AGRICULTURE: FARMERS’ SUICIDE - 2009 (January to December, 2009)

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Indian Social Institute, Lodi Road, New Delhi, Indi a

Farmer suicides: New law to curb illegal lending (2 0) Pune, January 02, 2009: With most measures taken to stem farmer suicides in Vidarbha not working, the state has now decided to bring in a new law to prevent illegal private lending. The new law, which will prevail over the old Bombay Moneylenders Act, 1946, will have more teeth to stop moneylenders from exploiting the state’s farmers, said state minister for cooperatives Harshavardhan Patil. “The draft of the new law, Maharashtra Prevention of Moneylenders Act, 2008, is ready and has been sent to the Centre,” Patil said in Pune on Friday after inaugurating a workshop for officials of the cooperatives department. “Once we get the Centre’s assent, an ordinance will be in place, which will be turned into law in the coming budget session of Maharashtra assembly.” With the new law looking imminent, the state can expect some check on illegally operating moneylenders, especially in rural parts of Vidarbha and Marathwada. Farmers in Vidarbha often approach private moneylenders after banks refuse them loans. They frequently lend farmers money at exorbitant rates. A report submitted by economist Narendra Jadhav on farmer suicides says, “Constant pressure from banks and more so from unauthorised moneylenders led to severe mental distress, compromising their (the farmers’) dignity and resultant frustration drove the self-respecting farmers to commit suicide.” Many of the moneylenders operating illegally in parts of Vidarbha are believed to be from Andhra Pradesh. After the neighboring state clamped down against these lenders, some of them intruded in to Vidarbha through border areas to continue their business. The new law is expected to plug loopholes in the old law and have additional checks. “There are certain loopholes in Section 13 (b) of old moneylenders act, through which the unauthorised moneylenders exploit farmers,” said Patil. “In the new law concerns have been addressed while removing these loopholes.” There had been 5,400 complaints against unauthorised moneylenders out of which 1,600 cases were disposed off, the minister said. It, however, remains to be seen how effectively the new law, once it takes effect, would be implemented. “The state has not done much to effectively implement the existing moneylenders act,” said Kishore Tiwari of the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti, who has been tracking farmer suicides in the region. “Despite the then home minister R.R. Patil’s stern warning to moneylenders, very few cases were registered against them while exploitation of farmers blatantly went on.” (Hindustan Times 2/1/09) Farmer commits suicide in Tehsil office (20) Bhopal, Jan 1: After getting fed up of the atrocities committed by Tehsildar and Patwari a farmer consumed poisonous substance in Tehsil office situated at Koh-e-Fiza Police Station on Wednesday. He was admitted to hospital by his family members for treatment where he died. Police have found a suicide note written by the deceased in which he has stated that he is committing suicide owing to the constant atrocities committed on him by Tehsildar and Patwari. Police have registered a case in this connection. It has been found in the post-mortem report that the farmer has died of poisoning. According to the police sources Bablu son of Hari Singh was resident of village Khejda Devgram. He owned land in Parwaliya police station area and his father was in the possession of that land since 1965. To get this land registered in his name he was running from pillar to post in the office of Patwari Madanlal Sahu and Tehsildar Jagdish Sahu. These two officers used to give him assurance of getting the work done and daily they used to send him back to his home. On Monday Patwari and Tehsildar asked the deceased to give them Rs 10000. The farmer agreed to the proposal and gave the officers the money. The farmer went to the office of Tehsildar with the patta of the land yesterday evening. There the farmer asked the Patwari Madanlal Sahu and Jagdish Sahu to do his work. But even after taking the money both these officers pushed the farmer out of the office. Getting hurt by this incident the farmer consumed sulfas tablets in the Tehsil office. After the condition of the youth started deteriorating his brother Kallu took him to a private hospital. There doctors referred him to Hamidia Hospital. He died in the hospital while

undergoing treatment. Earlier the police maintained that the farmer died of excessive drinking. But when the post-mortem report was released then the real reason of death was known. Brother of the deceased Kallu informed the media over the phone to expose the case. After this media persons reached at the site of the incident and then the entire issue was exposed. Family members of the deceased informed that the farmer has committed suicide after getting fed up of the atrocities committed on him by the Tehsildar and Patwari. However, police are not ready to believe this. But later when the post-mortem report was released then the police accepted that the youth had died of poisoning due to consumption of sulphas tablets. Family members of the deceased revealed that after the farmer gave the money to Patwari Madanlal Sahu and Tehsildar Jagdish Sahu still his work was not done then the farmer said to the two officers that they should get his work done otherwise he would commit suicide. After hearing this Patwari said to the youth not to threaten him but rather do what he is saying. Revenue and Rehabilitation Minister of State Karan Singh Verma has given immediate orders of suspension of Patwari Madanlal Sahu and concerned Tehsildar in the suicide case of the son of farmer of Huzur Tehsil Hari Singh. Revenue Minister has termed the incident as unfortunate and given orders of magisterial probe into the incident. (Central Chronicle 2/1/09) Patwari held for farmer’s suicide (20) Bhopal: Koh-e-Fiza police have arrested Patwari ML Sahu in connection with the farmer Bablu Meena’s suicide case. The latter had accused Sahu in his suicide note. Sahu along with the Tehsildar LK Khare were suspended after the suicide incident, which took place on New Year’s eve. The Patwari on other hand has refuted his responsibility in the suicide and has claimed that he had already forwarded therelevant information three years back. After the removal of district collector Manish Rastogi and SDM SK Singh in the farmer’s suicide case, the Patwari was on the receiving end on Monday, as the police arrested him on the basis of the suicide note left behind by Meena, which held him responsible for inordinate delay in the land transfer. Sahu on other hand, while talking to the media, refuted charges that he is in any way responsible for the land transfer delay and claimed that he had dispatched the relevant information in the matter in October 2005 and only his superiors owe the responsibility for the mishap. Both the Tehsildar and the Patwari ML Sahu were slapped suspension orders after the suicide incident. Meanwhile, the police informed mediapersons that they have arrested the Patwari as his name figured in the suicide note left by the deceased farmer.(Pioneer 6/1/09) Debt-ridden farmer commits suicide (1) GULBARGA: A 45-year-old debt-ridden farmer Apparao Patil committed suicide by consuming poison at Ainapur village in Chincholi taluk in Gulbarga district on Monday night. He had taken loans from banks and moneylenders. According to reports, the farmer who had consumed poison died while being taken to the Government Hospital at Chincholi town. The Chincholi police have registered a case and the Tahsildar of Chincholi taluk, Baby John, visited the village and conducted panchanama. Apparao Patil is reported to have taken a loan of Rs. 28,000 from Punjab National Bank branch at Kumbal village and Rs. 32,000 from the Farmers’ Cooperative Society at Ainapur. He had also availed of a loan of Rs. 1.3 lakh from private moneylenders. He could not repay his loans after he lost his red gram crop owing to the failure of rains this year. He is survived by his wife and four children. (The Hindu 7/1/09) 12 more farmer suicides in Vidarbha (20) Nagpur, January 08, 2009: The relief packages seem to have done a little when it comes to the farmers of Vidarbha, particularly the cotton growers. Despite another relief package of Rs 6,208 crore announced by CM Ashok Chavan on the concluding day of the Winter Session, 12 more farmers ended their lives in last seven days. Earlier, the state and prime minister had provided two separate relief packages of Rs 1,050 crore and Rs 3,750 crore respectively in 2006 to bail out Vidarbha farmers. However, the farmers’ suicide continued unabated in Vidarbha and around 2,000 more farmers have killed themselves because of crop failure and debts after both the packages were announced. Kishore Tiwari of Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti, which is documenting the farmers’ suicide, alleged that most of the latest victims took the extreme step because they could not sell their raw cotton due to the closure of several centres by the state cotton marketing cooperative federation. (Hindustan Times 8/1/09) BJP trashes relief via waivers, promises boost to a griculture (20)

