Srinagar, Dec 16 (KNO): Heavy rains and floods damaged crops over nearly 0.78 lakh hectares across Jammu and Kashmir during the current year, the government informed Parliament on Tuesday.
The Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, as per the news agency—Kashmir Observer (KNO), in a written reply informed the Lok Sabha that due to recent weather-related disasters, Jammu and Kashmir reported crop damage on 0.78 lakh hectare area.
The Ministry clarified that the primary responsibility of providing relief to affected farmers lies with the respective state or Union Territory governments in accordance with the National Policy on Disaster Management. Relief measures are undertaken through the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), while in the case of calamities of a severe nature, additional assistance is provided from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF), following established procedures.
“The financial assistance under SDRF and NDRF comes in the form of relief and not as compensation. The crop losses are also covered under crop insurance schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) and Restructured Weather-Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS), which provide risk coverage against non-preventable natural calamities,” it said.
The Government further explained that admissible insurance claims are settled directly into the accounts of insured farmers based on yield data provided by the UT administration, conforming to the operational guidelines of the schemes—(KNO)