Hubballi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana in North Karnataka on February 27.
Disclosing this to reporters here on Wednesday, state BJP president Prahlad Joshi said that the new flagship crop insurance scheme would benefit a large number of farmers in the region as it would bring down the premium to a maximum of 2 per cent of the sum insured.
The state and Union governments would pay the rest.
A mammoth farmers' rally will be held in the region to popularise the scheme, which was approved by the Union cabinet last month, the BJP leader said. Lambasting the state government for delaying distribution of compensation to drought-hit farmers, Mr Joshi charged that the Congress manifesto for rural development was a mere eyewash.
He said, The “Rs 1,540 crore we released to deal with the drought is the highest in two decades. But the state government has not added its share of compensation to the funds allotted by the Centre.”
Accusing Chief Minister Siddaramaiah of trying to gain political mileage in the coming panchayat elections by releasing the letter written to the Goa Chief Minister on the Mahadayi water problem, he said the state government needed to take responsibility for the setback in the dialogue process to settle the dispute. “The UPA government constituted the Mahadayi Water Dispute Tribunal against the wishes of the farmers without trying to resolve the issue through an out-of-court settlement. We will extend our full support to the state government if it tries to convince Congress leaders in Goa about the need to release Mahadayi water to Karnataka,” Mr Joshi added.
