In what is being described as a cruel joke after the weather failed them in last year's Kharif and Rabbi crop seasons, over thousands of farmers in Beed district were shocked to find Re 1 being deposited in their bank accounts by insurance companies. Enraged over the cruel joke played on them, farmers from the Baranjal Lokhande Village have demanded a probe into how many farmers had applied for crop insurance, how many had paid the insurance amount, and how much of the insurance amount was approved. Farmers like Anil Bhutekar who have petitioned the administration have warned of agitation if the probe is not completed within a week.
Last year, the Beed district administration was felicitated by the Center for having enrolled the maximum number of farmers under the Prime Minister's Crop Insurance Scheme. Nearly 80 per cent farmers had enrolled for the scheme benefit and crop insurance worth Rs 50 crore was collected. Thousands of farmers, who after getting messages about crop insurance money being deposited into the bank accounts, were in for a rude shock after finding deposits ranging between Re 1 to Rs 24 in their bank accounts. The worst part of it all is that the farmers will now have to make several trips to the banks with documentary proofs to claim that Re 1 compensation.
Farmers in Beed district, especially those in Dharur, Wadvani, Kaij, Ambejogai and Ashti talukas, had to endure the wrath of mother nature last year. Although initially there were good rains in the Kharif crop season, the prolonged dry spells later wiped out all short-duration crops. The scanty rainfall later even wiped out the Rabbi crops, which were also affected by Bollworm. In a gross lack of application of mind, the administration used the previous year's average on site crop yield assessment done to arrive at the compensation amount. A case in point is that of Prabhakar Shinde of Belora Village, who had paid Rs 450 towards crop insurance, but got Rs 13 deposited in his bank account in return as the insurance compensation amount.