Karnataka planning separate regulatory body for crop insurance scheme

The coverage of Centre’s crop insurance scheme has not benefitted the farmers in Karnataka, according to a recent study. The study has suggested the govt to set up a separate regulatory body for crop insurance scheme to look into grievances and having separate desks in banks for crop insurance.

The coverage of scheme is just 17% in Karnataka. The study in Kolar, Mandya, Tumakuru, and Chitradurga shows that 56.7% of farmers have said they are not satisfied with the scheme, though this is said to be more beneficial than the previous one. They are not happy with the quantum of claims being awarded, delay in settling claims, lack of grievance redressing mechanism, etc.

Karnataka Agricultural Prices Commission (KAPC) chairman T.N. Prakash Kammaradi says that two studies commissioned by the Institute for Social and Economic Change in the southern districts and Dharwad-based Centre for Multi-Disciplinary Development Research in the northern districts have indicated the need for a State-level institutional mechanism for monitoring the scheme.

“The other insurance schemes such as life insurance or health insurance are aggressively marketed by agents. But there are no agents or facilitators for the crop insurance scheme as the State Agriculture Department and banks, which deal with crop insurance scheme, are already burdened with other work,” he says.