NEW DELHI: The only source of enrolment for Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) is through the National Crop Insurance Portal (NCIP).
Farmer applications from various designated sources including banks or other financial institutions are entered on this platform.
Specific cut-off dates have been prescribed for enrolment of farmers, debit of premium, remittance of farmers’ premium to the concerned insurance company and uploading of data of farmers on NCIP.
The information was provided in a written statement to Parliament by Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar during the last monsoon season of Parliament.
Answering a question in the Rajya Sabha, the minister also stated: “It was noticed that sometimes some banks/financial institutions in some states/Union Territories did not enter the data on NCIP, due to which some farmers could not be enrolled in time. In order to ameliorate against such instances, additional 15 days above the cut-off date for submission of proposal/application by farmers for enrolment have been provided to banks/financial institutions for entry of individual farmer-wise data on the NCIP for enrolment and premium subsidy calculation purposes”.
The statement added, “However, as banks have to ensure that eligible loanee farmers are not deprived of any benefit under the scheme due to errors/omissions/commissions of the concerned branch/ PACS, and in case of such errors, the concerned agencies shall have to make good of all such losses.”
In a media release late last year, the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare reiterated that PMFBY is on its way to become the world’s largest crop insurance scheme. Around five crore farmer applications are being received under the scheme every year, it said, adding that farmers received Rs. 1,25,662 crore so far against the premium of Rs 25,186 crore paid in the last six years.