New Delhi: While the Congress Government may take pride in providing unprecedented relief to farmers through its scheme of loan waivers, the BJP is less than impressed, saying the relief packages have failed to work and promising effective measures for the agricultural sector if voted to power in the coming general elections. Describing farmers as the backbone of the Indian economy, NDA's prime ministerial candidate LK Advani on Tuesday claimed that the UPA Government's relief packages for farmers had "not worked." The senior BJP leader who met farmer leaders at his residence here promised far-reaching policy changes and programmatic measures to revive agriculture if the NDA was voted to power. "The relief packages announced by the UPA Government have clearly not worked, since farmers' suicides have continued in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, both of which have Congress and Congress-led State Governments," Advani told the kisan representatives during an interaction. Training its guns at the Congress, Advani maintained it had ruled India for the longest period since Independence and thus had to take the blame for failure to realise the dreams of millions of people. "As a result, we are seeing livelihood insecurity on an alarming scale," he said. Taking serious note of the suicides by handloom weavers in recent months in Andhra Pradesh, Advani said, "This is a totally unacceptable situation and a future NDA Government, if elected to office, will take the most far-reaching policy and programmatic measures to revive Indian agriculture." Advani promised that public spending in agriculture, which has dropped drastically since the 1990s, would be stepped up massively and new revolutionary measures to promote agriculture-based value-addition industries in rural areas would be initiated under the NDA Government. "Development of rural infrastructure - roads, power, irrigation, storage facilities, etc. — will receive a massive boost," he said. Pointing out that 60 per cent of the country's population was still dependent on agriculture the BJP stalwart hoped that, with "proper promotion," the agricultural sector could generate the largest number of employment opportunities. He also lamented the decreasing share of agriculture in India's GDP. "Our culture is intricately linked to agriculture. We need to preserve both. As far as the BJP is concerned, from the days of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya, we have believed that the key to India's prosperity, social stability and integral development lies in realisation of his slogan: Har haath ko kaam, har khet ko paani (Productive employment to every able-bodied individual and water to every farm)," Advani told the group. He recalled that the NDA Government had demonstrated its commitment by launching the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, the biggest road construction programme in the rural sector since Independence. (Pioneer 14/1/09) Farmer ends life in protest against project (20) Sorab (Shimoga District): Shivappa (52), a farmer belonging to Mudagodu, committed suicide by consuming poison in protest against the implementation of the Dandavathi Irrigation Project near Sorab. The foundation stone for the project was laid on Tuesday. Shivappa consumed poison around 2.30 a.m. at a tent pitched up by the villagers at Marur near here, the dam site of the proposed project. Shivappa was immediately shifted to the government hospital where he was declared dead.Farmers from different parts of the taluk started gathering at the hospital as the news of Shivappa’s death spread. There was tension when police refused to allow the body to be carried to the venue of the foundation laying. The protesters, led by the Samajawadi Party general secretary Madhu Bangarappa, raised slogans and refused to leave the place despite pleas from the police. Later, the former minister and senior Congress leader Kagodu Thimmappa addressed the irate crowd at the hospital and appealed to them to remain quiet. He said it was unfortunate the Government chose to implement the controversial project without appreciating the opposition to it from the people of the taluk. He hoped that the Government would reconsider its decision in the matter in view of the unfortunate death of a farmer. Deputy Commissioner Pankaj Kumar Pandey, Superintendent of Police S. Murugan and Additional Superintendent of Police Kunigal Srikant had a tough time in controlling the surging crowd. It was stated that the piece of land of Shivappa was identified as part of the area of submersion under the project which reportedly forced him to take the extreme step. (The Hindu 14/1/09) Farmers to take oath to shun chemical farming (20) BANGALORE: This Republic Day will see 20,000 farmers from different districts of the State gathering in front of Vidhana Soudha to take an oath not to use chemical fertilizers and pesticides. This will happen in the presence of former President of India A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. In the backdrop of farmers’ suicides, the assembled farmers will also take an oath, administered by 82-year-old organic farmer Meerathaayi Koppikar from Mudhol, that they will never resort to suicide. The farmers are from among the 51,760 farming families who have enrolled as members of the Karnataka Organic Farming Federation, under the

Organic Farming Mission set up by the State Government to promote organic farming in the State. Organic Farming Mission Chairman A.S. Anand, who himself is an organic farmer from Tirthahalli, told presspersons in Bangalore on Wednesday that though the mission wanted to bring all the 51,760 farming families to the oath-taking function, the ceiling prescribed by the Karnataka High Court on the maximum number of participants at public functions in Bangalore had made them place restriction on participants. The highlight of the organic farmers’ convention to be held on January 26 is that they will not take any financial assistance for the function. While all the farmers will travel to Bangalore and return home on their own, more than 5,000 households in Bangalore have come forward to prepare food for these farmers. These families will also accommodate some of the farmers as their guests for a day while 50 choultries have also been booked for the night-stay of farmers. Dr. Kalam will launch the website of the mission on the occasion. Through this federation, the Organic Farming Mission would not only try to promote organic farming, but would also strive to make agriculture a profitable venture, Dr. Anand said. The Organic Farming Mission has also recommended to the State Government to put on hold the cultivation of GM varieties of crops (at present only Bt cotton is being cultivated) in the State till all doubts regarding the crop are cleared. Mr. Anand made it clear that the mission has not asked for a complete ban on Bt cotton, but had only sought that it should be put in abeyance till experts clear all the doubts. (The Hindu 22/1/09) A matter of life and death for Thiruvannamalai farm ers (20) CHENNAI: Thousands of farmers in 10 villages around Kavuthi Malai and Vediappan Malai in Thiruvannamalai district are determined not to let the government give the go-ahead for the proposal for mining of iron ore in the hills. They are not ready to lose their idyllic lifestyle and be uprooted from the land to which they have a cultural mooring. “One needs to know the significance of the hills and its role in shaping the lives of the farmers to understand our anger’, says Ganesh (73), a farmer from Andiyur. “Vediappan (after whom one of the hills is named) is our ‘kuladeivam’ (family deity),” he says. The collective anger was palpable when over 1000 villagers attended the public hearing conducted by the district administration on December 27 last, to elicit the local community’s views on the proposal for mining in 325 hectares of forestland. “These two hills have provided us the sustenance when the rest of the district was reeling under famine,” says 85-year-old Parvathi of Ponakkadu. ‘During droughts, we collect ‘kolakattis’ (stone pounded to make kolam powder) from the hills and sell them in Thiruvannamalai town’ say a group of farmers. In the district that does not have a perennial river, it is the water from the hills that is harnessed by farmers for irrigation and domestic use. “All irrigation ponds in the 10 villages are at the foot of these hills and they serve as catchment areas, helping us to cultivate cash crops like kanagambaram, marigold, jathimalli and other flowers, besides two crops of paddy a year,’ says Nilakandan, Vadamattur panchayat president. A government officer at the collectorate confirms it, saying that water supply from the Sathanur dam is only for 90 days a year. Stating that a farmer cultivating 50 acres of land makes, on an average, Rs 1.20 lakh, Subramanian of Periyapalayapattu village panchayat, asks: Do you want us to give up all this and migrate to some parched land elsewhere and suffer? The hills, with expansive grazing space, also provide fodder for the cattle and the forests are a source for firewood. “Women in Andiyur village sustain themselves by collecting firewood from Kavuthi Malai and selling a bundle for Rs 150,” says Ambika (55) of the village. The government officer also fears that Thiruvannamalai would turn into a desert if miners use water from Sathanur dam. (New Indian Exp 24/1/09) ` NREGP arrested suicide trend, says MLA (20) KALPETTA: Successful implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP) and steps taken by the State government to protect prices of essential commodities and provide support prices to farmers have helped to arrest the tide of suicide by farmers in Wayanad district, P. Krishnaprasad, MLA, said here on Sunday. He was presenting a paper on “The peasant agitations and the aftermath: the lessons of Wayanad experience” at the three-day national seminar on “Global financial crisis and Indian peasantry” being organised by the All India Kisan Sabha and the All India Agricultural Workers’ Union here. Mr. Krishnaprasad said Wayanad had become a model for the country in the implementation of the NREGP .The Left Democratic Front (LDF) government had given special attention to the implementation of the programme in Wayanad district. He said one of the main reasons for the successful implementation of the NREGP was the direct and effective involvement of the grama panchayats in which the Left Democratic Front (LDF) was in power. (The Hindu 2/2/09)

