Helping hand

Why in the News

Long-term preparedness and a swift response held Andhra Pradesh to seven deaths when back-to-back cyclones Arnab and Murasu struck its coast. Damage to crops and public infrastructure is still heavy, so the open question is how much of the rebuilding cost the Centre should share with the affected States.

What do the disaster response funds pay for?

1. Disaster response funds: The Centre’s National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF), set up under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, tops up a State’s own State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) in a severe disaster. It works like a back-up account.
2. Relief, not rebuilding: The Union government first held that both funds were meant for immediate response and relief, not for recovery and reconstruction, meaning rebuilding what was destroyed.
3. Finance Commission’s push: The 15th Finance Commission urged a change, so the Centre added recovery and reconstruction as a component of both funds two years ago.
4. The takeaway: The funds can now pay for rebuilding, but extensive damage to public infrastructure still needs Central help beyond them.

What did cyclones Arnab and Murasu cost?

1. Cyclone Arnab: Arnab made landfall on 28 October, and its damage in Andhra Pradesh is estimated at roughly Rs 4,526 crore.
2. Cyclone Murasu: Murasu crossed the coast on 3 November, and initial estimates put the standing crops affected at about 52,500 hectares.
3. Crop damage in Odisha: Arnab also damaged nearly 90,000 hectares of standing crops in southern Odisha.
4. Central assistance: The Union government is expected to release the first instalment of funds soon, after a preliminary on-the-spot assessment.
5. Inter-State help: Personnel from Karnataka, Telangana and Tamil Nadu joined the rescue in Andhra Pradesh.

Why were far fewer lives lost than in Cyclone Hudhud (2014)?

1. Cyclone Hudhud benchmark: Hudhud caused 63 deaths in Andhra Pradesh and damage of nearly Rs 22,000 crore.
2. Real Time Governance Society (RTGS): Andhra Pradesh used the RTGS, its real-time data and monitoring body, along with other technologies, so casualties and property damage fell significantly.

Who should pay to rebuild and to cover crop losses?

1. Rebuilding burden on States: Extensive infrastructure damage leaves the affected State a repair bill that relief-focused funding was not designed to meet.
2. Cooperative federalism: The Prime Minister and the Union government are urged to act in the spirit of “cooperative federalism”, meaning the Centre and States share problems neither can solve alone.
3. Gap in crop insurance: The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), the Union government’s crop insurance scheme launched a decade ago, has not given farmers full cover against losses from nature.

Challenges

1. More frequent disasters: Natural disasters are becoming more frequent in India, so States face repeated rebuilding costs.
2. Uneven insurance enrolment: Not all farmers insure their crops under PMFBY, and many are unaware of it, so losses go uncompensated.
3. No crop loss framework: Authorities have no effective framework yet to compensate farmers for crops lost to cyclones.
4. Funds follow assessment: Central money arrives in instalments only after an on-the-spot assessment, so rebuilding waits on the release.

Way Forward

1. Additional Central assistance: The Centre should give States with extensive infrastructure damage extra help beyond the disaster response funds.
2. Permanent restoration: The Centre should fund permanent restoration projects in affected States.
3. Better crop insurance: The Union government should improve PMFBY so that all farmers are encouraged to insure their crops.
4. State top-ups: State governments should raise awareness of the scheme and top up the benefits it pays.
5. Science partnerships: Higher learning institutions, especially in science and technology, should work with Central and State disaster agencies.

Conclusion

Better preparedness has cut the human cost of cyclones in Andhra Pradesh, but the financial cost of rebuilding and of crop losses still falls largely on States and farmers. Whether the Centre adds help beyond the disaster response funds, and whether crop insurance reaches every farmer, will decide how quickly coastal States recover from the next cyclone.

Back2Basics: Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)

1. What it is: A crop insurance scheme of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare against failure of notified crops due to natural calamities, pests and diseases.
2. Who can join: All farmers, including sharecroppers and tenant farmers. Enrolment has been optional since 2020.
3. Premium on food crops: Farmers pay a premium of 2% for Kharif crops and 1.5% for Rabi crops.
4. Premium on other crops: Farmers pay 5% for commercial and horticultural crops.

Matching Previous Year Question

“[2016] With reference to ‘Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana’, consider the following statements: 1. Under this scheme, farmers will have to pay a uniform premium of two percent for any crop they cultivate in any season of the year. 2. This scheme covers post-harvest losses arising out of cyclones and unseasonal rains. Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (a) 1 only (b) 2 only (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2 ANSWER: (b)”