Union Cabinet approves Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today has approved the ‘Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana’ – a path breaking scheme for farmers’ welfare.

The highlights of this scheme are:

* Use of Remote Sensing, Smart Phones and Drones for quick estimation of crop losses and early settlement of claims.
* Farmers’ share of premium has been substantially reduced – up to 10-fold. The Government will provide subsidy on premium.
* There will be a uniform premium of only 2% to be paid by farmers for all Kharif crops and 1.5% for all Rabi crops. In case of annual commercial and horticultural crops, the premium to be paid by farmers will be only 5%.
* The scheme will enhance coverage of area under schemes from 23% to 50% of gross cropped area in the next three years. The expenditure is expected to be around Rs 9,500 crore.