Chhatrapur: Nearly one lakh farmers of Ganjam district insured under Pradhanmantri Phasal Bima Yojana (PPBY) have not got their money, a report said. The farmers had paid premiums for their insurance cover.
Various farmers’ organisations have expressed anger over the non-payment of insurance money despite suffering crop damage.
The farmers who have not got their insurance claim have been drawing the attention of the Collector, BDOs, Agriculture Officers and Cooperation Department officials to their problem. The administration is also worried about it.
Many farmers lost their crops due to cyclone and floods. The farmers said after the crop loss they should have been paid the insurance claims, but insurance companies are not paying them citing rules.
The farmers are upset over the attitude of insurance firms and are preparing to launch protests.
Insurance company Royal Sundaram was in charge of crop insurance in the district in 2018-19.
As many farmers had raised the matter with Collector Vijay Amruta Kulange, he had sent a letter to the insurance company.
In the letter, the Collector offered a room in the Collectorate to the company where its officials can examine complaints from farmers.
Meanwhile, the insurance firm has told the administration that insurance claims are assessed on the basis of crops harvested in the last seven years, extent of damage to crops in the last two years and the latest harvest.
It may be noted here that 1,53,194 farmers in the district were covered by crop insurance in Kharif 2018.
Each farmer paid Rs 1,180 as premium per hectare while the rest was paid by the government. However, the company says only 54,061 farmers are eligible for insurance claims. Surprisingly, many of them too have not got their claims. The administration has directed the company to clear the dues as soon as possible.
PNN
