Farmers in Chouhan’s constituency protest non-payment of crop insurance claims

Several angry farmers in Sehore, part of Union Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s Vidisha parliamentary constituency, have been staging water satyagrahas in different villages for the past six days, alleging that they have not received any benefit under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PM Crop Insurance Scheme) for the last five years.

On Monday, their protest coincided with Chouhan’s visit to Bhopal, where he addressed the convocation ceremony of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) and lauded various farmer welfare initiatives, including the crop insurance scheme, being implemented by the Narendra Modi-led Union government.

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The protesters stood knee-deep in the Sivan river in Sehore, holding crops in their hands and raising slogans. On Sunday, they had also submitted a memorandum of demands to state agriculture department officials, addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav.

The farmers claimed they have not been paid crop insurance compensation for the past five years in Madhya Pradesh. They warned that their agitation would continue and intensify until their demands are met.

They further pointed out the irony that, despite their suffering, the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana was launched in Sehore district itself, on 18 February 2016, at the Kisan Mahasammelan in Sherpur, when Chouhan was the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh.

Budhni, in Sehore district, was Chouhan’s assembly constituency during his tenure as CM. The district now falls under his Vidisha Lok Sabha seat and is also his native place—he was born in village Jait of Sehore.