Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (Pmfby): Overcoming Regional Economic Disparity In India By Technology Enabled Crop Insurance

Abstract

Regional imbalance in agriculture sector in India is a cause of concern. The study evaluates the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) crop insurance scheme geographically on southeast and north-west regions of India. The sample comprised of twenty-four states of India. The study uses crop insurance data of three financial years 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19 from website of government of India on PMFBY crop insurance scheme and mobile phone subscriber data from Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for the study. The study uses t test to analyze the data. The study reveals that north-west region has less farmer benefit ratio in spite
of having significantly larger number of farmers insured per million people. Political benefit of NDA was significantly higher in north-west region. South-east region had a farmer benefit ratio of 117% as compared to just 21% for north-west region. There was no regional disparity in mobile phone subscribers. Deprivation of north-west region of India should be addressed for inclusive and sustainable growth and prosperity of farmers. Technology diffusion supported by enabling framework integrating all stakeholders will reduce regional disparity in benefits of crop insurance in south-east and north-west regions of India.