CS reviews crop insurance coverage under PMFBY

SRINAGAR : Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo, on friday chaired a crucial meeting to review progress on the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY).
The PMFBY, which now covers all 20 districts in the UT, provides insurance to the farmers for notified crops such as paddy, maize and oilseeds.
The meeting focused on accelerating the enrolment of farmers, especially Kisan Credit Card (KCC) holders, to improve the scheme’s overall saturation.
Besides the Principal Secretary, APD the meeting was attended by Director, Agriculture, Kashmir/Jammu; Convenor, UTLBC; Representatives from NABARD and other banks working here.
During the meeting, the Chief Secretary expressed his concern over the current enrolment status, noting that the UT-wide saturation rate stands at just over 18% leaving a gap of around 5 lakh eligible customers across the districts of J&K.
He issued strict directions to all the banks to take immediate steps to cover the eligible KCC customers under PMFBY. To ensure accountability and progress, the Convenor of the UTLBC had been instructed to submit daily reports on coverage until the enrolment window closes on August 31, 2025.
Principal Secretary, Agriculture Production Department (APD), Shailendra Kumar, highlighted the need to focus on districts with significant cultivable area but low insurance coverage.
The Principal Secretary also emphasized the importance of public awareness, urging all the banks to inform farmers about the PMFBY scheme guidelines, particularly the critical 72-hour window for making a crop loss claim.
It was given out by the Director, Agriculture Kashmir in his presentation that the PMFBY was first adopted in J&K on March 31, 2016, and in the first phase of its implementation only 10 districts were covered.
In the next phase (Kharif 2021) this scheme was expanded to four more districts of Jammu, Samba, Udhampur, and Anantnag and later on expanded its ambit to all the remaining 16 districts during phase 3rd (Kharif 2023).
It was further divulged that the scheme had made significant progress from 2017 – Rabi 2024. The cumulative figures up to Rabi 2024 includes coverage of 943,042 farmers benefitting 278,355 out of them by disbursing a claim amount ofRs161.06 Cr in their favour.
Moreover, the meeting was apprised that an area of 555,205 hectares was insured at a total premium of Rs 361.61 Cr, with farmers share ofRs 67.17 Cr, UTshare of Rs93.31Cr, and the Government of India share of Rs 201.13 Cr.
Additionally, it was revealed that the enrolment for Kharif 2025 is underway, with data showing a distinct performance difference between the two divisions. The cut-off dates for enrolment has been extended for non-loanee farmers to August 14, 2025, and for loanee farmers to August 31, 2025.
For this season the Jammu division has shown a total insured area of 47,256.37 hectares, covering 101,426 beneficiaries, representing an overall 34.04% of the targeted area. While as Kashmir division has a total insured area of 16,827.30 hectares, covering 58,228 beneficiaries, for an overall 18.94% of the targeted area.
The review meeting also deliberated upon several issues impacting the implementation of this scheme. It was decided that a revised approach is being implemented, requiring the department to open an escrow account for the release of UT share as soon as Central share is received thereby enabling the farmers to get their claim amounts smoothly on time.