Hyderabad: Farmers in Telangana have been dealt an unexpected blow after the state government failed to pay the annual premium for the Rythu Bima scheme before the deadline lapsed, effectively halting the insurance cover. Under the scheme, families of landholding farmers who die were entitled to financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh, but with the premium unpaid, these benefits have officially come to a stop.
The government has cited a reason behind the suspension. According to officials, the Congress government has decided to extend insurance coverage not just to farmers but to every poor family in the state. As part of this move, the Rythu Bima scheme is being replaced by a new plan called the Indiramma Kutumba Jeevitha Bima Pathakam, under which the government will provide Rs 5 lakh in assistance to a family in the event of the death of the head of the household or its primary earning member.
The new Indiramma insurance scheme is expected to come into effect from November 19, with the government having allocated Rs 4,000 crore for the initiative. However, with the Rythu Bima scheme now suspended and the new scheme not set to launch until November, farmers have expressed concern that families of farmers who die during this intervening gap of a few months may not receive any insurance payout at all.
The Rythu Bima scheme was originally launched on August 14, 2018, by then Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao during the BRS government’s tenure. The scheme was designed to provide immediate financial support to a farmer’s family in the event of death from any cause, preventing them from being left in economic distress, with Rs 5,00,000 credited directly to the nominee’s bank account.
Under the scheme, farmers were not required to pay anything themselves — the government paid the annual premium of up to Rs 2,500 directly to the Life Insurance Corporation of India on their behalf. It applied to all farmers aged between 18 and 59 years who held pattadar passbooks. Since its implementation, the scheme has supported thousands of affected farming families, providing Rs 5 lakh in compensation to each.