Prahlad Singh Bharukhera was in for a rude shock when he got his passbook updated at his bank’s branch in Sirsa on March 31. The latest entry showed a credit of ₹10.21 as “insurance claim for crop loss”.
“It was a cruel joke,” said Prahlad, a matriculate, who along with his two brothers owns six hectares of land.
Since Prahlad holds a Kisan Credit Card, the premium amount of ₹367 per hectare under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana was automatically deducted from his account in 2017. His wheat crop was destroyed in April that year due to a hailstorm. “Having paid the insurance premium, I hoped to get an adequate claim from the firm for my loss worth thousands of rupees. But I was shocked to see ₹10.21 as the insurance claim. And it is not just me. Several farmers in neighbouring villages have received similar amounts. We met the Deputy Commissioner, but he too expressed his inability to help,” said Prahlad.
‘No benefits’
Though the current government has announced several welfare schemes for the benefit of farmers, Prahlad argued that they are yet to reach the targeted beneficiaries. “The crop insurance is a good idea. But the farmers are not getting the benefits. It’s the insurance companies which have made money running into several thousand of crores from the scheme. The government must ensure that the farmers are the actual beneficiaries of its schemes,” said Prahlad.
He said his father had taken ₹7 lakh loan, but they are yet to repay it. The family made a profit of ₹30,000 by selling mustard this season, but incurred ₹50,000 as medical expenses on childbirth and some other treatment.
“When the expenses are far more than the income, how can a farmer survive? The government claims to have increased the Minimum Support Price, but the increase in prices is many times higher. This gap between income and expenditure is increasing every year due to inflation,” said Prahlad.
He argued that mere implementation of the Swaminathan Commission report is not the solution to all the ills in the farming community. The government must strike a balance between income and inflation, he added.
He also questioned the claims of the current government to double the income of the farmers in the next three years. “The most important question is how they are going to do it. They have not come out with any formula or road map yet,” said Prahlad.
Other options
He said he and his brothers would prefer to join some other work where they can earn ₹10,000-15,000 per month.
“Farming is not profitable. It is getting more and more difficult to survive as a farmer. The agrarian crisis, lack of job opportunities, unaffordable education and health facilities are the most important election issues for me this year,” he said.