Good news for cattle rearers of Rajasthan! More than 20 lakh animals have been insured under the Chief Minister Mangala Pashu Bima Yojana. Soon cattle rearers will start getting compensation of up to Rs 40,000. The government has increased the scope of the scheme to 42 lakh animals.
Mangala Pashu Bima Yojana was started on the initiative of Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma with the aim of providing financial security to livestock farmers in Rajasthan and providing relief on accidental death of livestock. Now under this scheme, livestock farmers will soon start getting insurance benefits. The state government had announced the insurance of 21 lakh animals in the budget for the financial year 2024-25, and in this direction, 20.26 lakh animals have been registered so far.
What is Mangala Pashu Bima Yojana?
Under this scheme, dairy and economically important animals like cow, buffalo, goat, sheep and camel are being insured. Under the scheme, livestock farmers will be given compensation of up to Rs 40 thousand in case of accidental death of the animal. The biggest advantage of this scheme is that livestock farmers will not have to pay any premium for insurance, that is, this scheme is completely free.
To successfully implement the scheme, the Animal Husbandry Department is taking forward the process of insurance work and claim payment through SIPF (State Insurance and Provident Fund Department). The government has allocated a budget of Rs 400 crore for this scheme.
Status of registration
The scheme had a target of insuring 5 lakh cows, 5 lakh buffaloes, 5 lakh sheep, 5 lakh goats and 1 lakh camels. However, the figures of registrations done so far are as follows:
1. Cows – 6.04 lakhs (more than the target)
2. Buffaloes – 7.41 lakhs (more than the target)
3. Goats – 4.86 lakhs (a little less)
4. Sheep – 1.86 lakhs (much less)
5. Camels – 9,674 (much less than the target)
This clearly shows that cow and buffalo breeders have shown tremendous interest in this scheme, while the registration of sheep and camel breeders was relatively less.
When and how will the insurance benefits be available?
Now that the registration process is complete, the insurance policy will soon be issued to the livestock owners. This process will have the following steps:
1. Health check-up of registered animals – The veterinarian will make a health certificate for each registered animal.
2. Online document upload – This certificate will be uploaded on the portal.
3. Insurance policy issued – The insurance policy will be provided to each livestock owner by the insurance company.
4. Claim process – If the animal dies due to any accidental or natural disaster, the livestock owner will get the insurance amount.
Under what circumstances will insurance cover be available?
1. Death due to fire
2. Road accident
3. Death due to lightning
4. Natural disaster (flood, earthquake, cyclone)
5. Death due to eating poisonous grass
6. Death due to snake bite or poisonous insect bite
7. Death due to serious illness
Special priority livestock farmers
In this scheme, special priority has been given to livestock farmers associated with Lakhpati Didi Yojana and Gopal Credit Card Yojana.
1. Under Lakhpati Didi Yojana, animals of 987 livestock farmers have been insured.
2. Under Gopal Credit Card Yojana, priority has been given to 457 livestock farmers.
The government has announced that from March 2025, livestock farmers will start getting insurance policy under this scheme. Not only this, in the next financial year, the government is going to increase the scope of the scheme to 42 lakh animals. With this, more livestock farmers of the state will be able to get the benefit of this scheme.
Mangala Pashu Bima Yojana will prove to be an important economic security cover for the cattle rearers of the state. While this scheme will compensate the cattle rearers for the sudden loss, it will also strengthen the government’s cow rearing and livestock development policy. In the coming months, the effective implementation of this scheme will definitely provide relief to lakhs of cattle rearers.
