Parliament’s committee on estimates has in its latest report called for re-formulation of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), seeking transparency in its working and asking for more financial allocations to attract increasing participation from farmers. The committee has observed that there are fundamental flaws in the design of the scheme that renders it rather ineffective.
Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana was launched in 2016. Premium: It envisages a uniform premium of only 2% to be paid by farmers for Kharif crops, and 1.5% for Rabi crops. The premium for annual commercial and horticultural crops will be 5%.The scheme is mandatory for farmers who have taken institutional loans from banks. It’s optional for farmers who have not taken institutional credit.