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NEWS ALERTS | CSE report probes why crop insurance schemes are failing
CSE report probes why crop insurance schemes are failing

CSE report probes why crop insurance schemes are failing

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published Published on Nov 28, 2015   modified Modified on May 6, 2016
Agricultural insurance is supposed to protect farmers from financial hardships and risks when crop losses and damage takes place due to extreme weather events such as drought, cyclone, hailstorms, flood etc. However, in reality this does not hold true in India.

Due to the failure of crop insurance schemes in India, there has been a deepening of agrarian crisis and rural distress in the recent times, particularly in the backdrop of extreme weather events.

Based on field visits and interviews with farmers, local administration and state government officials in Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Madhya Pradesh, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) in its report entitled Lived Anomaly: How to enable farmers in India to cope with extreme weather events has identified the following reasons to explain why crop insurance schemes are not working in favour of the farmers:

1. Lack of awareness of insurance schemes and processes: Most farmers and their representatives were found to be unaware of or unclear about the processes of availing insurance and the facilities provided through these schemes. Many of them were unaware which particular insurance scheme was applicable to their area and for which crop premium had been deducted.

It has been found that while 20 percent of Indian farmers had access to crop insurance, in UP the reach was as low as 3.5 percent. Out of 2.33 crore farmers in UP, only 8 lakhs were insured.

2. Premium means additional burden for small and marginal farmers: For small and marginal farmers, payment of premium amount becomes a major deterrent to take up crop insurance. Many such farmers felt that instead of spending huge sums of money in times of disaster as relief, the government should pay a major part of the premium and ensure that these farmers receive compensation/ claims in times of distress.

It has been said in the CSE report that single-peril risk coverage can keep the insurance premium lower.

3. Doubt over receiving payouts: In the past, many farmers did not receive the insurance payments/ claims because of administrative issues including incomplete or absent paperwork or identification, ineligibility due to changed circumstances or guidelines not followed.  

4. Discretionary power of banks: Despite crop insurance being mandatory for loans availed through the Kisan Credit Card (KCC), banks were found to waive off premium components at their own discretion for meeting their KCC targets. There were cases when banks did not forward premium paid by farmers to insurance companies, which shows carelessness on the part of banks and also indicates misuse of insurance premium by bank officials amounting to corruption.

5. Clauses difficult to comply with: Several of the clauses mentioned in the terms and conditions of the crop insurance schemes are difficult and impractical to comply with such as farmers necessarily reporting crop damage within 48 hours of the event. If such clauses were not followed by the farmers, they received no compensation, despite having a viable insurance policy.

6. Claim settlement constrained by unavailability of staff: Although UP reported crop damage of 33 percent or more in 72 out of 75 districts due to unseasonal rains, only 11,000 claims could be settled by April, 2015. This happened despite insurance norms of immediate disbursement of 25 percent ‘on-account payment’ in village panchayats, where 50 percent or more crop damage has occurred. Stakeholders have complained that there exists insufficient staff in insurance companies as well as in government agencies, including the Department of Revenue.  

7. Delay in final settlement: It takes almost 6 months to a year between the initial payment (when 25 percent ‘on-account payment’ is immediately released in cases when crop losses incurred are over 50 percent) and the full & final settlement (rest of the amount of the claim). The regular Crop Cutting Experiments (after the process of damage assessment), conducted by the concerned department, takes up the entire agricultural season, after which data is processed, losses analysed and the payment process gets started. Thus, farmers do not receive compensation when they require it the most.

8. Delay in loan repayment leading to loss of insurance: Farmers who suffered crop losses due to drought in the kharif season of 2014 and hail and rain in the rabi season of 2014-15, defaulted on their loan payments. As a result, they received no compensation from insurance.

9. Insurance payout not at the individual level: Most farmers have argued that if insurance is bought at the individual level, then payout/claims should be disbursed in the same way. However, it has been found that if an individual farmer suffers loss while other farmers do not (say in the case of hailstorms), he will not be eligible for insurance. There is a problem with the product design which provides insurance at the level of ‘homogenous insurance unit’ (at village panchayat/ block/ mandal level), and not at the individual level that addresses the issue of diversity of crop loss.          

