Govt: Criminal action, blacklisting against those who file fake crop insurance claim
In April this year, Maharashtra had scrapped the Re 1 crop insurance scheme after allegations of irregularities and bogus claims.
The government then replaced it with the old scheme — Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY).
Under the PMFBY, farmers will have to pay a premium of 2 per cent of the sum assured for Kharif crops, 1.5 per cent for Rabi crops, and 5 per cent for commercial or horticultural crops.
The fresh Government Resolution (GR), issued Tuesday, brings sharp penalties against those who tries to misuse the scheme.
The action includes criminal action against those who file bogus claims —including farmers, Common Service Centre (CSC) operators, and others—alongside a sweeping ban on access to all government subsidies and welfare and other schemes for five years.
The Re 1 crop insurance scheme was a revised version of the PMFBY, introduced in 2023 by the then Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Mahayuti government to make crop insurance virtually free.
It triggered a massive surge in applications, rising from 1.04 crore in 2022 to 2.42 crore in 2023.
By early 2024, over four lakh applications were identified as bogus. Claims were filed for land where no crops were sown, or for plots belonging to temples, mosques, petrol pumps, and even industrial estates under MIDC.
In response, the government blocked 140 CSC IDs which were found linked to such fraud.
It also formed a 25-member expert panel led by Agriculture Commissioner Raosaheb Bhagade to study the abuse and recommend a policy overhaul.
The committee proposed scrapping the Rs 1 model and reverting to the original PMFBY structure.
'For any crop insurance claim where the farmer's name does not appear on the 7/12 extract—or where bogus land records or crop data are used—the claim will be treated as fraudulent,' the GR said.
'If insurance is taken on another person's land without being a sharecropper or without mutual agreement, legal action will follow.'
The GR also directs the Revenue Department to separately flag such cases in official records.
'Strict action will be taken through the tehsildar. If found guilty, the person will be blacklisted and barred from any government scheme for five years,' it stated.
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