Bengaluru, July 16 -- Former Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday wrote a formal letter to Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, urging the state government to relax the strict rules surrounding the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) and the Restructured Weather-Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS).

He highlighted that a new government rule mandating both loanee and non-loanee farmers to compulsorily submit a "Self-Declaration Letter" has put farmers in a severe spot. Citing official correspondence from the Karnataka Commissioner of Agriculture and the Union Government, Bommai expressed deep concern in his letter that these newly introduced rules could completely push small and marginalised farmers out of the pr...