Organic farming comes to the rescue of Vidarbha far mers (20) MUMBAI: Unlike many of his less-fortunate peers, Vidarbha farmer Girish Deshmukh is a happy man these days. Less than two years ago, he couldn’t have imagined in his wildest dreams that the cotton he grew would satisfy Europe’s fad followers’ need for ‘organic only’ products. Yet, two years later, his dream has come true and made him laugh all the way to the bank, courtesy of a trendsetting public-private partnership model between the country’s largest apparel-maker and its biggest bank. Lalbhai Group’s flagship Arvind and State Bank of India are set to cement a relationship later this month by signing a memorandum of understanding that will link over a thousand farmers in Vidarbha region’s Akola district to a demand-driven supply chain and an assured cash flow. In 2007, Arvind started its organic cotton project on a contract-farming model over 10,800 acres of land, sprawling 74 villages of Akola in Maharashtra. The company is training over 1,100 farmers to grow organic cotton, which includes information on how to substitute chemical fertilisers with various kinds of natural manure, making pesticides out of plant extracts and crop rotation patterns. The company buys back cotton at a 30% premium to conventional cotton varieties such as Bt and hybrid, and uses it to produce organic denim for export to Frankfurt. While Arvind purchased 1,111 bales (1 bale carries about 165-172 kg) of organic cotton in the 2007 season (October-November), it expects to procure around 4,500 bales in the current season. The cotton yield in Akola does not go down as a result of organic conversion because the soil quality and lack of irrigation cause yields to be low to begin with. This allows the farmer to get full benefit from reduced input cost (by obviating the need for pesticides and chemical fertilisers), the premium that organic cotton usually commands and the elimination of middlemen. Furthermore, the farmer benefits from Arvind’s seven-day payment schedule. As part of the MoU, modalities of which are still being worked out, SBI has already opened 615 zero-balance accounts at its branches in Akola and provided account numbers to both, the accountholders and Arvind. Because of an assured cash flow at enhanced levels spread over a period of time, the farmer becomes eligible for not only farm credit, but also for other financial products, such as crop loans and crop insurance. SBI has better risk mitigation as the entire cash flow gets channelised through the bank. The company is also assured of high-quality raw materials on a long-term basis, making it a win-win situation for all stakeholders in the project. “Small farmers are in a disadvantageous position, being the least-organised group in the supply chain. Most have small-scale operations, use traditional techniques, depend on family labour and have little capital to invest,” said KJ Taori, GM, agri business unit, SBI. Interestingly, though the names of Arvind and SBI have been etched prominently on the success story, the role of the government agencies cannot be ignored. “Even before the company and the bank could reach us, we were first informed by the district agriculture officer about the scheme. He explained how it made sense to deal with the company than with the traditional agents. It really helped us a lot,” said Mr Deshmukh, who hails from Ugaw village in Akola. “The company not only imparted us the training, but also posted staffers in our villages to help us tackle day-to-day problems. And we always had professors from the Panjabrao Deshmukh Agriculture University to help us handle complicated issues,” said farmer Ramdas Tarale from Aputi Budruk, a village 14 km from Akola. Arvind has an installed denim production capacity of over 100 million meters (mm) per annum of which organic denim accounts for around 2 mm. Company officials expect the share of organic denim to increase substantially in 2009-10, once it brings around 60% of the 10,800 acres of farmland under cotton acreage. Arvind sources organic cotton that meets the organic audit standards set by the Netherlands-based Control Union, which has an office in Mumbai. (Economic Times 14/2/09) Women vow to fight against GM crops (20) MACHNOOR (Medak District): Hundreds of women on Friday took the pledge to fight against genetically modified (GM) crops which, they said, would harm the health of land, animals and human beings. They promised to use each and every occasion to expose the affects of GM crops to the public in general and farming community in particular. In the concluding ceremony of the mobile biodiversity Festival celebrated by the Deccan Development Society (DDS) at this remote village in Jharasangham mandal, the women took the pledge and expressed their commitment. “We hear that germinate seeds harm the health of our soil, our health and the health of future generations. We will not allow this. We will create awareness among people,” said Begari Sammamma, a woman who cultivates her fields in the traditional system without using any chemical fertilizer. Not only that, she also reaped three to four crops instead of one as many farmers. Many joined her in narrating their success stories. National Academy of Agriculture Research Management (NAARM) Director S.M. Ilyas said that they would be learning a lesson or two

from the women who were actually teachers for them. He advised them to add best quality and value addition to the produce so that they could get better remuneration. “None can move you from your devotion, determination, passion and attention. You are a powerful and you have proved it,” he said appreciating them. DDS director P.V. Sateesh said that organising of bio-diversity festival for ten years showed commitment of women involved in the project. On food security and adverse effects of GM crops, Mr. Sateesh said only bio-diversity could address the problem . Dr. Vijay Khader, formerly Dean of Home Sciences, ANGRU, Miguel Braganza of OFAI, Goa and Oswald Qintal of LEISA, Tamil Nadu also spoke. (The Hindu 14/2/09) Farmer ends life after killing wife, son (20) KHAMMAM: A farmer clubbed his wife and son to death and committed suicide in Ramavaram village of Velerpadu mandal on Saturday. His nine-year-old daughter, who was injured in the attack, was battling for life. According to reports, Kamaraju, 35, who borrowed money from a private lender by pledging the ornaments of his wife Seeta, had an altercation with her in the morning. As tempers ran high, he clubbed her to death. His seven-year-old son Vamsi and nine-year-old daughter Sai were also beaten up. While the son succumbed to injuries, the daughter was admitted to hospital and her condition was said to be critical. Kamaraju committed suicide by consuming poison. (The Hindu 15/2/09) Eight more farmers commit suicide in Vidarbha (20) Nagpur, February 19, 2009: The agrarian crisis in the Vidrabha region has deepened further with eight more farmers committing suicides during the last 72 hours. With this, the toll has risen to 38 during this month alone. The last month's figure of farmers' suicides was 64. Kishor Tiwari, president of Vidarbha Jana Andolan Samiti, an NGO fighting for farmers' rights, released this grim statistics for the tragedy unfolding in the region without any remedy in sight. He said that most of the farmers have ended their lives due to mounting debts and crop failure. "You cannot call these deaths as suicides. It is virtually genocide because failure of the system and the government's apathy has caused this tragedy. The surviving farmers are now in dire need of financial aid because the only cash crop they relied on--- cotton-- had failed miserably," he said. Tiwari said that as many as 1246 farmers so far killed themselves because of debts and other agrarian crisis in Vidarbha during 2008, leaving their wives and children penniless condition. Despite the multi-crore-rupee relief package offered by the State and union governments to help crisis-hit cotton growers, farmer-suicides have continued simply because the aid failed to reach the target group, he alleged. According to Tiwari, the state government's wrong approach in addressing this agrarian crisis is responsible for continuing suicides. All toll claims of agriculture growth, credit and economic reforms in rural sector are only on paper. The interim budget presented by the UPA Govt. has shown rosy picture of rural India where as situation in countryside is very critical. "It is unfortunate that state failed to give fresh farm credit even after the loan waiver and debt trapped farmers in distressed area were forced to take huge crop loan from private money lenders that led to more suicides," Tiwari further claimed. The state and the union government had announced two separate relief packages of Rs 4,800-crore for the crisis-ridden farmers of the region. Later, the union government came out with another loan-waiving package of Rs 71,000-crore. When the farmers' suicide continued unabated, the state again announced another package of Rs 6,205-crore in December last year. But even this could not prevent the farmers' suicide in the region. The latest suicide victims were identified as : Anandrao Thakre of Kasarbehar village, Baban Dongre, Kurad, Gulab Waghmare of Kalamb (all in Yavatmal district), Janrao Tayade, Chamak (Amravati), Krishna Sathe, Nandora village, Vasudeo Gomase, Akoli (both in Wardha district), Harish Burande, Virli (Bhandara) and Gajanan Wavge of Dahigaon (Buldhana). (Hindustan Times 19/2/09) Panel to go into selection of farmers package benef iciaries (20) New Delhi, Feb 20 : The government today said a committee has been set up by the Maharashtra government to look into reports of incorrect selection of beneficiaries under the rehabilitation package for farmers in six identified districts of Vidarbha region. In a written reply, Minister of State for Agriculture Kanti Lal Bhuria said while no reports about any scam over the relief package to help bereaved families of those farmers who had committed suicide in Vidarbha region had been reported by the state government, it has been decided to set up the committee following news reports about incorrect selection of beneficiaries. The Committee, under the chairmanship of Mr B V Gopal Reddy, Director General, Vasantrao Naik Shetkari Swavalambanb Mission, Amravati, would ascertain the truth behind the reports,

