Agricultural labourers in India are always a neglected community although more than two third of the total workforce of the country is in agriculture. According to Census 1991, more than 190 million workers out of 314 million total workers were engaged in this sector. Agricultural labourers accounted for nearly 40 per cent of the agricultural workforce. Almost the entire workforce engaged in agriculture, forestry, fishery and plantation is unorganized.

The main objective of the scheme is to protect the farmers against crop losses suffered on account of natural calamities, such as, drought, flood, hailstorm, cyclone, fire, pests and diseases, accident. 

Companies working in rural insurance sectors

The general insurance industry in India was nationalised and a government company known as General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC) was formed by the Central Government in November 1972. With effect from 1 January 1973 the erstwhile 107 Indian and foreign insurers which were operating in the country prior to nationalisation, were grouped into four operating companies, namely,

(i) National Insurance Company Limited;

(ii)New India Assurance Company Limited;

(iii)Oriental Insurance Company Limited; and

(iv) United India Insurance Company Limited.

All the above four subsidiaries of GIC operate all over the country competing with one another and underwriting various classes of general insurance business except for aviation insurance of national airlines and crop insurance which is handled by the GIC.