<span style="color: #222222;">Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman chaired a meeting to review the implementation of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana through video conferencing in New Delhi today.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">During the meeting, a presentation was made by Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare where the journey of PMFBY since Kharif 2016 as well as challenges encountered and the status of implementation for the current Kharif 2020 crop season were discussed.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The Finance Minister highlighted the need of carrying out awareness activities to ensure dissemination of information among all farmers in view of Scheme becoming voluntary for all farmers.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">She also stressed on the need for States to release Premium Subsidy on time to ensure timely settlement of claims.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Ms Sitharaman suggested that stringent follow up should be done with States where subsidy is pending specially those which are not implementing the Scheme in Kharif 2020.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">This will ensure payment of all pending claims to farmers at the earliest. </span><br />''