he said. The eligibility criteria fixed by the state government for selection of beneficiaries included suicide-affected families, families or farmers below the poverty line, the selected family should not have availed of any subsidy for dairy activity under a government sponsored programme in the past two years and amount of outstanding debt with prospective beneficiary. (New Kerala 20/2/09) Farmers deprived of loan waiver schemes (20) Jajpur: The much-awaited agricultural debt relief and waiver scheme declared by the Government of India undoubtedly created a sensation among the farmers across the country in March 2008. The Central Government declared the Scheme and the Finance Minister, in his Budget Speech of 2008-2009, announced a Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme for farmers. The scheme benefited millions of farmers who had taken loan from April 1, 1997 to March 31, 2007. The scheme covered the direct agricultural loans extended to small and marginal farmers and other farmers by the Scheduled Commercial Banks, Regional Rural Banks and Co-operative Credit Institutions, including urban cooperatives banks and local area banks as "lending institutions." But contrary to the expectation, quite a large number of farmers were not provided the benefit due to the date barrier. The scheme included the farmers who had taken agricultural loans during the above-mentioned period, which covered a decade-long debt relief to the defaulting farmers. The scheme was intended to benefit poverty-stricken farmers, who were dying out of poverty and not being able to repay their debt incurred from many financial organisations. They really needed the scheme implementation as a bailout package for the farmers in the country. "The amount was not too big a matter, neither for the Central Government nor for the Orissa State Government. But the steps taken for the agricultural farm loan waiver by the Government could not fulfill the aspirations of lakhs of poor farmers due to the faulty policy adopted in the scheme," said senior co-operative movement leader Digambar Kar. The debt-waiver scheme cost the Central Government around Rs 700,000 crore. But it could not meet the expectations of roughly about 20 lakh farmers in Orissa who are indebted to various financial institutions. In Jajpur district alone, about 1 lakh farmers, who have taken an agricultural loan either before March 31, 1997 or after March 31, 2007, were debarred from getting benefits from the scheme. In Jajpur, where a large number of farmers are covered under micro-finance from credit and cooperative institutions also failed to get the benefit of debt waiver scheme due to the date barrier. The small and marginal farmers, who are mostly from villages and uneducated, expected their loans to be scrapped under the scheme. The debt waiver and relief scheme raised hope among the farmers, who had been either paying regularly or were debarred from getting a loan. But the Central Government declared that the agricultural loans disbursed up to March 31, 2007 and overdue as on December 31, 2007 and remaining unpaid until February 29, 2008 would be considered for waiver. The declaration of the Centre left out about one lakh debt-ridden farmers, both marginal and small, who had availed loan from Cuttack Central Co-operative Banks in Jajpur district. Sources said that a minimum of one lakh regular farmers who were taking loans and paying back again were being debarred from availing the benefit. …….. (Pioneer 27/2/09) Rs 2L relief for farm suicide victims' kin (20) CHANDIGARH: For a state whose mainstay is agriculture, what better news than the fulfilment of a long-pending wish of the burdened peasantry. Taking families of farm suicide victims by surprise, the state government on Saturday announced Rs 2 lakh for the next of kin of farmers who died unable to repay their debts. A government spokesperson said, “The chief minister has already directed the financial commissioner, revenue, to work out modalities in this regard.” Ironically, the balm - promised by the SAD-BJP government at the fag-end of its previous tenure too - comes after two years of the alliance’s present term. The development also comes on the heels of farmer unions threatening a string of agitations on Friday at various places across the state with distraught women of affected families in the forefront, beginning Saturday. In the absence of any aid, neither from the state nor Centre, bereaved families, in many cases grandparents left behind to take care of orphaned grandchildren, were being helped by NGOs and philanthropists. At a recent conclave of several farm unions brought together by NGO Movement Against State Repression, it was decided to form a pressure group to impress upon the state and Centre to come to the aid of victims’ kin. While making the much-awaited announcement, Badal blamed the Union for the spiralling problem of farm-indebtedness, especially in the wake of reports that “only 7% farmers in Punjab had benefited from the Rs 71,000-debt waiver scheme” announced by the Centre last year. However, amidst the renewed hope it was not known how the cash-strapped state would manage the compensation amount and within what timeframe it would dole out the same. Even as a

survey is on by a team from Punjab Agriculture University, figures arrived at by earlier surveys on the number of farmer and labour suicides have been very misleading. (Times of India 1/3/09) Farmer denied bank loan, commits suicide in Orissa (20) BHUBANESWAR: A 35-year-old farmer committed suicide in Orissa after a bank allegedly denied him a crop loan, a newspaper report said here Saturday. Niranjan Das, a resident of Baladuan village in the coastal district of Keonjhar, was anxious over the past few days after a local bank refused to give him a crop loan of Rs.25,000, Oriya daily Sambad reported. Das took a loan of Rs.16,000 from a nearby central cooperative bank last year and repaid the loan on time. Recently he also took loans of Rs.25,000 from relatives, neighbours and a landlord to raise crops with a hope that he would repay the amount after getting a loan from the bank. He went to his field Thursday evening and did not return home. Villagers later found him lying dead in the field, the report said adding that the farmer committed suicide by consuming pesticide The paper has not named the bank that denied him the loan. In a suicide note, the farmer blamed the bank officials and described how he was harassed by them. The district headquarter of Kenojhar is about 230 km from here. (Express Buzz 1/3/09) Cabinet okays Rupees 2 lakh aid for farmer suicide- hit families (20) Chandigarh, Mar 2 : The Punjab Cabinet today decided to provide financial assistance to the tune of Rupees 2 lakh each to the families of farmers and farm labourers who were driven to commit suicide due to farm indebtedness. Stating this here today, a spokesman of the Punjab Government said that the Cabinet in its meeting chaired by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal decided to cover all such cases of suicide since 2000 and directed all the Deputy Commissioners to provide the financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh to families of debt-ridden farmers and farm labourers who had committed suicide. (New Kerala 3/3/09) Commit suicide, get Rs2 lakh (20) Chandigarh: The Punjab government's decision to grant Rs2 lakh to families of farmers who commit suicide has sparked a controversy. The state cabinet took the decision at an emergency meeting, minutes before the model code of conduct came into effect on Monday. While the Congress termed it yet another "popular sop" to farmers in the run-up to Lok Sabha polls, social scientists and farmers questioned its merits. Dr Harish Puri, former professor at the Guru Nanak Dev University, said it was a "retrograde step" as it would not help farmers tide over the problem of indebtedness. Coming in the wake of the elections, he said, the decision surely had political overtones and "did not appear to be a well-meaning exercise to redress the plight of farmers".Dr Ravi Vasishtha of the Panjab University feared the decision could trigger more suicides. He said a large number of farmers with small land holdings had a debt of Rs2 lakh in Punjab. The government's decision could drive distressed farmers to suicide to their families tide over the crisis. The per capita debt for over 11 lakh farmers in the state is Rs41,000, totalling Rs25,000 crore. JS Jethuke, a farmer's leader, said giving money to farmers after they had killed themselves was no solution. He demanded a long-term policy to free farmers from the stranglehold of middlemen. Earlier, the state rejected a Central loan-waiver scheme as "a fraud played on poor and innocent farmers". The Centre's scheme, officials said, covered farmers who defaulted on loans taken till March 31, 2007, and due for repayment till December 31, 2007. Many farmers' leaders feel that in the absence of a state government exercise to identify suicide cases, the schemes might prove an eye-wash. There is widespread discrepancy in farmer suicide figures. The Punjab government pegs the number of farmer suicides since 1988 to 2,116, while Chandigarh-based NGO Movement Against State Repression (MASR) says it is 40,000. MASR convener Inderjit Singh Jaijee said a survey conducted some time back in Andana and Lehra blocks of Sangrur found 1,130 suicides since 1988. MASR also conducted surveys in Mansa, Patiala and Amritsar. Except Patiala, suicides were high everywhere. If 1,130 had committed suicide in just two blocks, the number would not be less than 40,000 in all the 138 blocks. The government, however, said the figures are grossly exaggerated. Police verification did not substantiate MASR's claims. Jaijee, on the other hand, offered to produce death certificates to testify the figure. (DNA 5/3/09) Saffron parties play up strife on farms (20) MUMBAI: A host of socio-political and economic issues stare in the face of Maharashtra as the countdown begins for the Lok Sabha polls. The opposition Shiv Sena-BJP combine will seek to play the anti-incumbency card to crystallise the anti-UPA sentiment. Farmers' suicides will top the Sena-BJP

