Farmers to get Compensation for Crop Damage Due to Natural Calamities

State Government is empowered to undertake necessary relief measures in the wake of natural calamities like, drought, hailstorm, pest attack & cold wave/frost from State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) which is readily available with them. Additional financial assistance, over and above SDRF, is considered from National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) for natural calamities of severe nature on receipt of Memorandum from the State Government. On request by any State Government, Department of Agriculture & Cooperation constitutes and Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) to visit the States for assessing damages including crop loss for recommending financial assistance from NDRF. Based on the report of the IMCT, Sub Committee of National Executive Committee (SC-NEC) recommends extent of admissible assistance as per laid down items and norms of assistance from NDRF/SDRF for approval of the High Level Committee (HLC) to sanction central assistance from NDRF. The norms for relief under SDRF/NDRF are Rs. 6800/- per hectare for rainfed crops, Rs. 13,500/- per ha. For assured irrigated crops and Rs. 18,000/- per ha. for all type of perennial crops, where crop loss is more than 33% and above.

The financial assistance from SDRF/NDRF is providing immediate relief and is not compensation for loss/damage to crops. Crop insurance is a financial tool to insure farmers against crop losses on payment of admissible premium to the insurance company. Under the crop insurance schemes claims are paid to only those farmers who insured their crops and paid premium under any of the notified crop insurance scheme. Admissible claims are worked out and paid as per the provisions of the respective schemes.

The norms of assistance, is reviewed comprehensively after the award of successive Finance Commission taking into account various factors including the price rise. The Government of India has issued order on revised items and norms of assistance under State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF)/National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) on 8th April, 2015. The extant norms inter-alia provide for assistance to the farmers in the form of Agriculture Input Subsidy (where crop loss is 33% and above as against the earlier norms of 50%) for damage caused to all types of agriculture and horticulture cropped areas due to the notified natural calamities. Government of India has also enhanced the assistance amount to the farmers by 50% in the revised norms.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Agriculture Shri .Mohanbhai Kalyanjibhai Kundariya in Rajya Sabha today.