The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (during kharif 2016) and Weather-based Crop Insurance Scheme (kharif 2007–kharif 2014) are assessed by considering a set of performance indicators, namely average sum insured per insured cropped area, percentage of loanee and non-loanee farmers covered, average area insured per farmer, total claim ratio, farmer claim ratio, premium as percentage of sum insured, gross profit to insurance agencies. The study finds that claim payout can increase farmers’ coverage under PMFBY while subsidy and actuarial premium rate significantly impact farmers’ coverage for WBCIS. However, as recourse to complement the performance of two schemes, we propose a total insurance package like seed insurance through replanting guarantee programme, crop cycle insurance, prepaid insurance card, to name a few.
The creation of the National Agricultural Market in India is a welcome move against the backdrop of the agricultural produce marketing committee reforms, 2013 and APMC Model Act 2003. With the twin objectives of spot price discovery and real-time price dissemination, the NAM is aimed at introducing a technology-enabled trading environment at regulated markets and integrate primary and secondary markets at the regional and national levels. To improvise the market structure, appointing a diverse and discursive group of market agencies/service providers is essential.
Various opportunities accompany the merger of the Securities Exchange Board of India with the Forward Markets Commission, as announced in the 2015-16 union budget. At the same time, important regulatory and developmental challenges have to be overcome for instilling efficiency in the market, along with promoting investor protection. Whether the merger is the beginning of financial market regulatory convergence or merely a "one-off" incident can only be known with developments over time. Similar types of opportunities and challenges may arise in generally adopting regulatory convergence in India.