An alleged "fraud" by way of denying the insurance claims of cotton farmers in Bhiwani and Charkhi Dadri districts during the Kharif 2023 season had been brought to the attention of the government by some farmer activists.
The activists, who submitted a complaint to the state government, alleged that the farmers had been assessed a total insurance claim of Rs 281.5 crore in Bhiwani district on the basis of the Crop Cutting Experiment (CCE).
However, the insurance firm later approached higher authorities to challenge the insurance amount, which referred the matter to the State Technical Advisory Committee (STAC).
The STAC took a decision to approve technical yield assessment for cotton crop insurance claims.
Based on this technical assessment, the insurance claim was reduced to just Rs 80 crore.
More shockingly, the activists alleged that this STAC was a defunct body when it called a meeting and took the decision. Dr Ram Kanwar, a farmer activist, alleged that the matter of insurance claims was referred to the STAC, an advisory body whose term had expired on August 1, 2024.
However, the Director of Agriculture, Rajnarayan Kaushik, and the Joint Director (Statistics), Rajiv Misra, allegedly convened a meeting of this defunct committee on August 20, 2024, and took a decision to approve technical yield assessment for cotton crop insurance claims.
Thus, he alleged, the body was not authorised to take any decision after its term had expired on August 1, 2024.
Kanwar said that the matter regarding the settlement of cotton crop insurance claims under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) for Kharif 2023 for two districts - Bhiwani and Charkhi Dadri districts has taken serious connotations with the denial of about Rs 200 crore of claims of the farmers in the wake of a decision taken by a redundant body.
They have submitted the complaint to the chief minister for action against the officials responsible for the alleged fraud with the farmers and to ensure the insurance claims of the farmers.
Dayanand Punia, a farmer activist in Siwani tehsil of Bhiwani district, informed that as per the CCE, 34 villages in Siwani block were set to get insurance claims for cotton loss, but the technical assessment showed that about 20 villages had no insurance claim.
Punia said that they would not tolerate this injustice regarding the crop insurance of their cotton fields for the year 2023.
"Despite having insured their crops, the Agriculture Department conducted village-wise crop cutting surveys and determined the per-acre compensation for each village. However, the insurance company, in collusion with the government, rejected the department's report," he alleged.
Punia further alleged that the insurance firm claimed that satellite reports did not show any significant crop damage and termed it a scam.
"We will stage a demonstration at the Siwani office in SDM Office on March 10," he said.
Kanwar said that as per government guidelines, the claims should be settled based on Crop Cutting Experiments (CCEs) conducted by state officials. However, the company allegedly refused to honor these claims and instead pushed for an alternative method—technical yield assessment—which is only permitted for wheat and paddy, not for cotton.
The complaint further states that the District Level Monitoring Committee (DLMC) of Bhiwani, headed by the Deputy Commissioner, had also rejected the objections raised by the insurance company and directed it to release payments within seven days. "Instead of complying with the DMLC, the insurance firm challenged the decision before the Director of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare," he stated. The Director, Agriculture Rajnarayan Kaushik, however, did not respond to the calls and messages for his version.
Below is the statement of insurance claim of cotton crop kharif-2023 in Bhiwani:
Name of Sub District | Claim Amount Assessed Through CCES | Claim Assessed Through Technology Use | Loss Suffered Due to Use of Technology | |
Loharu | 179,38,02,996 | 37,52,82,683 | 141,85,20,313 | |
Siwani | 52,89,84,063 | 10,85,50,165 | 42,04,33,898 | |
Tosham | 43,85,05,945 | 28,55,70,331 | 15,29,35,614 | |
Bhiwani | 5,39,64,953 | 3,70,61,538 | 1,69,03,415 | |
Grand total | 281,52,57,957 | 80,64,64,717 | 200,87,93,240 |
