Cabinet Endorses Continuation of ₹69,515.71 Crore Crop Insurance Schemes for Farmers

New Delhi, Jan 1 (NationPress) The Union Cabinet, presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the extension of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana and the Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme until 2025-26, with a total financial allocation of ₹69,515.71 crore spanning from 2021-22 to 2025-26.

This initiative aims to provide risk coverage for crops affected by unavoidable natural disasters for farmers nationwide until 2025-26, as indicated in an official announcement following the Cabinet meeting.

The Cabinet has also given the green light for establishing a Fund for Innovation and Technology (FIAT), which will have a corpus of ₹824.77 crore. This fund is intended to facilitate significant technological advancements in the execution of the scheme, enhancing both transparency and the processes of claim calculation and settlement, according to the statement.

The fund will support technological projects under the scheme, including YES-TECH, WINDS, and other related research and development initiatives.

The Yield Estimation System using Technology (YES-TECH) employs Remote Sensing Technology to determine yield estimates, assigning a minimum of 30% weightage to technology-based evaluations.

A total of nine prominent states, such as Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka, are currently engaged in the implementation of the scheme.

Other states are also being integrated swiftly.

As a result of the broader application of YES-TECH, traditional Crop Cutting Experiments and related challenges are set to be phased out gradually. The claim calculation and settlement process for 2023-24 has been accomplished under YES-TECH.

Madhya Pradesh has fully adopted technology-based yield assessment.

The Weather Information and Network Data Systems (WINDS) program aims to establish Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) at the block level and Automatic Rain Gauges (ARGs) at the panchayat level.

WINDS anticipates a fivefold increase in current network density to create hyper-local weather information.

Under this initiative, only data rental expenses will be borne by the Central and state authorities.

Nine major states are in the process of implementing WINDS, including Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Puducherry, Assam, Odisha, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, and Rajasthan, while other states have also expressed interest in adopting the scheme.

WINDS could not be executed by states during 2023-24 (the initial year as per EFC) due to various preliminary preparations and planning needed before the tendering process.

Consequently, the Union Cabinet has designated 2024-25 as the first implementation year for WINDS instead of 2023-24, allowing state governments to benefit from a higher central fund sharing ratio of 90:10.

Efforts are continuously made to prioritize the saturation of all farmers in the northeastern states.

To this end, the Centre contributes 90% of the premium subsidy to northeastern regions.

However, due to the voluntary nature of the scheme and the relatively low gross cropped area in northeastern states, flexibility has been granted to prevent the surrender of funds and to allow for reallocation to other developmental projects and schemes with funding needs, as stated.