Unsatisfactory performance by private insurance companies

The report from CSE, which was released on 26 November, 2015 informs us that when a private agricultural insurance company wins a bid to implement agricultural insurance scheme of a state government for a minimum of three years in a particular area for notified crops, the farmer paying the premium has little say in the insurance scheme or the company he might choose to get his crop insured with.

This is because the farmer is compelled to opt for state-designated scheme or company, can only plant such crops which are pre-determined to receive risk-cover, and farm in a 'reference unit area', which the state government has already chosen for a particular insurance scheme.

In most cases, the selection of agricultural insurance companies for implementing a particular insurance scheme takes place on the basis of state government's discretion, and not on the principle of weighted average premium rate.

The CSE report says that the private insurance companies face no incentive to improve upon the product design and interact with farmers because once they win a bid from the state government, they can operate for a minimum of three years without facing competition, unlike in the case of general insurance products.

Once a company wins a bid, it becomes the sole insurance company for the entire district, and then it tends to monopolize business in the region. Crop insurance products offered by such private insurance companies remain unchanged year after year, without improvisation, innovation or any scope for improvement, says the CSE report.   

The report has found that in most cases farmers were unaware of the insurance company where the deducted premium amount was deposited from the banks.

When a loan is availed through the Kisan Credit Card scheme, the farmer has little choice over the insurance scheme – the  National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS), the Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (MNAIS), or the Weather-Based Crop Insurance Scheme (WBCIS). The CSE report mentions that the insurance premium deducted actually safeguards the loan provider (i.e. the bank) instead of the borrower (i.e. the farmer).  

A direct linkage of farmers with insurance companies can avoid the confusion which arises when the banks play the role of intermediary, says the CSE report.

Unlike in India, in the United States agents of insurance companies interact directly with the farmers and explain the insurance packages available. Based on the farmer’s choice, the agent collects the premium and sells the insurance policies. In case of an extreme weather event, the farmer intimates the agent, who in turn informs the company. The loss adjusters then visit the farm, evaluate and assess the extent of loss, after which the claim is paid.

Suggestions

Among other things, the CSE report has suggested for making crop insurance an attractive and a feasible compensation mechanism for farmers. At present, the agricultural insurance schemes cater to a small section of farmers in a few states, and largely function as insurance for crop loans taken by the farmers from banks.

Since current crop insurance schemes are linked to loans from banks (formal institutions), it has been found that farmers who operate on rented land (without adequate documents) and borrow loan from moneylenders, do not get covered under insurance.

The United States is the only country that offers Crop Revenue Insurance, which is insurance payout based on yield measurement and crop prices, says the CSE report.

The report has suggested for the use of technology for accurate and speedy crop-damage assessment so as to deliver farmer-friendly crop insurance schemes.

Instead of relying on disaster-related relief that provides money to cover the input costs for the next cropping season, farmers should get full compensation for their losses through insurance schemes, argue government officials.

References:

Lived Anomaly: How to enable farmers in India to cope with extreme weather events, Down to Earth, November, 2015, please click here to access
 
Deepening agrarian crisis endangers food security, please click here to access
 
Rs 20k crore worth crops lost due to February-April unseasonal rains: Report, The Economic Times, 27 November, 2015, please click here to access

Farm distress: Centre wants states to properly implement its irrigation schemes -Vishwa Mohan, The Times of India, 27 November, 2015, please click here to access

Millions of farmers don’t have safeguards against climate change impact -Chetan Chauhan, Hindustan Times, 26 November, 2015, please click here to access

How to enable farmers to cope with extreme weather events, Down to Earth, 25 November, 2015, please click here to access 

Rural distress worsens across India -Sayantan Bera, Livemint.com, 25 November, 2015, please click here to access

Lower-cost crop cover on cards, The Financial Express, 18 November, 2015, please click here to access

For drought-hit farmers, higher compensation still a pittance -Sanyantan Bera, Livemint.com, 2 November, 2015, please click here to access

Killing fields, The Hindu Business Line, 11 October, 2015, please click here to access

New crop insurance scheme to charge 2% premium for pulses -Sanjeeb Mukherjee, Business Standard, 12 October, 2015, please click here to access
 
Image Courtesy: Himanshu Joshi



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