Insurance scheme optional for non-loanee farmers: FM

The national agricultural insurance scheme is mandatory for all farmers who avail of crop loan from nationalised banks but is optional for non-loanee farmers, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

Responding to supplementaries during question hour, he said the Agriculture Ministry was currently engaged in a thorough re-examination of the scheme, which was leading to losses, so that a better alternative could be worked out. —PTI