Maharashtra: Excessive rainfall-affected farmers upset over getting paltry amounts as crop insurance
Mumbai (PTI): A number of farmers in Maharashtra whose crops were damaged due to excessive rains claimed to have received very low compensation amounts, with one cultivator getting only Rs 90 for his crop losses.
When contacted, state Agriculture Minister Abdul Sattar said some farmers had received very low amounts, but the government will try to widen the insurance coverage and also make the claims settlement system dynamic.
An official from the state relief and rehabilitation department said 7.48 lakh farmers from Aurangabad district availed the government's crop insurance scheme in the 2022 kharif season, but despite the widespread excessive rains before Diwali festival, claims of only 1.84 lakh farmers have been approved by the insurance company.
The state government data also revealed that out of 1.03 lakh farmers who submitted their claims for crop damage due to excess showers in Ahmednagar, only 20,226 claims have been approved so far and Rs 9.78 crore has been disbursed.
A farmer from Balapur tehsil in Akola district of Vidarbha, on condition of anonymity, said, "I paid more than Rs 2,000 for insuring my cotton crop against any natural calamity. The excess rains badly affected the cotton plantation over two acres, but I have been paid only Rs 90 against it."
Another farmer from Kinwat tehsil in Nanded district, who also did not wish to be named, said he has been paid Ra 356 by the crop insurance company as compensation.
Gopal Rahane, a farmer from Khamangaon tehsil in Buldhana district, received Rs 1,147 while he had paid a premium of Rs 2,819 for his cotton crop spread over nearly one hectare of land.
His total sum assured under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana stands at Rs 56,384.
But, despite a significant loss of his cotton plantation, Rahane said has been paid only Rs 1,147.
Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly Ajit Pawar recently asked the state government to streamline the crop insurance scheme and its payment system.
"Do not force the farmers to go to court to seek action against the state government. Farmers have lost the crops in large numbers and they should be duly compensated," Pawar had said while talking to reporters in Mumbai.
However, Agriculture Minister Sattar assured to address the issue of farmers' insurance claims soon.
"It is true that some farmers received very low amounts, but we will try to widen the insurance coverage and make the claims settlement system dynamic," he said.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