agenda. Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray has been hopping around the state, riling the UPA and the ruling DF combine in the state on the issue. Uddhav has often targeted Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar for devoting more time and attention to the cricket field than the parched farms of Vidarbha. The Congress-NCP will counter the saffron onslaught by citing the Centre's package to Vidarbha farmers. "Actually, farmers' suicides is no longer a poll issue," said a senior Congress functionary on Wednesday. Retorted Manohar Joshi of the Sena, "There have been scores of irregularities in the package and we will take the Congress-NCP to task." But, growth centres which the cash-rich cooperative sector has spawned in the rural heartland and which are controlled by Congress-NCP stalwarts will by and large neutralise the Vidarbha woes, say observers. (Times of India 5/3/09) Farmer suicide a key poll issue (20) BANGALORE: With 318 farmers committing suicide this financial year (2008-09) in Karnataka, political parties are likely to frame their poll strategies with a focus on the plethora of problems haunting the agricultural sector if they wish to win the rural vote in the coming Lok Sabha elections. This is not only an issue that is likely to be addressed in the election manifestos of the major political parties like the Congress, the Janata Dal (Secular) and the BJP; but will also be the poll plank of the smaller parties, like the two Left parties, the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha, and the Bahujan Samaj Party. Suicide cases are being reported almost every day from across the State. Despite the State Government’s promises for the agricultural sector, the sector recorded a negative growth rate of 5.7 per cent in 2008-09 in Karnataka’s GDP against the national average growth of 2.6 per cent. The highest number of suicide cases this financial year has been reported from Hassan (47) (district-wise break-up is given in the table), which was represented by the former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda in the 14th Lok Sabha. A large tract of potato crop was destroyed in the district because of incessant rains during the kharif season. The State’s agricultural sector has been facing numerous problems. Debt has been the major factor leading to suicide by farmers. Experts said the serious fluctuations in the south-west monsoon and excess rains in major parts of State causing flash floods in August-September adversely affected the kharif and rabi crops in 2008-09. Fertiliser shortage, fluctuations in the prices of crops, delay in procurement of produce, particularly surgarcane, were the other factors that led to farmers’ suicides. Further, farmers had sown on 66 lakh hectares of land as against the target of 74.4 lakh hectares during the last kharif season. The number of suicide cases has seen a decline from 2000-01, when 2,360 farmers ended their lives. As many as 708 cases were reported in 2003-04, 271 in 2004-05, 163 in 2005-06 and 343 in 2006-07, and 340 cases in 2007-08. Of the 318 cases reported this year, 291 cases have been placed before a committee set up to sanction compensation to the next of the kin of the farmers. The committee rejected the claims in 137 cases and awarded compensation of Rs. 1 lakh each to the families concerned in 86 cases (The Hindu 31/3/09) Warning against neglect and ill treatment of farmer s (20) JAIPUR: Eminent Gandhian thinker Justice Chandrashekhar Dharmadhikari has warned against the neglect and ill treatment of farmers by the country’s planners and policy makers. Not only that the returns from farming have been on the decline over a period, but there has also been erosion in the respect given by society to farmers which are ominous symptoms of an impending disaster, he cautioned. Any attempt to solve the agrarian crisis would not work unless we changed our attitude towards farming and farmers, he said. “Can we stop farmers’ suicides without giving them due respect? The profession of farming may not survive unless we follow Mahatma Gandhi and bring back respect for physical labour,” Justice Dharmadikari said delivering the Vimla Thakar memorial lecture on the “relevance of Gandhi” at the Kumarappa Institute of Gram Swaraj (KIGS) here over the weekend. The dismantling of the Gandhian concept of Gram Swaraj led to farmers’ dependence and now none wants to cultivate. “The farmers’ children do not want to do farming. Even the practicing farmers are leaving the activity,” he pointed out. “I agree that Mahatma Gandhi did not have the problems we face at present. But then the Mahatma was not a person who was rigid not to change as per the requirement of the situation,” Justice Dharmadikari, who spent a decade of his childhood with the Father of the Nation said. “Gandhi was not against use of machines. Even charka was a machine, he used to say. He was not against mass production but he was for production by the masses,” Justice Dharmadikari observed. The Gandhian lamented the fact that the farmers who grew grains and fed the nation commanded least respect. “Why a farmer sowing grains is less respected than a farmer cultivating commercial crops?” he wanted to know. Along with the three ruinous “Ms” –money power, muscle power and mafia—“media power” too could be added to the

negative influences in our society, he noted. Justice Dharmadikari said it was not Gandhi who was outdated but the present generation. “We are out of date and not Gandhi. We never tried to understand him, “he pointed out. “It is a greed-based society rather than a need-based society. Like in the west and in Japan we too have started manufacturing artificial needs,” he pointed out. Justice Dharmaikar recollected his association with Vimla Thakar, the spiritual leader who passed away in Rajasthan’s Mount Abu a fortnight back. Vijay Shankar Vyas, noted economist and chairman of KIGS, presiding over the function said even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh thought about consulting only businessmen and industrialists before going abroad recently to discuss the global economic crisis. “There is a need to listen more to the poor and the ordinary people. For they are the only ones who can bring about changes,” Prof. Vyas said. (The Hindu 1/4/09) Punjab agri varsity to submit report on farmers sui cide (20) Chandigarh: Punjab Agriculture University (PAU), Ludhiana is all set to submit the much-awaited report on suicides committed by farmers in Sangrur and Bathinda. It has been ascertained that the department is giving final touches to the report which is being prepared by the department of economics and will be presented before the department of financial commissioner (development) within a week. RS Sidhu, head, department of economics, PAU, who headed the team to conduct the survey declined to divulge the details of the report as he has special instructions from the state government to remain tight-lipped on the findings of the report. The team of PAU which had begun its survey in August, 2008, carried out a door-to-door study scanning 576 villages of Sangrur and 306 villages of Bathinda. Sangrur and Bathinda being a cotton belt are considered to be the worst affected areas and reportedly many farmers had committed suicides in this belt due to failure of the cotton crop. The study aimed discovering the various reasons behind the suicides including inability to repay the debt, poor living condition of farmers or some other motives. The survey has taken into account farmer suicides which occurred after April 1, 2005, and has also included the cases of suicides committed by the farm labourers. Having felt the need of census on farmers suicide in Punjab, the state government had directed the PAU to initiate the study to ascertain the exact number of suicides committed by farmers. Intitally, the state government thought to conduct survey in Sangrur and Bathinda on pilot basis. Chief secretary of Punjab, Ramesh Inder Singh had earlier said that if the survey is successful then similar kind of study would be conducted in other districts as well. The course of action of the state government will depend on the findings of the survey. He had also said that the survey would be submitted to the central government to extend support to aggrieved families. Interestingly, it may be noted here that the total lifting of wheat from Punjab in 2007-08 remained at 92.72 lakh tonne and Sangrur district remained at second slot contributing 9,20,642 tonne of procurement. (Financial Express 2/4/09) Warning against neglect and ill treatment of farmer s (20) JAIPUR: Eminent Gandhian thinker Justice Chandrashekhar Dharmadhikari has warned against the neglect and ill treatment of farmers by the country’s planners and policy makers. Not only that the returns from farming have been on the decline over a period, but there has also been erosion in the respect given by society to farmers which are ominous symptoms of an impending disaster, he cautioned. Any attempt to solve the agrarian crisis would not work unless we changed our attitude towards farming and farmers, he said. “Can we stop farmers’ suicides without giving them due respect? The profession of farming may not survive unless we follow Mahatma Gandhi and bring back respect for physical labour,” Justice Dharmadikari said delivering the Vimla Thakar memorial lecture on the “relevance of Gandhi” at the Kumarappa Institute of Gram Swaraj (KIGS) here over the weekend. The dismantling of the Gandhian concept of Gram Swaraj led to farmers’ dependence and now none wants to cultivate. “The farmers’ children do not want to do farming. Even the practicing farmers are leaving the activity,” he pointed out. “I agree that Mahatma Gandhi did not have the problems we face at present. But then the Mahatma was not a person who was rigid not to change as per the requirement of the situation,” Justice Dharmadikari, who spent a decade of his childhood with the Father of the Nation said. “Gandhi was not against use of machines. Even charka was a machine, he used to say. He was not against mass production but he was for production by the masses,” Justice Dharmadikari observed. The Gandhian lamented the fact that the farmers who grew grains and fed the nation commanded least respect. “Why a farmer sowing grains is less respected than a farmer cultivating commercial crops?” he wanted to know. Along with the three ruinous “Ms” –money power, muscle power and mafia—“media power” too could be added to the negative influences in our society, he noted. Justice Dharmadikari said it was not Gandhi who was

