New Delhi:
Ashish Kumar Bhutani, additional secretary,Ministry of Agriculture, has been appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), according to an order issued by the Personnel Ministry today.
Bhutani, a 1992 batch IAS officer of Assam-Meghalaya cadre, has been appointed to the post till May 9, 2020, it said.Bhutani has his association with PMFSBY since its inception.
Launched in 2016, the PMFBY is in line with one nation – one scheme theme and has generated almost Rs25,000 crore of premium and Rs 15,000 crore of claims in 2017-18.
The fact that government has now appointed a CEO for the scheme, shows that it has now larger plans to be implemented under the scheme.
However, after kickstarting on a robust footing in 2016-17 and covering almost 30 per cent cultivated land, the scheme had shrunk in 2017-18.
In 2018-19, the scheme has plan to cover 50 per cent of cultivated land.
PMFBY incorporates the best features of all previous schemes and at the same time, all previous shortcomings and weaknesses have been removed to ensure faster insurance services or reliefs to farmers.