The state Congress on Tuesday demanded a probe into the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) crop insurance scheme on charges that it was unduly benefitting corporate insurance firms.
The farmers’ wing of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) handed over documents on the alleged irregularities in the scheme to the CBI Anti-Corruption Branch.
"The PMFBY is nothing but a loot,” KPCC working president Eshwar Khandre told reporters. “In Bidar district, for example, there were 1.80 lakh farmers who had enrolled last year. Out of an outlay of nearly Rs 186 crore, claims totalling to only Rs 84 lakh have been settled. The rest went to a private insurance company. The scheme is meant to benefit insurance firms and not farmers,” he alleged.