Fact Check of the claims about achievement & revamping of the PMFBY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 27, 2020
The Union Finance minister recently made claims about the number of insured farmers under the PMFBY. The Congress party also made claims about the recent revamping of the scheme. Here is a fact-check of both these claims.
The government on 19 February 2020, announced the revamping of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana(PMFBY). On one hand, the Budget Speech, delivered by Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman, hailed PMFBY for providing resilience to 6.11 croresfarmers insured under scheme. On the other hand, the recent revamping hasgarnered criticism. In a recent post, the official twitter handle of theCongress claimed that the centre’s contribution in the scheme has fallen to 25%from 50%. We take a deep dive into both these claims.
What is the number of farmers insured under
PMFBY?
Claim 1 (Point 22): PMFBY has provided resilience to 6.11 crores farmers insured under scheme.
Fact: In the lack of fully reported data for Kharif 2018 and 2019, and Rabi 2018-19, the claim remains UNVERIFIED. The last reported data from 2018-19 (without fully reported Rabi 2018-19 figures) shows that the number of farmers insured under the scheme stands at 568.12 lakh i.e. 5.68 crore.
Thestatement made during the budget speech delivered on 01 February 2020 claimsthat about 6.11 crore farmers have been insured under the PMFBY. Here is a lookat different sources that report on the number of farmers insured under thescheme.
First, Department of Agriculture,
Cooperation & Farmers Welfare’s Annual Report 2018-19 gives the coverage details underPMFBY for 2017-18. The total number of farmers insured during 2017-18 wasreported to be 520.83 lakh i.e. 5.21 crore. However, any further updates on thenumber of farmers insured is not available as the next Annual Report 2019-20 isyet to be released.
Second, is the response of the government to the Lok Sabha and RajyaSabha’s relevant questions on PMFBY. In a question answered on 07 February 2020 in Rajya
Sabha, theMinister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare furnished the following data:
Since the claims from Rabi 2018-19were not finalised, the total number of farmers insured during 2018-19 standsas 568.12 lakh i.e. 5.68 crore. There have been no further updates on thenumber of farmer applications insured under the scheme.
Third, Department of Agriculture,
Cooperation & Farmers Welfare’s Dashboard presents real-time macro data onvarious schemes. The total number of farmers insured during 2018 was reportedto be 526 lakhs i.e. 5.26 crore and during 2019 was reported to be 535 lakhi.e. 5.35 crore. The dashboard shows that the data was uploaded on 26 February2020. However, the data cited on the dashboard, which shows that it was lastupdated on 26 February 2020, is less than the data furnished by the Minister ofAgriculture and Farmers Welfare on 07 February 2020, in Rajya Sabha. This showsa discrepancy in the data updated on the department’s portal.
Overall,the most reliable and recent reported data on the total number of farmersinsured under the PMFBY comes from the Rajya Sabha answer on 07 February 2020.It reports that 5.68 crore farmers were insured under PMFBY in 2018-19 (withRabi 2018-19 not finalised). In the absence of fully reported data for Kharif2018 and 2019, and Rabi 2018-19, the claim in the budget speech cannot beverified.
Has
Central Government’s contribution reduced?
Claim 2: The Central Government’s contribution in PMFBY has fallen from 50% to 25%.
Fact: The Central Government’s contribution in PMFY has fallen to 30% for unirrigated areas/crops and 25% for irrigated areas/crops. Therefore, the claim is PARTLY TRUE.
On20 February 2020, the official handle of Congress party claimed that the centre’s contribution inthe scheme has fallen to 25% from 50%. Pradhan Mantri Fasal BimaYojana (PMFBY) has been introduced for implementation from Kharif 2016 seasonto provide full insured amount to the farmers against crop loss on account ofnatural calamities. The revamping of the scheme was announced on 19 February2020.
The Operational Guidelines for PMFBY describe the rate of insurancecharges payable by farmers as:
Theguidelines mention that the difference between actuarial premium rate and therate of insurance charges payable by farmers shall be treated as Rate of NormalPremium Subsidy, which shall be shared equally by the Centre and State. Inother words, the contribution of the centre in subsidising the insurancepremium was 50% of the normal premium subsidy beyond what the farmer pays and theremaining 50% was shared by states.
Therecent revamping of the scheme changes the subsidy sharing equationbetween the Centre and States in the following ways:
This reduction in central subsidy might substantially increase theburden on the state governments especially where the premium rates are higher.Hence the Congress party’s claim that the centre reduced its subsidy to 25% ispartly true.