According to a reply received under the RTI (Right To Information) Act, insurance companies empanelled under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) have earned Rs 15,795 crore in the past two years, as reported by The Tribune. Union Agriculture Ministry gave the reply in response to the RTI query filed by activist P P Kapoor.

PMFBY is the NDA government’s crop insurance scheme that provides a simple and effective platform for farmers to insure against farm losses. The programme has set uniform rates of premiums to be paid on different categories of crops and introduced technological solutions to capture and upload data of crop cutting to reduce delays in payments to farmers.

The reply disclosed that 11 insurance companies that have been roped into the scheme received gross premiums from farmers, amounting to Rs 47,407.98 crores over two years. However, they had to settle claims from farmers for crop losses to the tune of Rs 31,612.72 crores.

However, approved claims worth Rs 512 crore are yet to be paid out while the a majority of Rabi crop claims by farmers are yet to be estimated and approved, the RTI reply further states.

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