New crop insurance Fasal Bima Yojana a boost for farmers : PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, which was cleared by the Union Cabinet today, as a boost to the farmers across the country.

In a series of tweets, Mr Modi said it was government’s gift to the farmers on the occasion of festivals of Lohri, Pongal and Bihu.
He expressed confidence that the new Crop Insurance Scheme will bring about a major transformation in the lives of farmers, saying it expands the definition of disaster and addresses whatever was lacking in the existing programmes.

“Farmer brothers and sisters, at a time when you are celebrating festivals like Lohri, Pongal and Bihu, the government has given you a gift in the form of Prime Minister’s Crop Insurance Scheme,” he tweeted hours after the Cabinet cleared the proposal.

“This is a historic day. I am confident that this scheme, which is inspired by the consideration of farmers’ benefit, will bring about a major transformation to the lives of farmers,” Modi added.
In a series of tweets, the Prime Minister said the scheme includes successful aspects of the existing schemes and “effectively addresses” whatever was lacking in those schemes.

“The scheme has the lowest premium, it entails easy usage of technology like mobile phone, quick assessment of damage and disbursement within a timeframe,” he said.

The definition of disaster has been expanded to include aspects like flooding of crop and damage after harvest, Modi said, adding that “special attention” has been paid to several other aspects.
“It is easy to subscribe to the scheme and easy to benefit. So, do join it,” he told the farmers,

In order to provide relief to drought-hit farmers, the government today announced a new Rs 8,800 crore crop insurance scheme, with significantly lower premium, to cover for loss of crop to natural calamities.

Farmers will pay only 2 per cent of the premium fixed by insurance company for kharif foodgrains/oilseeds crops and 1.5 per cent for rabi foodgrains/oilseeds crops under thePradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana.

http://www.centralchronicle.com/pradhan-mantri-fasal-bima-yojana-a-boost-for-farmers-pm.html