FE
The government is likely to offer a host of insurance products such as personal, life and for tractors and cash for medical emergencies to farmers who benefit from the highly subsidised Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), as part of a plan to make it more attractive to the target population.
Sources told FE that through a ‘convergence’ model, intermediaries or agents of insurance broking firms will be added into the category of entities who can provide crop insurance to farmers.
However, the new products would be market-determined, and won’t involve any government subsidy. Currently, only banks, post offices and common services centres (CSCs) are allowed to enrole farmers for the crop insurance scheme where a major chunk of premium is borne by the Centre and state governments.
