Government Launches New Scheme to Compensate Farmers for Crop Loss; Details Inside

To ensure crop loss due to drought, excessive rainfall or unseasonal rain, Gujarat government has recently launched a new scheme to lessen the suffering of farmers where they will get compensation without paying any premium. Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said that the new scheme 'Mukhyamantri Kisan Sahay Yojana' will replace the Pradhan Mantri Awas Bima Yojana (PMFBY) for this year only.

Farmers are not required to Pay Any Premium-

Rupani said that unlike the Crop Insurance Scheme of the Center, farmers are not required to pay any premium under this new state government scheme to get protection from natural risks like drought, excess or unseasonal rains in this kharif season.

PMFBY is being replaced with Mukhyamantri Kisan Sahay Yojana

Moreover, Gujarat CM said that for this year only, PMFBY is being replaced with Chief Minister Kisan Sahay Yojana, as insurance companies have demanded a much higher premium from us this time. If we accept their tender, the state government will have to pay Rs 4,500 crore as its share.

The amount demanded by insurance companies this year is more than the average premium of about Rs 1,800 crore, says the Chief Minister. Moreover he said that it has decided not to accept the tender for this year and to start the scheme. Neither the state nor the farmers will have to pay any premium this year.

In PMFBY, only those farmers get protection cover which pays the premium, but on the contrary our scheme will provide security cover to all the farmers for crops without any premium payment.

Who will Benefit from Mukhyamantri Kisan Sahay Yojana?

The farmers who sowed the crop during this kharif (monsoon) season will get benefits under this scheme. Rupani said that premium would be given only if the crop loss due to drought or excess rain or unseasonal rains would be more than 33 percent. He said that a farmer is eligible for compensation of maximum four hectares of land. He said that for crop losses between 33 percent and 66 percent, a farmer would get compensation of Rs 20,000 for a maximum of four hectares.

Rupani said that apart from the compensation paid under the scheme, farmers will also be eligible to get additional compensation under the State Disaster Response Fund in case of crop loss due to natural calamities.