Various protests against crop premium were held in Bijnor recently. Earlier, a 2% premium was deducted on the loan taken by farmers compulsorily under the insurance scheme. Farmers were told that this amount would go towards compensation for them in case more than 50% of their crop got destroyed. Farmers, however, contended that the sugarcane crop never gets destroyed on such a large scale and that damage to the sturdy crop, even in a very bad scenario, doesn't exceed 25-30%.
Bijnor district president of Bhartiya Kisan Union, Digambar Singh, said, "There are over 2 lakh sugarcane farmers in Bijnor, the second largest cane-growing district in the state. During the kharif season last year, banks deducted an amount of Rs 12.15 crore as premium under the scheme just in Bijnor district. The scheme was not beneficial for sugarcane farmers as their crop is not damaged so much during natural disasters. And the scheme allows compensation only if the damage is more than 50%. The scheme was being run to benefit insurance companies."