Jaipur, Feb 13 (IANS) Rajasthan Agriculture Minister Kirodi Lal Meena, on Friday, exposed a major scam involving crores of rupees under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana at the State Bank of India (SBI)’s Salasar branch, government officials said.
Acting on complaints of irregularities, the Minister visited the bank branch early in the morning along with departmental and insurance officials and ordered the registration of an FIR against those involved in the fraud.
Investigations revealed that bank officials, in collusion with the crop insurance mafia, fraudulently enrolled 71 fake farmers using forged documents.
These individuals were shown as farmers in Bikaner district’s Gajner tehsil, with false records of land and mustard crops.
Using these fake details, crop insurance policies were issued and a fraudulent claim of Rs 9 crore was processed.
Revenue records confirmed that no agricultural land was registered in the names of these so-called farmers.
Under this fraud, premiums worth around Rs 51 lakh were paid, including Rs 15.76 lakh each from the state and Central governments.
Officials said that if the Minister had not intervened in time, the Rs 9 crore fake claim would have been released.
Minister Meena also highlighted that around 15,000 landless individuals across the state were insured fraudulently, with total fake claims estimated at nearly Rs 1,150 crore.
This organised scam has allegedly been operating for years with the involvement of bank staff, insurance agents, and intermediaries.
Minister Meena said strict legal action will be taken against guilty bank officials, insurance company personnel, and middlemen.
“FIRs will be registered, independent agencies will investigate the case, and the concerned insurance company may also be blacklisted.”
He emphasised that protecting farmers’ interests is the state government’s top priority and warned that no one involved in cheating farmers will be spared.
–IANS
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