Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has said the government will settle crop insurance claims (CICs) for the 2020 kharif season by March-April 2021 after the crop cutting experiments are over by the end of January and the Planning Department submits its report in February.
Never in the State’s history was a CIC settled in less than a year and there were claims pending from 2012. Besides, the premium rates were so high that the farmers could not afford to pay.
Taking this grim scenario into consideration, the government has decided to set up AP General Insurance Corporation (APGIC) on its own to promptly pay insurance to farmers instead of leaving at the mercy of insurance companies.
The proposal to establish it was sent to the Central government to obtain necessary clearances, the Chief Minister said, while claiming to have disbursed ₹13,000 crore under the ‘Rythu Bharosa’ scheme in just 18 months after his party came to power.
Procurement
Another thing which the government took upon itself was the procurement of discoloured and sprouted grains especially paddy, which was largely confined to rhetoric previously.
Making a statement in the Legislative Assembly on the schemes being implemented in the agriculture sector, Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy said the government categorically stated that the enumeration of loss caused by cyclone Nivar to the farm sector would be completed by December 15 and compensation paid by December 31.
Ex gratia
An ex gratia of ₹5 lakh each has already been paid to the families of eight persons who died during the cyclone, and like no other government did in the past, a sum of ₹500 was paid to each person (irrespective of age) who took shelter in relief camps.
“Work on restoration of public infrastructure is going on at a brisk pace. Also, damages to private buildings will be compensated after assessment is over by December 15.”
Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy said the government cleared free power dues amounting to roughly ₹8,655 crore which were passed on by its predecessor. Similarly, input subsidy running into hundreds of crores of rupees were paid to the farmers.
