Crops of several farmers under Unakoti district were destroyed last year after rain water inundated crop fields. However, thanks to the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) as more than 300 affected farmers received compensation under the Yojana.
Sources said, as many as 350 farmers Samarurpaar Panchayat area in Kailashahar under Unakoti district suffered huge losses after rain water flooded their paddy fields.
“We toiled hard and invested money for a good harvest. However everything went under water. We helplessly observed the rain god mercilessly destroying our crops”, said one the affected farmers and he added, we pinned our hope on PMFBY and believed that we would get a compensation for the losses due to natural calamities.
It is learnt, each of 350 farmers have already received the compensation for last year’s losses in their bank accounts. The farmers received the compensation as they were insured before the natural calamities struck.
“The farmers insured them under the PMFBY after paying Rs 10 per Kani as premium. As a result they became eligible to receive the compensation”, Agriculture department sources said.
Based on the volume of losses, each of the 350 farmers received anything between Rs 3900 to Rs 6000 per head.
Speaking to the media, Agriculture officer Bijan Kanti Sharma said, 350 farmers of the area registered them under the PMFBY after paying a premium of Rs 10 per Kani of crop land of an individual farmer. Under the PMFBY, 350 farmers received a total of Rs 6 lakh 64 thousand 846 as compensation. The compensation was transferred to concerned farmers’ bank account through Direct Benefit Transfer.