Officials in Rajasthan uncover a widespread scam involving duplicated crop insurance claims worth Rs 30 lakh, leading to FIRs against farmers and operators as the state intensifies efforts to root out irregularities under the PMFBY scheme.
Rajasthan’s agriculture department says it has uncovered fraudulent crop insurance claims under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana in Kalusar village of Sri Ganganagar district, prompting officials to order FIRs against e-Mitra operators, farmers and others allegedly involved. Agriculture Minister Kirodi Lal Meena has directed a tougher crackdown, saying the scheme must benefit only genuine farmers.
According to the department’s inquiry, multiple policies were taken out against the same parcel of land, creating claims worth about Rs 30 lakh. Agriculture Commissioner Naresh Kumar Goyal said the probe named farmers Banwari Lal and Richhpal, along with e-Mitra operators Vikas Kumar and Bijesh, among others. The department said Banwari Lal insured a groundnut crop on 10.37 hectares as a loanee farmer, then received Rs 23.35 lakh through three policies. Richhpal later obtained insurance for the same land under a sharecropping arrangement and was paid Rs 7.80 lakh.
Officials said other farmers also sought cover for groundnut cultivation on the same land, though their claims were rejected. The inquiry found that policies had been issued against the same Khasra and that the insured area was about seven times larger than the actual plot size. The department suspects collusion among operators, farmers and other parties, and says fraudulent policies are being targeted for cancellation.
The action in Sri Ganganagar comes as the state widens what it has called “Operation Clean” to detect irregularities in crop insurance. The department has made Farmer ID compulsory with policy applications and said non-loanee policies will face closer scrutiny. Separate FIRs were also filed in Malpura tehsil in Tonk district and Shahpura tehsil in Jaipur district over alleged fraud linked to the Kharif 2026 season.
The crackdown follows broader complaints about PMFBY in Rajasthan. The Tribune reported that Meena recently said a Rs 122 crore scam had been found in the scheme, while The Free Press Journal and The Print said the Special Operations Group has been asked to investigate wider irregularities involving forged signatures and manipulation of records. A joint audit reported by First India also found more than Rs 26 crore in disputed claims in Sri Ganganagar, underlining the scale of the alleged abuse.
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