The Haryana government has disclosed that a staggering sum exceeding Rs 116 crore in crop insurance compensation under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) has remained unpaid to farmers for the last three financial years. This revelation was made in the state legislative assembly during its ongoing winter session.
Details of the Pending Compensation
Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Shyam Singh Rana provided the details while responding to a query from Dabwali MLA Aditya Devilal. The minister stated that insurance claims totaling Rs 11,621.898 lakh for the financial years 2022–23, 2023–24, and 2024–25 are still outstanding with various insurance companies.
The bulk of the delay, amounting to Rs 8,552.174 lakh, is held up with Kshema General Insurance Company Limited. This deadlock is due to disputes related to Crop Cutting Experiments (CCE) for mustard, wheat, and gram crops during the Rabi season of 2023–24.
A further Rs 3,047.58 lakh is pending with the Agriculture Insurance Company (AIC) for claims related to cotton crops from the Kharif 2024–25 season. Additionally, a smaller sum of Rs 22.144 lakh remains unpaid due to technical glitches like rejected NEFT transactions, closed bank accounts, and cases involving the death of insured farmers where documentation is pending.
District-Wise Breakdown and Specific Cases
The burden of these pending claims is not evenly distributed across the state. Bhiwani district bears the highest brunt, with over Rs 6,455 lakh in claims awaiting settlement. It is followed by Nuh district with Rs 1,363 lakh and Charkhi Dadri with nearly Rs 736 lakh in pending dues.
A specific case highlighted involves Sirsa district, where claims worth approximately Rs 30.47 crore for 44 villages are stuck. The delay here is because the Agriculture Insurance Company has filed an appeal against a decision made by the District Level Monitoring Committee, and this appeal is currently under process.
Government's Response and Digital Push
Minister Rana informed the House that the state administration has initiated several measures to ensure the timely clearance of these insurance claims. A significant step has been the introduction of a Digi Claim Module on the National Crop Insurance Portal (NCIP) starting from the Kharif 2022 season.
This module enables end-to-end digital processing and allows for real-time monitoring of claim statuses. To tackle frequent payment failures, a correction module has also been deployed to resolve issues linked to incorrect bank account details.
Insurance firms have been directed to proactively collect necessary documents from farmers, including legal heir certificates in cases of the policyholder's death, and to update these records promptly on the portal. Due to these interventions, claims worth Rs 14.04 lakh were successfully released to 223 farmers over the last three financial years.
On the question of punitive action, Rana stated that the state government has escalated the matter concerning Kshema General Insurance Company Limited to the Government of India. The state has formally requested the blacklisting of the company for its failure to comply with the decisions of the State Technical Advisory Committee and the Technical Advisory Committee regarding the disputed Rabi 2023–24 claims.
