Amalapuram, Jan 20: YSRCP Farmers’ Wing President Rama Rao (Babi) strongly condemned the Chandrababu Naidu government for pushing Andhra Pradesh farmers out of the crop insurance system under the guise of a so‑called “voluntary enrollment insurance.” He stated that due to the government’s failure to pay its share of premium dues, insurance companies have turned away from Andhra Pradesh, with none even participating in bidding for the current Rabi season. As a result, the state has been removed from the national crop insurance coverage list, and both loanee and non‑loanee farmers have been effectively denied access to insurance. He stated that after scrapping free crop insurance immediately on coming to power, the coalition government has now rendered even the voluntary scheme dysfunctional. Because of these actions, farmers were denied at least Rs. 3,500 crore in insurance compensation for the 2023–24 and 2024–25 seasons, and over the last 19 months more than Rs. 1,100 crore in input subsidies and drought dues remain unpaid. Rama Rao contrasted this with the 2019–24 YSRCP period, when free crop insurance was implemented without any farmer premium burden, claims were settled within the next season, and insurance protection covered an average of 1.08 crore acres annually, totaling 5.42 crore acres and about 2.5 crore farmers over five years. He said the YS Jagan government paid Rs. 3,022.26 crore in premiums on behalf of farmers and delivered Rs. 7,802.08 crore in compensation to 54.55 lakh farmers, compared to only Rs. 3,411.20 crore paid to 30.85 lakh farmers during Chandrababu Naidu’s 2014–19 term. He further pointed out that under the current voluntary model more than 80 percent of farmers have dropped out, with only 19.58 lakh acres insured out of 72.90 lakh acres cultivated in Kharif 2025, and only 19.40 lakh farmers able to afford premiums out of nearly 50 lakh cultivators.
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