outdated but the present generation. “We are out of date and not Gandhi. We never tried to understand him, “he pointed out. “It is a greed-based society rather than a need-based society. Like in the west and in Japan we too have started manufacturing artificial needs,” he pointed out. Justice Dharmaikar recollected his association with Vimla Thakar, the spiritual leader who passed away in Rajasthan’s Mount Abu a fortnight back. Vijay Shankar Vyas, noted economist and chairman of KIGS, presiding over the function said even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh thought about consulting only businessmen and industrialists before going abroad recently to discuss the global economic crisis. “There is a need to listen more to the poor and the ordinary people. For they are the only ones who can bring about changes,” Prof. Vyas said. (The Hindu 2/4/09) Farmers' demand for conditional cash transfer schem e is justified (20) Mumbai: As politicians lend their ears only on the poll eve, those who are working for the cause of people too seek to bring in pressure during that time and try to articulate their demands. A similar exercise is seen in AP from the farmers' associations and groups working for the betterment of the lives of the farming community. Almost all the farmers' unions in the state and some 100 NGOs working in the areas of sustainable agriculture have endorsed a manifesto for the farmers. The Centre for Sustainable Agriculture has articulated their demands in the manifesto, particularly for income support, a cash transfer scheme, to the farmers. The demands are interesting to examine closely not only in the context of the Telugu Desham taking up the proposal of Cash Transfer Scheme but also because they are relevant for the farming community all over India. To ensure sustainable income and livelihood security, the farmers' groups are asking for ensuring a minimum income to them through agricultural operations. Towards this end, they want the appointment, by the government, of an Income Commission as a statutory body that would examine the real incomes of the farmers every year and would come out with recommendation to ensure minimum income to support their life. Income Commission to farmers MS Swaminathan too is advocating for an arrangement like this. He wants the government to focus its attention in the regular budget for 2009-10 on appointing an Income Commission for farmers. Justifying his claim, Swaminathan argues that the recommendations of the 6th Central Pay Commission, which provide benefit to 4.5 million central government employees and 3.8 million pensioners, were not only accepted but were improved upon by the government. So, he suggests that the major political parties should commit themselves to establishing a Farm Income Commission which can go into the totality of the income of farmers from crop and animal husbandry, fisheries, agro-forestry and agro-processing, and suggest ways of ensuring a minimum take home income to farmers. Reverting to the AP farmers' demand, they want the proposed Commission should adopt a multi component approach. The components include: i) Remunerative prices should be fixed for agricultural produce. The pricing for agricultural commodities should be based on the real cost of production, that is through neutralising the effect of inflation. The minimum support price should be 50% more than the actual cost as recommended by the National Farmers' Commission. The determination of support should be transparent and be announced before the beginning of the crop season. They also want a state-level agricultural costs and prices commission and a price stabilisation fund. ii) Labour wage support should be provided for agricultural operations. It is ironic that the agricultural workers are unable get employment while the farmers are not able to afford agriculture workers due to increasing costs of living. The government should therefore provide input subsidy in the form of labour wages (up to 100 days in a calendar year) to the farmer to monetise the use of family labour or to pay external labour engaged on the farm in order to support both the farmers and farm labourers. The activities to be supported should include all agricultural operations, from sowing to harvesting. This can be operationalised on similar lines as NREGS, or by suitably increasing the number of days covered under NREGS and extending it to agricultural work.iii) Steps should be taken to increase rural employment opportunities. This should be done through systematically promoting post-harvest operations and value addition enterprises at the village level; the net income of farmers can thus be directly increased. By promoting agriculture-centred small scale rural industry, the rural economy can be given a big boost, correcting the rural-urban imbalance and migration. iv) There should be an arrangement for the social security measures like pension and insurance to the farmers and farm labourers.

Cash support to farmers: Finally, and more importantly, arrangement should be made for direct income support to farmers. Even after implementation of measures listed above, farmers are not expected to get living income. The direct cash support is, therefore, necessary. They want this support in the form of a fixed amount per family, given to all cultivators including tenant farmers. This direct cash support, together with other measures, should ensure that every agricultural family can maintain a fair living standard. This could be set at Rs 15,000 per family and revised every year by the Commission. The farmers want support for sustainable ecological farming to ensure food security and livelihood support on a sustainable basis. Small and marginal farmers in many parts of India have achieved success through low-input sustainable methods which not only helped them but also boosted soil fertility. Farmers want the government to promote sustainable agriculture to maximise the use of local resources. Farmers adopting organic/ecological farming should also receive financial support from the government for their own input use. They also want restrictions on agrochemicals that are banned the world over and a ban on GM crops till their bio-safety is proven beyond doubt. Also, they want support for research in organic farming, demonstrations by agricultural department on the success of organic farming and strengthening the farmers' training centres in which the experienced farmers should be used as resource persons. These demands of the farmers are not at all unreasonable, particularly for the direct cash transfer. This is because they are not asking for the support without working. They want to engage in farming activity and want support only to allow them to be in the profession; in other words they want a conditional cash transfer scheme. In fact there have been repeated claims in the discourse on agriculture that farming on a small scale is not viable and as much as 50% of the farmers can be withdrawn from the occupation without affecting the total production. That means about 30 crore people are additionally depending on agriculture. Considering this to be true and, as many farmers are willing to come out of agriculture, where are the avenues of employment to them in the non-agricultural activity? If such employment is guaranteed, there is no problem, but it is impossible for the government to do so. It therefore should support the farmers and meet their reasonable demand including the cash support. Besides this need, the bad state of agriculture in AP also calls for an urgent action to protect the farmers and farming. As many as 16 of the 32 districts identified by the central government as worst affected are in AP. As many as 1797 farmers have committed suicide in 2007 (2607 in 2006) -- AP occupies the second place after Maharashtra in farmers' suicides. Similarly, 82% of the farmers in the state are indebted and 66% to non-institutional sources, as per NSSO data. The input costs of farming have risen by 300% in the past five years and the prices of produce have not kept pace, leading the farmers into a crisis situation. So, the cash support to 1.2 crore farmers of the state, which is estimated to cost Rs 25,000 crore or 25% of the state's budget, is quite reasonable and warrants a serious consideration from political parties. In reality, the actual cost may be much less than this estimate because the government is going to save on the schemes of indirect support which are not found beneficial to the farmers. Even otherwise, this cost which should be treated as an essential social cost for the enormous social benefit of supporting the farmers will not be too much. Neglecting agriculture and avoiding timely measures will only lead to a catastrophic situation. After all, it was agriculture, as admitted by the UPA government, that saved India from falling into a deeper economic crisis. (DNA 8/4/09) 4 farmers kill themselves every day, in Re 1 rice l and (20) While the government speaks about India as a superpower in the making, in Chhattisgarh Krishnakumar P discovers the cycle of exploitation continues for India's villagers without respite. This day last year, Jamuna Lal Patel, a 46-year-old paddy farmer in Durg, Chhattisgarh, was going about overseeing the preparations for the wedding of his only daughter. That day, a mail landed at his doorstep asking him to repay a loan he had taken from the bank. Even before he had arranged his daughter's wedding, Lal knew he had a loan to repay and had started planning accordingly. But what shocked the farmer from Kanharpuri village in Durg district was the amount. He had taken a loan of Rs 166,000. The bank notice demanded Rs 278,000. "After the maang patra (demand) came, he became very disturbed. He tried meeting the bank authorities, but they were of no help. On April 13, when I went to farm I found my brother in the fields, dead," Jamuna Lal's brother Pila Ram Patel recalls. The groom's family cancelled the wedding. It would be close to a year before the girl got married to another person. The banking system doesn't stop for personal tragedies though. The bank started hounding Pila Ram. "I told them if it is a matter of 166,000 I would repay it the very same day. But I would never repay the inflated amount without a review," he said. What irked Pila Ram was the manner in which the bank kept at him. "That was when I realised. If the banks are doing this to the family of a mid-level farmer -- and my brother was also the

