On August 10, 2020, the Chief Minister of Gujarat, Vijay Rupani, launched Rs 1,800 crore scheme “Mukhya Mantri Kisan Sahay Yojana” by replacing “Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)”, for FY20-21 only, for the state’s 56 lakh farmers facing crop losses due to drought, excess rain or unseasonal rain. In this regard the state government will launch a dedicated portal so that farmers can apply online.
- Eligibility: Farmers who have sown crops for kharif (monsoon) 2020 season i.e. sown till July, and tribal farmers registered under the Forest Rights Act are eligible for this scheme. The compensation will be given only if the loss of crop is more than 33% due to above mentioned factors.
- Benefit: In comparison to Centre’s PMFBY, under this scheme, the farmers are not required to pay any premium to get protection against natural risks.
Key Points:
-For crop loss between 33% and 66%, a farmer will get a compensation of Rs 20,000 per hectare for maximum four hectares. For crop loss above 60%, a farmer will get Rs 25,000 per hectare for maximum four hectares through direct benefit transfer (DBT).
-Notably, apart from this compensation, farmers are also eligible to get additional compensation under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) constituted under Section 48 (1) (a) of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 in case of crop loss due to natural calamities.
Reason behind the replacement of scheme:
Insurance Companies asked exorbitantly (very high) premium from the Gujarat government under which state have to pay Rs 5700 crore towards its share in comparison to the previous average yearly premium of around Rs 1,800 crore. Therefore, the state government has decided not to accept the tender for FY20-21 and launch this scheme. With this, neither the state nor farmers will have to pay any premium this year.
Recent Related News:
On June 26, The Chief Minister of Gujarat Vijay Rupani launched the online aid initiative ‘At One Click’ with Rs 1,369 crore for around 13000 Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) (i.e. MSMEs and textile industries) in Gujarat.
About Gujarat:
Governor– Acharya Devvrat
Capital– Gandhinagar
