the stringent compensation norms. “The scheme has not taken local natural calamities into consideration. The manner in which compensation is to be calculated is also faulty,” he said.
The guidelines of the Fasal Bima Yojana talk about increased usage of technology and crop-cutting experiments. The first one, Patil said, was a red flag: “Satellite images would be used to calculate losses”. “But what is the guarantee that it would be able to get the correct picture? If it rains at night and the satellite picture is of the morning, then the losses will not be captured,” he said.
What is crop insurance and how did it help farmers?
Implemented across the country, the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana has the premium divided among the state government, central government, and farmers. The first two take up the lion’s share of the premium to be paid, while the farmers’ share is kept minimal so as to make the scheme affordable for them. As the vast majority of farmers in Maharashtra practise rain-fed agriculture, the scheme was a hit with them, given the cushion it provided in case of crop loss. The farmers now pay just 2 per cent of the premium, while the rest is taken care of by the central and state governments.
In 2023, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced that farmers would be able to opt for the insurance at Rs 1. This continued for the fiscal of 2023-24 and also the fiscal of 2024-25, leading to record enrollment by farmers. Thus, 78.82 lakh farmers insured their crop during the 2023 kharif season, 73.19 lakh farmers opted for the scheme in the 2024 kharif season, as per the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana’s web portal.
Many say the current dip in the enrolment is a result of the rollback of the Rs 1 premium. The state government has extended the scheme’s deadline to August 14 after the initial deadline of July 31 lapsed.
Why was the premium rolled back?
On April 30, 2025, Fadnavis, now the chief minister, rolled back the Rs 1 premium that he had introduced as the deputy chief minister, and financial irregularities and bogus claims were supposed to be the reason. Officials said that scrutiny of the scheme had shown over five lakh bogus claims. Government land, barren land, and other types of land were found to have been insured under the scheme, with compensation being pocketed by middlemen. The rollback is estimated to help the Government save over Rs 5,000 crore.
What do farm leaders and farmers have to say?
Farmers like Patil know that by not insuring their crops, they are taking a major risk. But they are willing to take the risk. “The cover provided might be good, but the manner in which the regulations are drawn is not conducive for us. Why should we invest in a scheme which is of no use to us,” he said.
Before the state government introduced the Rs 1 premium, the scheme had witnessed a constant dip in enrolment, and political leaders across party lines had called for a rethink on the scheme.
Anil Ghanwat, the leader of Shetkari Sanghatana, a farmer union founded by the late Sharad Joshi, said the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana has lost its utility for farmers. “The scheme is not stacked heavily in favour of insurance companies. Hence the rollback,” he said.
Government statement on the lower numbers
The Government has said in a statement that one of the main reasons behind the dip in the numbers is the introduction of the Agristack registration, which allows centralised reporting of total landholding. “As per the 2021 agricultural census, Maharashtra has 1.7 crore farmers. Till date, over 1 crore farmers have registered on Agristack. Around 61 lakh farmers have not registered on Agristack and have thus become ineligible for the crop loss insurance scheme. Similarly, changes in the manner of registration has also resulted in sanitisation of the registration. Earlier, common service centres were allowed Rs 40 per registration… The Rs 1 premium had thus opened a window for fraudulent income, as in many cases it was found that land was insured without the knowledge of the landholder. With the premium now higher, this has stopped,” the statement read.