sarpanch of the village -- imagine what the poor and the powerless must be going through," he adds. Yashwant Devangar's father Ram was one of those poor and powerless people Pila Ram is talking about. The farmer from Bhemtara had taken a loan of Rs 5,000. It was not from a bank, but a moneylender. The interest was so high that he had to sell his two acre plot of land for Rs 17,000 to repay the loan. But the moneylender wanted more. And one day, Yashwant saw his father hanging from a tree on the farm. His mother took ill soon after and he had to take a loan of Rs 20,000 from the bank. But the treatment couldn't save his grieving mother. But where the moneylender differed from the bank was that he did not hound the family. He had gotten back more than Rs 80,000 on a loan of Rs 5,000. Yashwant still has the bank loan he took for his mother's treatment to pay off. And the responsibility of providing for his three younger brothers and sister has fallen on him. Also, Yashwant doesn't own any land anymore. Local officials say Durg is the number one district in the state when it comes to agriculture. But the district saw 206 farmers killing themselves in 2007. Among the district's problems are poor rainfall and insufficient irrigation facilities. That was why Jamuna Lal took taken the bank loan. "His borewell had failed and he had to spend a lot on redoing the set-up," says his brother Pila Ram. What angers the farming community in the region is the state government's lack of interest in solving their problems. Ironically, the Chhattisgarh government is a pioneer in cheap rice schemes. For two years now, the government has been offering rice at Rs 3 for the poor and Rs 2 for the very poor. The Bharatiya Janata Party [Images] government rode back to power last December on the back of the promise to offer rice at Rs 1. This scheme would have come into effect on April 1, but for the imposition of the Election Commission's Model Code of Conduct for the elections. "Let them give rice for even free. But they have to do something for the farmers who are producing the rice. They have to subsidise farm equipment for them," says a government official in Durg who did not want to be named for this report. Though he agreed that the situation is bad (7 blocks in the district have been declared drought-hit) the official denied that any farmers had committed suicide in Durg. "The rate of farmer suicides in Durg is zero," claims District Collector Thakur Ram Singh. Ever since the state was carved out of Madhya Pradesh [Images], Chhattisgarh has topped the farmer suicide rate charts. According to figures issued by the National Crime Record Bureau, 1,600 farmers committed suicide in Chhattisgarh in 2007. "That is four farmers every day," says Subranshu Choudhary, an activist who runs the forum CGNet. While there is at least a semblance to accept, if not fully address, the problem in states like Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh where farmers commit suicide, the Chhattisgarh government claims the NCRB figures are flawed. "The NCRB gets the figures from the state police. So someone is lying here. Let the chief minister decide whether it is his government or his police," says Choudhary. On the government's claim that even if farmers are committing suicide it could be due to reasons unrelated to farming distress, he says, "If there are 50 teachers in a place and 5 of them commit suicide, this argument holds. But this is like 7 out of 10 teachers committing suicide. In that case, isn't something wrong with the profession? Let them take any route to solve the problem. But first let them acknowledge that there is a problem." The government apathy has led to anger among farmers. Though right now, they do not know how to express their anger, the frustration at being ignored by successive state governments is showing. "They are giving rice at two rupees and soon it will be one rupee. I am warning them. If they don't anything about our plight, there won't be any rice to dole out. What will they do then?" asks Yashwant Devangar. "There will only be our blood left. Will they drink that?" (Rediff News 13/4/09) Displaced farmers in Andhra contesting to highlight their plight (20) Hyderabad April 14, 2009,: As many as 15 farmers of Polepally village in the backward Mahabubnagar district of Andhra Pradesh have filed their nomination for the Mahabubnagar Lok Sabha constituency as independent candidates for the coming general elections. Their purpose is to draw people’s attention to their plight and also of all others whose land have been acquired for setting up a special economic zone (SEZ). Of course, this is not for the first time that the unlettered and apolitical farmers are contesting the elections. They had done so in the by-elections held in May 2008. Thirteen of them contested for the Jadcherala Assembly segment, which comprises Polepally. They together garnered over 13,500 votes and all of them forfeited their security deposits.They were, however, happy at the outcome as they could draw the attention of the people of the state to their prolonged struggle against the SEZ. This time, they want to draw the attention of the country. The farmers’ problems started in 2003, when the then Telugu Desam Party (TDP) government identified 969 acres in Polepally and Mudureddypally villages for setting up the SEZ. In 2005, the Congress government enforced the proposal leading to displacement of around 350 small and marginal farmers. Nearly half the land acquired was assigned land belonging to dalits and

tribals. According to farmers, their compensation ranged from Rs 18,000 to Rs 50,000 per acre depending on whether it was an assigned or patta land, while the market price stood at around Rs 20 lakh an acre. The farmers were against the SEZ from the beginning. In 2003, they blocked the Hyderabad-Bangalore national highway in protest against land acquisition. The next year, they staged a demonstration before the state Legislative Assembly. A Polepally SEZ Vyathireka Aikya Sanghatana (Alliance against Polepally SEZ) was formed and the struggle continued. Meanwhile, 200 acres in the SEZ have been earmarked for pharmaceutical companies, where Hyderabad-based Aurobindo Pharma Ltd and Hetero Drugs Ltd are setting up their facilities. (Business Standard 14/4/09) Caste pips penury in suicide-prone Vidarbha (20) Amravati: The 10 Lok Sabha seats of Vidarbha — Maharashtra’s much-neglected drought-prone belt that is infamous for suicides of debt-ridden farmers — will go to poll on Thursday. The farmers’ plight should have been the most important factor here, but it is not. Like the cow belt in North India, from remote Wardha villages and Amravati’s tribal settlements to industrial towns around Akola or Yavatmal, caste is set to play a bigger role. Prakash Vinayakrao, a farmer in Dhamangaon Vathoda village in Wardha, says: “We have always voted for our man.” Ask him who he is, he says: “The man from our caste. Who else?” Interestingly, farmers’ relief package or suicides are not an election issue. The region is staring at yet another grim year but people don’t talk about these issues or expect answers from candidates. Sarla Pendaram’s husband Vinod committed suicide in 2007. She lives in Tivsa village of Yavatmal district and doesn’t know how much loan her husband took for cultivating the family land. But she will vote on Thursday for her “caste person.” “Yes we vote for our samaj person,” says her mother-in-law Asha Pendaram. Caste is not a dirty word here. As this correspondent travelling through Vidarbha found out, surname is of utmost importance. There is nothing wrong here in openly asking anyone’s caste. NGOs working with farmers in Vidarbha are surprised how farmers’ suicide is not an election issue. Avinash Karke of Kisan Abhikar Abhiyan says: “The suicides haven’t stopped. The farmers’ relief package has failed. But it is not an election issue. It is just an issue in Delhi. Whenever we interact with farmers, they talk about election and their problems as two separate affairs.” Pankaj Gautam, who is working with an NGO in Yavatmal and Amravati districts, says: “One would logically think that with such grave problems, farmers will organise themselves, float their own party and vote out the Government. But there is nothing like that. Even political parties don’t discuss it.” Congress leaders talk about how effective the relief package has been and how their party would implement irrigation projects. The BJP sticks to criticising the quality of material provided in the name of relief by the UPA Government. Even more intriguing is that even those families where the sole earning member has committed suicide and the relief package has not helped, don’t think about voting against caste. Shobha Kailash, in a lonely village near Kamathwara in Yavatmal, says: “Our samaj decides whom to vote for. After my husband’s suicide, I am living with my parents. So my father tells me whom to vote for.” (Pioneer 15/4/09) 2,990 suicides in two dists in 9 yrs: PAU (20) CHANDIGARH: The Punjab agriculture university (PAU) survey findings spanning nine years (2000-08) blow to smithereens the Punjab government claims on farm suicides in the state. The PAU-commissioned report pegs the tally at around 2,990 in just two districts — Bathinda (1,256) and Sangrur (1,634). Though no comprehensive official figures on farmer suicides in the area are available, many believe the report, a copy of which is with TOI, is the first authentic government-sponsored survey on suicides among farmers and farm labourers in the state. Various government agencies, including its revenue and police departments, have earlier put the number of suicides in the state at 130. Independent agencies, however, claim the 1997-2007 suicide count varies between 30,000 to 80,000. (Times of India 17/4/09) Low spending for farmers’ debt relief alleged (20) PALAKKAD: The State government could utilise only Rs.14 crore in the last three years for farmers’ debt relief though huge amounts were announced in the budget, former Chittur MLA K. Krishnankutty has said. A major portion of the amount was spent in Wayanad where a large number of farmers had committed suicide, he said here recent. An amount of Rs.251 crore was announced in the first budget of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government. But nothing was spent from this budget allotment, Mr. Krishnankutty said. In the second budget, the allotment came down to Rs.51 crore. Again no funds were utilised for farmers’ relief. In the last budget it further declined to Rs.16 crore, he said. Farmers in other districts are

