For the first time, Oriental Insurance Company is extending Fisheries insurance in the state of Bihar.
This move by the Bihar government has plans to improve the agriculture-animal husbandry sector. Giriraj Singh, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Resources minister, and N K Singh, General Manager of Oriental Insurance Company, together introduced the policy.
Singh said that the consumption of fish in Bihar is close to 4.50 lakh kilograms whereas they are able to produce only 3 lakh kilograms a year. The state government is looking to significantly increase fish production.
The insurance will extend to fish like Katla, Rohu, Silver Carp, Common Karp, etc. It will cover floods, diseases, damage due to any act of terrorism or natural calamities, etc. In case of any damage, the fish farmer would have to submit certain certificates obtained from the laboratory along with a description of the loss to the insurance company.
Sudhir Kumar, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries secretary said that this is the first time that such an insurance policy had been launched with a view to increasing the production of fish to nine lakh tonnes by 2017.
The government signed the MoU with Oriental Insurance Company last year in March and the policy was launched on the 18th of June, this year.
