Ahmedabad, Jun 30 (PTI) Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil on Tuesday demanded the immediate implementation of the PM Fasal Bima Yojana in the BJP-ruled Gujarat, where the scheme was discontinued since 2019-20.
The government stated that the discontinuation was meant to avoid interference by insurance companies while providing compensation to farmers, emphasising that the relief is provided directly to needy farmers from state funds.
Addressing the media, Gohil, a former MP, referred to a written reply in response to a question raised by him during the zero hour of Rajya Sabha on December 5, 2025, wherein the Union Minister of State for Agriculture Ram Nath Thakur informed him that Gujarat has not implemented the scheme since 2019-20.
Gohil reiterated the demand, raising the possibility of crop loss due to the delay in the monsoon attributed to the El Nino effect.
“Despite the Union minister writing to the CM on November 25, 2025, pointing out that farmers get huge benefit from the Centre’s crop insurance scheme and requesting for its implementation, it has not yet been done so,” alleged Gohil, who is also the national spokesperson of Congress party.
He said that if this insurance scheme had been implemented, farmers would have received compensation worth crores of rupees for crop damage last year.
“In the absence of this scheme, farmers received a paltry amount from the state government, which would not even cover the cost of seed and sowing,” he said.
Gohil alleged that the government is deliberately avoiding the implementation of the scheme in Gujarat, which he said is a conspiracy to hurt farmers financially.
Responding to Gohil’s claim, In-charge Director of Agriculture, RP Rajput, told PTI that while the state government discontinued the Central scheme, it has been providing special relief packages to affected farmers every year since 2019-20.
“Whenever compensation is required, we announce it and provide relief directly to the farmers without any interference from insurance companies. We simply declare an agricultural relief package and transfer benefits directly to the accounts of the affected farmers,” he said.
Just last year, the government announced a Rs 10,000 crore relief package for groundnut farmers and transferred benefits directly to the accounts of over 36 lakh farmers within two months, he said. PTI KA PD NSK
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