The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) on Tuesday alleged farmers in Haryana were being exploited in the name of crop insurance.
Addressing a gathering as party of INLD’s ‘Jail Bharo’ agitation in association with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), INLD leader Abhay Singh Chautala said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government is exploiting the farmers with the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana.
The leader of Opposition in Haryana Assembly said udner PMFBY farmers are forced to shell out Rs 500 per acre in the name of crop insurance even while they were suffering the yoke of crippling debt.
The PMFBY is a comprehensive crop insurance scheme that provides coverage to crops from pre-sowing to post harvest against non-preventable natural hazards. The premium for insurance coverage has been kept at 2 per cent for Kharif and 1.5 per cent for Rabi crops.
In the case of commercial and horticultural crops, the farmers are required to pay an enhanced premium of 5 per cent. Rest of the premium (98.5 per cent for Rabi crops to 95 per cent for commercial crops) is shared by the Centre and state government.
Addressing a huge gathering before courting arrest, Chautala said if the INLD-BSP alliance was voted to power, the government will not only implement the Swaminathan Commission report but will also usher in an era of reforms and relief.
He said voting BJP to power was the compulsion of the people in the face of Congress misrule and absence of a viable alternative.”But now the people have a credible alternative in the form of the third front under the leadership of Behen Mayawati. Upon being voted to power this front will address all the issues facing the farmers, the poor and the downtrodden,” Chautala added.