By the Court.—On 5 August 1998, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) advised banks to introduce a Kisan Credit Card Scheme on the lines of a scheme which was prepared by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). Subsequently, revisions took place on 4 October 2004 and on 11 May 2012. Prior to 7 August 2011, crop insurance was not compulsory. It came to be made compulsory by a circular of the RBI dated 7 August 2012.

2. The Union Government in the Department of Agriculture issued a circular on 4 February 2014 on the National Crop Insurance Programme (NCIP)/Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (MNAIS). The salient aspect of the scheme envisages the selection of an insurance company from amongst empanelled insurance companies of the Department of Agriculture in the Union Government by the State Governments which implement the scheme in the States. At the level of the State Governments, the department which was looking after the implementation of the National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) and Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (WBCIS) w