On March 23, 2023, the Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW), launched the National Crop Insurance Portal’s (NCIP) digitized claim settlement module namely ‘DigiClaim’ under the ambit of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) at Krishi Bhawan, New Delhi, Delhi for fast settlement of crop insurance claims.
- Objective: To enable the farmers to receive their PMFBY claim amounts in a timebound and automated manner.
- After the launch of the DigiClaim module, on the same day, the insurance claims totaling Rs 1260.35 crore have been disbursed to insured farmers in the states of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Haryana at once quickly.
Features of DigiClaim:
i.Currently several instances of insured farmers’ claims are being delayed, thus the launch of DigiClaim Module will be useful for the farmers of six states as it will speed up the claim disbursal process of valid crop loss claims, and process the claims directly to their respective bank accounts in a transparent and accountable manner.
ii.This technology has been enabled through the integration of the NCIP and Public Finance Management System (PFMS).
iii.The DigiClaim, will include advanced technological solutions such as automated calculation and disbursement of crop insurance claims.
iv.Under the Module, the farmers could also track the claim settlement process on their mobile phones in real-time and avail of the scheme’s benefits.
Key Points:
i.As per the statement of Narendra Singh Tomar, to date Rs 1.32 lakh crore claim amount has been disbursed under PMFBY to the insured farmers.
ii.He also mentioned the ongoing campaign of ‘Meri Policy, Mere Haath’, which has been enhancing the awareness around PMFBY at the grassroot levels.
iii.Governments of Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Telangana, Gujarat, Bihar, West Bengal and Jharkhand have been approached to rejoin PMFBY.
Initiatives under PMFBY:
i.The crop insurance scheme Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) was launched from Kharif 2016 with an aim to support production in agriculture by providing an affordable crop insurance product to ensure comprehensive risk cover for crops of farmers against all non-preventable natural risks from pre-sowing to the post-harvest stage.
- 2023 marks the scheme’s seventh year of conception under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
ii.Number of innovative technologies like Yield Estimation System based on Technology (YES-Tech), Weather Information and Network Data Systems (WINDS) and Collection of Real Time Observations and Photographs of Crops (CROPIC) have been piloted and integrated with PMFBY so far to make the process of yield estimation and crop loss assessment more accurate
iii.Farmer Grievance Portal: It has been launched to provide timely redressal of farmers’ grievances in the first phase for the state of Chhattisgarh, which has received a positive response and in the second phase, it was planned to be implemented in the whole of India.
Other Participants: Kailash Choudhary, Union Minister of State (MoS) for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Manoj Ahuja, Union Agriculture Secretary, Ritesh Chauhan, CEO (Chief Executive Officer), PMFBY were the other senior officials present at the launch. Agriculture Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Surya Pratap Shahi participated virtually in the event.
Recent Related News:
The Eleventh Agricultural Census (2021–2022) has been launched by Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (MoAFW) to collect data on a variety of parameters, including operating holdings. For the first time, data will be collected using smartphones and tablets.
About Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW):
Union Minister – Narendra Singh Tomar (Morena Constituency, Madhya Pradesh)
Minister of State (MoS) – Shobha Karandlaje (Udupi Chikmagalur Constituency, Karnataka); Kailash Choudhary (Barmer Constituency, Rajasthan)
