Free crop insurance should be resumed: CPM

Vijayawada: CPM State Secretary V Srinivasa Rao demanded that the State government immediately resume the free crop insurance scheme, extend support to tenant farmers, and ensure procurement of paddy along with compensation for crop loss caused by Cyclone Montha.

Speaking to reporters at Balotsava Bhavan in Vijayawada on Sunday, he said Cyclone Montha has severely damaged the agricultural sector. Still, the government is under-reporting the actual extent of the loss.

Srinivasa Rao recalled that in 2019–20, the then YSRCP government implemented a free crop insurance scheme under which the entire premium was borne by the Central and State governments. During the 2022 floods, farmers received about Rs. 3,000 crore in compensation through this scheme.

However, he lamented that tenant farmers were left out. He criticized the Centre and State governments for replacing the free insurance with a voluntary scheme, where farmers now pay Rs. 600 to Rs. 2,000 per acre, reducing coverage drastically.

He alleged that private insurance companies are benefiting while farmers are being denied compensation. Of the Rs 1,875 crore due last year, no payments were made, he said.

He demanded that the government set up its own insurance company and ensure automatic compensation during natural disasters. The CPM leader expressed concern that 91 per cent of tenant farmers have not received cyclone compensation, though they suffered the maximum loss.

He urged the government to pay compensation directly to tenants without insisting on identity cards or bank loans and to purchase all damaged paddy through the Civil Supplies Department and FCI.

He also asked the State to emulate Kerala’s model of poverty eradication, saying that only people-centered planning and coordination among departments can make the state a truly welfare-oriented state.