New Delhi: Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MP from Bolangir, Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo Tuesday met Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh and sought immediate release of insurance claims to around 10,000 farmers in his constituency.
The BJD legislator said insurance companies like Chola MS have refunded the premium of nearly 10,000 non-loanee farmers after a lapse of 1.5-2 years in the Bolangir district of Odisha. In a review meeting, an officer of the company said that the claims had been rejected due to certain deficiencies in the forms submitted by the remaining farmers.
He further said that the chairman of Murugappa Group informed him that they could not access the applications of the farmers for over one-and-a-half years because of the delay in hosting the insurance portal by the Central government.
“I met Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh and CEO of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY). They told me that there is no problem with portal and the companies are lying. They assured me that the companies will disburse the insurance claims of around 10,000 farmers, which is around Rs 15 crore, as soon as possible,” said Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo.
Earlier, Kalikesh had written a letter to Agriculture Minister, CEO of PMFBY and Finance Secretary December 1 apprising them on non-implementation of PMFBY, including non-payment of claims and refund of premium amounts to the beneficiaries and wrongful rejection of the insurance for Kharif in the year 2017.