New Delhi, Jul 14 (IANS): Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday pushed for stringent follow-up action with states, where the subsidy under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) is pending, to ensure payment of all pending claims to farmers at the earliest.

During a review meeting of the crop insurance scheme, she also highlighted the need of carrying out awareness activities about the scheme in view of it becoming voluntary for all farmers and stressed on the need for states to release the premium subsidy on time to ensure timely settlement of claims.

A presentation was also given by the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare wherein the journey of the scheme since Kharif 2016 as well as challenges encountered and the status of implementation for the current Kharif 2020 crop season, especially after the scheme's revamp were discussed.

The meeting was attended by Financial Services Secretary Debasish Panda, Agriculture Secretary Sanjay Agarwal, senior officials from Department of Financial Services, Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare, general insurance companies implementing the scheme and scheduled commercial banks.

Agarwal said that leveraging technology was one of the main focus areas in the revamped PMFBY and the Department was working towards migrating to technology assessment of yield by 2023 and survey would be conducted after Rabi 2020-21 to ascertain the impact of the revamped scheme.