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Modified NAIS
Based on the recommendations of a Joint Group constituted by the GoI,
a Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (MNAIS) was introduced
but on a pilot basis in 50 districts from Rabi 2010-11. During
kharif
2011, AIC
is implemented MNAIS in 31 districts of 13 states and during Rabi 2011-12 in
37 districts of 16 states. Though it was conceived for the remaining period of
the XI Plan (up to 2011-12), the pilot MNAIS has been continued during 2012-
13 as well.
There are a number of improvements that the MNAIS has introduced
over the traditional NAIS. Some key ones are: higher actuarial premiumsubsidy;
area of insurance reduced to village/panchayat level; on account payment up to
25% of likely claims as immediate relief; the scheme is compulsory for loanee
farmers and voluntarily for non-loanee farmers; participation of private insurers
for creating a competitive environment for crop insurance; and withdrawal of
NAIS from the districts in which MNAIS is being implemented.
During the past 2 to 3 seasons, about 1.54 million farmers have been
insured under the MNAIS and 1.46 lakh have benefited (Appendix 102).
Pilot Weather-Based Crop Insurance Scheme (WBICS)
A more dynamic and courageous scheme that has been brought into
being as an alternative to multi-peril NAIS is the weather-based crop insurance
scheme (WBICS). Weather insurance pays indemnities based not on the actual
losses experienced by the insured, rather on the realisation of a weather index
that is highly correlatedwith actual losses. The indexmeasures a specificweather
variable (e g, rainfall, temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, etc) rather
than the extent of loss (in crop yield). In other words, the product proxies the
loss that farmers face owing to the adverse weather incidence. WBCIS intends
to provide insurance protection to farmers against adverse weather incidence,
such as deficit and excess rainfall, long dry spells, fluctuations in minimum
and/or maximum temperature, relative humidity, wind speed etc. which deem
to impact the crop production adversely. It has the advantage to process claims
within a short time of occurrence of adverse weather incidence. WBCIS is based
on actuarial rates of premium, but to make the Scheme attractive, premium
actually charged from farmers in respect of food and oilseed crops is capped
“at par” with NAIS, and for annual commercial and horticultural crops, the
same has been capped at 6%.
There are interesting forerunners to the WBCIS. Apparently, “weather-
based insurance was first introduced in India in 2003 by ICICI Lombard for
