Agriculture Minister Manikrao Kokate has sparked controversy with his remarks on the crop insurance scheme by comparing the farmers to beggars. The minister was speaking during the inauguration of Agriculture Development Conference and Exhibition at Amravati on Friday.
Kokate was answering a query on the Re1 crop insurance scheme while talking to media at an agriculture exhibition here.
Asked whether the Re1 scheme was more beneficial for insurance firms than farmers, Kokate said, “Even a beggar does not take Re1 as alms, but here we are giving crop insurance for Re1. Even then there are people who try to misuse it. There are irregularities like people from other states applying.” Kokate added that some four lakh applications were rejected post scrutiny.
Asked if the government planned to stop the scheme and introduce Rs100 crop insurance scheme, Kokate said there was no plan to shut it but added, “Certain decisions will be taken to prevent misuse, and discussions with the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister will help determine the right course of action.”
He emphasised that the scheme should benefit the right farmers and that the government has witnessed both positive and negative experiences with it. He also criticised insurance companies for exploiting farmers.
Meanwhile, the Kisan Sabha condemned Kokate for insulting farmers.
Congress Legislature Party leader Vijay Wadettiwar has demanded that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis should remove the insensitive minister from the cabinet. He stated, “By calling farmers beggars, this government has completely neglected them. It is now clear that this government does not stand with farmers. The Agriculture Minister has insulted them, refusing loan waivers, allowing corruption in the crop insurance scheme, and now directly labeling them as beggars. This exposes the true intentions of the Mahayuti government.”
NCP (SP) leader Jitendra Awhad slammed the minister, saying, “This is arrogance of power. You became a minister because farmers voted for you, not by chance. First, apologise to all the farmers of Maharashtra.”
