CM urges Centre to extend PMFBY registration cut-off date

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. Photograph: Odishabytes

Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday requested Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh to extend the cut-off date for farmers’ registration under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) till August 16.
In his letter, the Chief Minister said, “Keeping in view the instructions of Government of India for covering at least 40 per cent of the farming population under PMFBY, Odsha Government had made elaborate plans for covering 25 lakh farmers (22 lakh loanees and 3 lakh non-loanees) and 20 lakh hectares area under the programme to provide a safety net to farmers”.
He said snag in the central insurance portal had upset the momentum of farmers’ registration. “The linking of common service centre portal (the main registration point for non-loanee farmers) to crop insurance portal had failed, thereby increasing the load on banks, who were already busy with covering the loanee farmers. At this crucial juncture, the facilities of directly uploading of data by the banks as well as the offline utility did not work. As a result, the farmers were compelled to run from pillar to post for registering under the programme. Hence, the cut-off date for registration should be extended till August 16 so as to protect the interest of farmers of Odisha”, he added.