New Delhi: The government is likely to disburse over Rs 10,000 crore to farmers across the country by April 20 as compensation for the loss of kharif crop, which got damaged due to excessive rains in October and November last year. Farmers are likely to be paid in their bank accounts under the PM Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY). The government is pushing insurance companies to release the compensation at a time when farmers are facing severe problems during lockdown.
“The tabulation is in final stages. We will soon distribute the compensation. The money will come handy for farmers who are not able to sell their produce due to lockdown,” said a senior agriculture ministry official. He said the government has disbursed compensation of around Rs 4,500 crore to farmers in Maharashtra a few weeks ago.
“We will give another Rs 800 crore-1,000 crore to Maharashtra after assessing the claims. The maximum payout now would be going to Madhya Pradesh where Rs 2,500 crore-3,000 crore would be disbursed, followed by Karnataka (Rs 1,500 crore), Rajasthan (Rs 1,200 crore), Andhra Pradesh (Rs 800-1,000 crore) and Chhattisgarh (Rs 600 crore),” he said. The compensation for farmers in Rajasthan include losses incurred due to locust attacks, which damaged standing crops in January-February 2020 besides the kharif crop losses.
The government has also asked states to conduct yield assessment of rabi crop also to assess the damage. State governments have also asked their respective agriculture departments to start crop cutting experiments for the yield assessment after farm activities got exempted from lockdown.
Source: indiatimes.com
