Members of the Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha (KPRS), along with farmers from across the district, staged a protest outside the office of the Joint Director of Agriculture in Kalaburagi on Tuesday demanding settlement of insurance claims for crop lost during the kharif and rabi seasons last year.
Maruti Manpade, State president of the Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha (KPRS), said that the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna (PMFBY) was anti-farmer.
The Union government was forcibly imposing the insurance scheme on farmers. The insurance companies were adapting delay tactics to avoid payment of claims, he added.
Around 5.6 crore farmers were insured with 12 private companies during the last year.
The insurance companies have collected premium up to ₹ 21,500 crore from farmers but settled merely 3 % of the claims, he said.
Mr. Manpade also opposed the methodology of assessing crop damage or crop loss on the basis of average yield in the last seven years. Around 20,000 farmers from the district who have paid premium are to receive claim amount, he added.
