Malay Kumar Poddar joined as Chairman-cum-Managing Director of Agriculture Insurance Company of India Limited in 2019. He started with General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC), Mumbai, as a generalist officer in 1986. After initial training in all trades of General Insurance, he was inducted into the Crop Insurance Department of GIC. He worked in GIC Crop Insurance Department for almost 18 years and served in six different states of India as State In-charge.
After formation of Agriculture Insurance Company of India (AICI) in 2002-03, he joined the newly formed Company in 2003-04. He served there for almost 15 years and became General Manager in 2014. In 2018, he moved on to National Insurance Company Limited at Kolkata as General Manager. At NIC, he oversaw Agriculture, Aviation, Liability and Miscellaneous lines of business and led the digital marketing initiative of the Company.
During his career in Agriculture Insurance, he was deeply involved in development and implementation of various Crop Insurance Schemes and products introduced by the Government of India, GIC and AICI. He has been closely associated with International Research Organizations, World Bank Group and Global Reinsurers working in the field of climate change and risk management in agriculture. He has served as a Member of Task Force on NITI Aayog’s(National Institute for Transforming India) Crop Insurance Committee.
A quintessentially Bengali Bhadrolok (gentleman), Malay loves music. He is an ardent admirer of Pandit Bhimsen Joshi. Among the new singers, he likes the renditions of Kaushiki Chakraborty, the well-known Indian classical vocalist. He is also a keen devotee of Ramakrishna Mission.
Q: The Central Government has recently made the Crop Insurance Scheme voluntary for the loanee farmers. How do you view this development?
A: The Central Government wanted to make the Crop Insurance scheme farmers friendly, in the sense that any amount of compulsion is not required. In many parts of the country, the farmers were objecting to this compulsory insurance. Some farmers felt that they do not need this insurance but yet they are being forced to buy. For the government it’s a good idea to give them a choice because in other segments, Insurance is a matter of solicitation. Crop insurance has almost matured now and the farmers have tested the goodness of it, so it would be better to give them an option to join or not to join.
Q: Once this scheme becomes voluntary what impact it will have on agriculture insurance. Will the business of Crop Insurance go down?
A: I think all the insurance companies who are in the crop insurance business must be gearing up themselves, so that the top line doesn’t get reduced too much.
Q: What policy does the Agricultural Insurance Company have, to settle the claims fast.
A: No, it’s very easy because we have only this type of business, so naturally we are more responsible and sensitive in the settlement of claims and it should be done as quickly as possible. Otherwise when you have a single line of business naturally you do not want to harm your reputation because you do not have any other lines to do business to compensate your loss and you cannot afford to do that kind of thing and lose your business.
Q: What is the process of lodging a claim by the farmers? Do they directly approach your branch or do you have an online system for lodging complaints.
A: Farmers are supposed to give us the intimation within 72 hours of claims. They can directly approach us or may be through the district agricultural offices. All the channels are open, only the farmer has to intimate, either they can intimate to the local state government offices, or to us, or to the intermediaries through whom it has been purchased.
Q: How many offices does AIC have all over India?
We have permanent Regional offices in all the state capitals and we have deployed people in the district and sub district level. They are in constant touch with the local farmers and with the local panchayat.
Q: Is Agricultural Insurance Company promoting any research work as frequent disasters or the climate change may affect the Crop Insurance business.
A: Yes, certainly without research insurance can’t work. AIC has been the flag bearer of crop insurance schemes from 1985.So, we have a lot of data and we are trying to make use of those data.
Q: Do you have any tie-up with agricultural universities for research or collaboration?
A: In Terms of the yield guarantee insurance the university’s involvement has not been that much. But there has been many pilots AIC has done in collaboration of many universities in Karnataka, Punjab and others.
Q: IRDA has launched a sandbox approach for new product filing. Is AIC thinking to file any product under this category?
A: Yes we are exploring that and we shall be applying soon for it.
Q: Does AIC conduct regular awareness campaigns for farmers?
A: Yes AIC regularly conducts awareness campaign through the local media, radio, electronic media, newspaper, pamphlet distribution, hoardings on the street corners, holding farmers meetings etc
Q: What are your major distribution channels?
A: We are using intermediaries, brokers, service centers and banks for distribution of products.
Q: What is technology being utilized in crop insurance for underwriting or for claim settlement?
A: As far as underwriting is concerned, the mobile app is being used. In the mobile app, details of the farmers are being uploaded to the Central Crop Insurance portal and for Bengal, Bengal Insurance portal is being used. On the underwriting side every routine of the farmers is captured and shown on the Social Bima Portal. On the claim settlement side, remote sensing has been a useful tool and also the data from the automatic weather stations, they come as secondary or tertiary evidence to understand the type of losses on the ground .
Q: Any new initiative that you are taking on behalf of AIC?
A: Yes, we are trying to diversify into other rural insurance businesses and insurance of livestock.
Malay graduated from Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya or Bidhan Chandra Agricultural University in 1985. His academic background as an Agricultural Economics stood him in good stead in his career ascendancy. He is also a Fellow of the Insurance Institute of India. His pursuit of a post-graduation degree was cut short when he landed up the job of GIC. Infact, he got the Junior Fellowship of Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) in 1985 for the same.
