The Gujarat government has announced a massive increase in insurance cover compensation for farmers in the event of accidental death or disability.
Extending the benefit to over 2.5 crore farmers in the State, the Gujarat government on Thursday announced doubling of compensation for accidental death from ₹1 lakh to ₹2 lakh, and for partial disability, losing either a limb or an eye, the amount of compensation has been increased from ₹50,000 to ₹1 lakh.
Announcing the increased assistance, deputy chief minister Nitin Patel said that the existing Farmers’ Accident Insurance Scheme covers about 1.75 crore farmers, while the amended scheme will be extended to cover 2.5 crore farmers of the State.
“Earlier, only the first child of the beneficiary farmer qualified for compensation under the insurance scheme. Now, any child of the farmer is entitled to be covered under this scheme. All farmers of the State having a personal or joint account in the revenue records will be entitled for benefits under this scheme,” said Patel.
The State government will bear the cost of premium for all these farmers, which works out to more than ₹70 crore. The beneficiary farmers will not need to pay any premium to avail the benefits of the scheme.