Puducherry, May 30 (IANS): Farmers of Puducherry, who faced heavy crop losses during rains and floods between November 18 and December 10, 2021, have sought the intervention of Lt Governor C. P. Radhakrishnan for their long overdue claims.

A total of 464 farmers from Puducherry and Karaikal regions of the Union Territory are awaiting indemnity claims under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY).

Puducherry Farmers Association leader V. Chandrashekar told media persons that an inter-ministerial team led by Rajiv Sharma, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India had assessed the damages.

He said that the indemnity claims are to be settled based on yield data from crop cutting experiments and the insurance company is mandated to settle claims at 90 per cent for all Kharif and Rabi-II crops within three weeks of receiving the yield data.

The farmer’s leader said that despite multiple representations, the Director, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, who is the State Nodal Officer for the scheme, did not pursue the National Insurance Company which had a contract till March 31, 2023.

However, an official of the Additional Director (Agronomy) and Scheme and Implementing Department told IANS that the insurance intermediaries appointed by the company failed to enroll the 464 farmers out of over 8,000 applicants in the national crop insurance portal.

The official said that the inconsistencies in names across identification documents and bank and IFSC codes are the reason behind this. The Ministry has reopened the portal after the Agriculture Department approached it but the insurance company is yet to complete the process, hence the delay.

He said that the matter is being taken up with the Central government for the discrepancies to be rectified. The official also said that the claims worth Rs 7.6 crore were settled for over 8,000 farmers from the Union Territory through Direct Benefit Transfer about 10 months ago.