LIVESTOCK INSURANCE – GOVERNMENT SCHEME
News:
High premium, poor coverage: Centre mulls rehaul of livestock insurance
scheme
What's in the news?
● Pulled
up recently by a Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC) for zero insurance coverage of livestock in
2022-23, the Centre is considering a comprehensive livestock insurance
scheme modeling the Prime Minister’s Fasal Bima Yojana.
Key takeaways:
● The
panel said in the report that not even a single livestock was insured during
2022-23, whereas during 2021-22, 1,74,061 animals were insured.
● At present, less than 1%
of the country’s cattle population is insured and the average yearly premium is
4.5% of the insured amount.
Livestock Insurance Scheme:
● It
is a centrally sponsored scheme.
● The
scheme was implemented on a regular basis from 2008-09 in 100 newly selected districts of the country.
Objective:
● To
provide a protection mechanism to the farmers and cattle rearers against any
eventual loss of their animals due to death.
● To
demonstrate the benefit of the insurance of livestock to the people and
popularize it with the ultimate goal of attaining qualitative improvement in
livestock and their products.
Nodal Ministry:
Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal
Husbandry and Dairying.
Features:
● Under
the scheme, the crossbred and high
yielding cattle and buffaloes are being insured at maximum of their current market
price.
● The
premium of the insurance is subsidized to the tune of 50%.
● The
entire cost of the subsidy is being
borne by the Central Government.
● The
benefit of subsidy is being provided to a maximum
of 2 animals per beneficiary for a policy of maximum of three years.
● The
scheme is being implemented in all
states except Goa through the State Livestock Development Boards of
respective states.
Insurance for following cases:
● Contraction
of a disease
● Natural
accidents, for instance, earthquakes or floods
● Terrorist
activities
● Riots
● Surgical
operation
● Strikes
● Accidental
events
● Civil
Commotion Risk.
Challenges:
● High premium rates and
general economic conditions of farmers
are reasons for lower enrolment in the scheme.
Revamping old scheme with the new scheme:
● The
Ministry is considering waiving premiums for cattle rearers from Scheduled
Caste (SC)-Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities.
● The
main focus of the scheme will be to reduce the premium to attract more farmers
to enroll in the insurance scheme.
● With
the new scheme, the Centre is aiming for lower premiums and maximum coverage.