GUWAHATI, Dec 13 - The stage is all set for implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) during the Rabi 2017-18 season and the State government has divided all the districts of Assam into clusters for coverage under the scheme.
Senior State government officials told The Assam Tribune today that all the old 27 undivided districts of Assam have been compartmentalised into eight clusters for the Rabi 2017-18 season. There will be implementing agencies for all clusters.
�Five crops � paddy, wheat, rape and mustard, potato and sugarcane � have been notified for the season with the revenue circle as the insurance unit. All the old 27 undivided districts have been grouped into eight clusters and allotted to three insurance companies,� said an official. Kamrup, Kokrajhar, Goalpara and Dima Hasao are under cluster one where the implementing agency will be Royal Sundaram General Insurance Co Ltd.
Jorhat, Golaghat, Nalbari and undivided Karbi Anglong are in cluster two where The Oriental Insurance Co Ltd will implement the scheme.
The company will also be the implementing agency in cluster three comprising Barpeta, Karimganj and undivided Sivasagar districts.
Undivided Sonitpur, Dhemaji and Bongaigaon districts are in cluster four where Agriculture Insurance Company of India Ltd is the implementing agency.
The Oriental Insurance Co Ltd will also implement PMFBY for Rabi 2017-18 in cluster five (undivided Dhubri, Darrang and Hailakandi districts), cluster six (Lakhimpur, Cachar, Udalguri and Tinsukia districts) and cluster seven (undivided Nagaon, Chirang and Dibrugarh districts).
Morigaon, Kamrup (Metro) and Baksa districts have been clubbed in cluster eight where the implementing agency for the scheme is Agriculture Insurance Company of India Ltd.
�Details of notification have already been entered in the crop insurance portal for insurance coverage and farmer can now avail crop insurance for the season,� said the official.
He said that the bidding process for Rabi 2017-18 was completed on September 25 and State Level Coordination Committee on Crop Insurance (SLCCCI) was conducted on October 10. Notification for the season was issued on November 14.
In this regard, the Union Agriculture Ministry is holding a review meeting in New Delhi tomorrow where various issues relating to implementation of PMFBY during Rabi 2017-18 will be discussed. Assam will be represented by Assistant Director of Agriculture (Crop Insurance and Horticulture) Mowsam Hazarika and Nodal Officer for PMFBY Bitupan Saikia in the meeting.
The PMFBY was officially launched in January 2016 year by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the idea was to implement it in all the States across India in association with the respective State governments.
In Assam, it implemented for the first time during the Rabi 2016-17 season when a total of 8,516 farmers were covered under it. The crop area covered during Rabi 2016-17 was over 4,312 hectares of land.
In the Kharif 2017 season, the coverage under the scheme increased to 50,700 farmers and 38,500 hectares of crop land.
