Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Thursday launched a National Crop Insurance Portal’s digitised claim settlement module, called DigiClaim, under the ambit of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY).

With the launch of the module, claims will be disbursed electronically, which will benefit the respective farmers of six states. Now, the automated claim settlement process will be an ongoing activity to ease all insured farmers’ lives and provide them with a sustainable financial flow and support.

Speaking on the occasion, Tomar said it was a matter of pride for the Agriculture Ministry to have taken a revolutionary step in ensuring that farmers can receive claim amounts digitally in a time bound and automated manner, thereby making them self-reliant and strong.

With the launch of a DigiClaim Module, insurance claims totaling Rs 1260.35 crore have been disbursed on 23 March 2023 to insured farmers in the states of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Haryana with the click of a button. The process will continue as and when the claims are released.

Tomar also mentioned that to date Rs 1.32 lakh crore claim amount has been disbursed to the insured farmers under PMFBY. He also took special note of the ‘Meri Policy, Mere Haath’ ongoing campaign and observed that the campaign has been monumental in enhancing the awareness of PMFBY at the grassroot level.

The minister said the government was closely working with all exited states from the scheme and had had discussions with their senior officials in which Andhra Pradesh and Punjab are making a comeback to the scheme, which shows a shining example of cooperative federalism. The governments of Telangana, Gujarat, Bihar, West Bengal and Jharkhand have also been approached to rejoin PMFBY and several discussions have been under way. Out of these states, Telangana and Jharkhand have indicated their willingness to come back under PMFBY.

In the current system, there have been several instances of insured farmers’ claims being delayed due to a variety of factors. Taking cognizance of farmers’ welfare and expediting the claim disbursal process of valid crop loss claims, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare has come up with the DigiClaim Module.

With this, now farmers’ claims will be processed directly to their respective bank accounts in a transparent and accountable manner. This technology has been enabled through the integration of the National Crop Insurance Portal (NCIP) and the Public Finance Management System (PFMS).

This would directly impact the claim reversal ratio, which is expected to go down with DigiClaim. Another noteworthy feature of this digital advancement is that farmers would be able to track the claim settlement process on their mobile phones in real time and avail the scheme’s benefits.