Karnataka Agriculture Minister B C Patil on Wednesday said crop insurance companies have assured that they would start disbursing insurance claims made by farmers for loss of crop during Kharif season by the end of next month.
The government has already met with representatives of insurance companies on the pending disbursement of claims for crop loss in the previous Kharif season. Insurance companies have assured that they will settle the claim amount by the end of next month, Patil told reporters.
Despite natural disasters, the state produced a record 140 lakh tonnes of food grains in the previous Kharif season, he said.
At present, 52% of posts are vacant in the state agriculture department. The department has been hiring some staff on a contract basis.
State bags award:
Earlier, Patil received a top performer award in the highest percentage of Aadhar authenticated beneficiaries under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) Scheme).
Karnataka emerged on top among states with 97% PM-KISAN beneficiaries authenticating with Aadhaar. More than 90% of beneficiaries in Karnataka are being paid benefits via Aadhar based payment mode which is the highest in the country.
The Union Ministry of Agriculture instituted the award to encourage states to link details of beneficiaries with Aadhaar number to ensure seamless payment under PM-KISAN.
B C Patil received the award from Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar in an event held in New Delhi.
The PM-KISAN Scheme was launched by the Centre on February 24, 2019, to provide income support to all landholding small and marginal farmers’ families across the country. Under the scheme, Rs 6,000 will be provided in a year to farmers’ families having cultivable land holding up to 2 hectares.