Jaipur, Feb 16 (IANS) Rajasthan Agriculture Minister Dr Kirodi Lal Meena said in the Assembly on Monday that serious irregularities by insurance companies have come to light under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) in several districts of the state. He assured the House that these fraud cases would be investigated by the Special Operations Group (SOG).

He informed that insurance claim payments for some farmers are pending due to reasons such as non-verification of bank accounts and Aadhaar, death of the insured farmer, and NEFT transaction failures. Instructions have been issued to the concerned District Collectors to expedite verification of bank accounts, Aadhaar authentication, succession certificates, and other required documents.

He assured that payments would be made promptly after completion of all formalities. The Minister stated that the current government has paid Rs 6,328 crore as crop insurance claims to farmers for the Rabi and Kharif seasons.

Of this, Rs 188 crore was pending from the previous government’s tenure.

During Question Hour, the Minister was responding to supplementary questions raised by MLA Babu Singh Rathore.

He said that fraud by banks and insurance companies has been uncovered under PMFBY, resulting in farmers not receiving compensation for crop losses.

He mentioned that during an inspection in Karanpur in Sri Ganganagar district, it was found that a surveyor of an insurance company had forged the signatures of the farmer, agriculture supervisor, and revenue officer on the intimation form.

Out of 1.7 lakh forms examined, 32,000 intimation forms reported zero per cent crop damage for farmers, whereas the actual damage ranged between 50 and 70 per cent.

This led to losses of approximately Rs 128 crore for farmers.

An FIR has been registered in Rawla, and the police are investigating the matter.

The company Kshema Insurance has been found prima facie guilty, and a letter has been sent to the Central government requesting that the company not be awarded future tenders.

The Agriculture Minister said efforts will be made to secure payment of Rs 122 crore to farmers through hearings at the State Level Grievance Redressal Committee (SGRC).

He also cited another fraud case in Salasar, where 71 bank accounts were opened at SBI in farmers’ names using fake documents.

In these accounts, the names of farmers and their relatives were identical, and no other supporting documents were available with the bank.

Savings accounts were opened under fake names to facilitate deduction of insurance premiums.

This fraud could have resulted in wrongful payment of Rs 9 crore by the Central and state governments.

The name of AIC Company has surfaced in this case as well, and an FIR has been registered.

He further informed that similar irregularities have surfaced in Sanchore, Jalore, Churu, Nagaur, and Bikaner.

Cases of underreporting crop damage have also been reported in the Shergarh Assembly constituency.

Earlier, in a written reply to the original question by MLA Shri Rathore, the Agriculture Minister stated that under PMFBY, in the Shergarh Assembly constituency, Rs 42.62 lakh in crop insurance claims against policies of 659 eligible farmers from Kharif 2020 to Rabi 2024–25 are pending due to non-verification of bank accounts, Aadhaar issues, NEFT failures, and the death of insured farmers.

He added that due to objections raised by insurance companies regarding crop-cutting experiments, 23 crop patwar circles are under process before the State Level Technical Advisory Committee (STAC).

The Minister said that pending claims of 659 eligible farmers in Shergarh are under process for distribution through the DG Claim Module of the National Crop Insurance Portal after bank account verification.

He further informed that the technical yield data dated February 10, 2026, has been received from the Government of India for the 23 pending crop patwar circles, and the cases will soon be resolved in the upcoming STAC meeting.

–IANS

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Jaipur, Feb 16 (IANS) Rajasthan Agriculture Minister Dr Kirodi Lal Meena said in the Assembly on Monday that serious irregularities by insurance companies have come to light under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) in several districts of the state. He assured the House that these fraud cases would be investigated by the Special Operations Group (SOG).

He informed that insurance claim payments for some farmers are pending due to reasons such as non-verification of bank accounts and Aadhaar, death of the insured farmer, and NEFT transaction failures. Instructions have been issued to the concerned District Collectors to expedite verification of bank accounts, Aadhaar authentication, succession certificates, and other required documents.

He assured that payments would be made promptly after completion of all formalities. The Minister stated that the current government has paid Rs 6,328 crore as crop insurance claims to farmers for the Rabi and Kharif seasons.

Of this, Rs 188 crore was pending from the previous government’s tenure.

During Question Hour, the Minister was responding to supplementary questions raised by MLA Babu Singh Rathore.

He said that fraud by banks and insurance companies has been uncovered under PMFBY, resulting in farmers not receiving compensation for crop losses.

He mentioned that during an inspection in Karanpur in Sri Ganganagar district, it was found that a surveyor of an insurance company had forged the signatures of the farmer, agriculture supervisor, and revenue officer on the intimation form.

Out of 1.7 lakh forms examined, 32,000 intimation forms reported zero per cent crop damage for farmers, whereas the actual damage ranged between 50 and 70 per cent.

This led to losses of approximately Rs 128 crore for farmers.

An FIR has been registered in Rawla, and the police are investigating the matter.

The company Kshema Insurance has been found prima facie guilty, and a letter has been sent to the Central government requesting that the company not be awarded future tenders.

The Agriculture Minister said efforts will be made to secure payment of Rs 122 crore to farmers through hearings at the State Level Grievance Redressal Committee (SGRC).

He also cited another fraud case in Salasar, where 71 bank accounts were opened at SBI in farmers’ names using fake documents.

In these accounts, the names of farmers and their relatives were identical, and no other supporting documents were available with the bank.

Savings accounts were opened under fake names to facilitate deduction of insurance premiums.

This fraud could have resulted in wrongful payment of Rs 9 crore by the Central and state governments.

The name of AIC Company has surfaced in this case as well, and an FIR has been registered.

He further informed that similar irregularities have surfaced in Sanchore, Jalore, Churu, Nagaur, and Bikaner.

Cases of underreporting crop damage have also been reported in the Shergarh Assembly constituency.

Earlier, in a written reply to the original question by MLA Shri Rathore, the Agriculture Minister stated that under PMFBY, in the Shergarh Assembly constituency, Rs 42.62 lakh in crop insurance claims against policies of 659 eligible farmers from Kharif 2020 to Rabi 2024–25 are pending due to non-verification of bank accounts, Aadhaar issues, NEFT failures, and the death of insured farmers.

He added that due to objections raised by insurance companies regarding crop-cutting experiments, 23 crop patwar circles are under process before the State Level Technical Advisory Committee (STAC).

The Minister said that pending claims of 659 eligible farmers in Shergarh are under process for distribution through the DG Claim Module of the National Crop Insurance Portal after bank account verification.

He further informed that the technical yield data dated February 10, 2026, has been received from the Government of India for the 23 pending crop patwar circles, and the cases will soon be resolved in the upcoming STAC meeting.

–IANS

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