yet to get the benefits of debt relief announced by the government. The State government is yet to give money to banks that had written off the debts of farmers, he said. In 2007-08 and 2008-09, 2,15,483 farmers in Palakkad district received an amount of Rs.337.53 crore under the Central government’s debt relief scheme. In 2007-08, 1,22,010 farmers received Rs.130.80 crore and in 2008-09, 93,474 farmers received Rs.206.72 crore, he said. The District Co-operative Bank, the Land Development Bank, primary co-operative societies, commercial banks and rural banks in the district received 56 per cent of the amount written off from the Centre. (The Hindu 20/4/09) Punjab revenue department seeks report on farmer su icides (20) Chandigarh: The Punjab government has issued detailed guidelines to all the deputy commissioners to send a detailed report regarding suicide by farmers and farm labourers due to indebtedness in their districts, within three days of the occurrence. Disclosing this, a spokesman of the state revenue department said that the state government was deeply concerned about the incidents of suicides by farmers and farm labourers on account of indebtedness. The department had already issued instructions to the concerned deputy commissioners to send a consolidated report regarding suicides during a month by farmers and farm labourers on account of debt in their district. It may be recalled that the state cabinet had approval to grant compensation relief of Rs 2 lakh to the next of the kin of the farmers and farm already given in-principle labourers who had committed suicides in the state. The revenue department had already sent a case to the Election Commission of India to seek its approval for the disbursement of compensation grant to such affected families in view of the model code of conduct already enforced due to the Lok Sabha polls. (Financial Express 24/4/09) Farm crisis toll: 2,990 dead in 9 yrs (20) Chandigarh, April 26, 2009: The annual income and debt ratio has swelled to 4.57 in Sangrur and 7.75 in Bathinda This means that if people spend their entire income in repaying loans, it’ll take them 4.5 years in Sangrur and 7.75 years in Bathinda to pay back the debt In the last nine years, everyday a farmer or a farm hand ended life in Punjab’s Bathinda and Sangrur districts, a study has found. More than half of them were in debt. In the last nine years, 2,990 farmers and farm labourers committed suicide in the two districts, part of the cotton belt, the study said. Majority of them, around 87 per cent, were small farmers. Officially, only 132 such suicides have been recorded. Taking note of farmer suicides in Punjab, the state government had last year asked Punjab Agriculture University, Ludhiana to collect data on the numbers of deaths between 2000 and 2008. A pilot study was conducted in Sangrur and Bathinda districts and the report recently submitted to the government. It will take more than three years to study and put together the findings for the whole of the state. Taking about the difference in the figures put out by the government and the study, economist Lakhwinder Singh Gill said. “We’ve remained confined to sample surveys. It is for the first time that a door-to-door study has been done and it has brought to fore the ground reality no other methodology can.” In Bathinda, 773 farmers and 483 labourers killed themselves and the toll in Sangrur was 984 farmers and 650 farm hands. Around 65 per cent of the suicides were due to debt, while the study attributed the remaining 35 per cent to “other reasons”. Farmer organisations have dismissed the “other reasons” cause. “In these 35 per cent cases, indebtedness may not be the direct reason, but in many, it was the outcome of the agrarian crisis,” Jagmohan Singh, press secretary, Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta), a farmer body, said. Of the 2,990 dead, 37.89 per cent were agriculture labourers. “Labourers have been killing themselves for a long time, but the debate has focused on farmers only,” said Lachchman Singh Sevewala, general secretary, Punjab Khet Mazdoor Union, a body of farm workers. The crisis facing the farm sector, and not debt, had forced farm hands to kill themselves, he said. The collapse of traditional farming and the public distribution system had left them at the mercy of whims of the market. Indebtedness is less common among farm hands than farmers. They don’t have assets offer as a guarantee for loans, and they don’t get loans easily. (Hindustan Times 27/4/09) Debt-ridden farmer commits suicide (20) Sirsi: Vasant Somalingappa Lamani (45), a farmer in Kalkeri village in Mundgod taluk, hanged himself in a nearby forest on Friday. He had one acre of land and had reportedly taken loans from banks and personal loans. He could not repay the loans as the crops failed. The Mundgod police have registered a case. (The Hindu 3/5/09) Farmer's suicide creates furore (20)

WARDHA: A farmer from Palasgaon village under Sindi railway police station committed suicide on Monday. There was much drama when leaders of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena demonstrated with the dead body of the farmer in front of the collector's office. The deceased, Nilkanth Pandurang (59), hanged himself from a mango tree in his field. He is reported to have had a running feud with his brother since 2007, and was sad because of the fights with his brother. He had also alleged apathy on the part of administrative officials towards his complaints again his brother. Pandurang had approached the administration by writing a letter to the district collector and the police superintendent on March 9, 2009, but the administration did not take any action, forcing him to commit suicide. The district president of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena Bhaskar Itahpe led villagers to the collector's office demanding action against those responsible for pushing Pandurang to suicide. Pandurang's dead body was brought to the collectorate after the post-mortem at the Wardha civil hospital. Ithape said, "Pandurang had lodged an FIR on December 1, 2007, at the Sindi Railway police station against his brother Ramkrishna Pandurang, after his irrigation pipeline had been damaged. After hearing the case, the tehsildar decided the case in favour of Nilkanth Pandurang on March 25, 2008. Later, the SDO heard an appeal by his brother and upheld the tehsildar's decision on November 26, 2008. Having lost his case in all the hearings, Ramkrishna was allegedly torturing Pandurang in some way or the other, which ultimately led to his suicide." After an assurance from district collector Anup Yadav, the dead body was taken to his native village for last rites. (Times of India 6/5/09) Farmer commits suicide (20) SANGAREDDY: Another farmer in the district committed suicide unable to repay old loans. Though the farmer consumed poison on Tuesday night, he was shifted to a private hospital at Narsingi, where he died, on Thursday morning. The farmer was identified as Meakala Yadagiri of Bagiraupalli village in Chinnaskhanrampet mandal. He had 1.3 acres of land in which he sowed sugarcane, but the yield was not at expected level. According to family members, Yadagiri had a debt of Rs. 1.5 lakh. He is survived by wife and four-year-old son. The farm loan was given in the name of his father Mallaiah. The family members told the police that Yadagiri resorted to suicide as he was unable to repay loans. This was the second incident in the district in the past two weeks of a farmer ending life. (The Hindu 8/5/09) Experts demand policy on bamboo farming for Vidarbh a (20) Nagpur (PTI): Experts are pressing the Maharashtra government to formulate a policy on bamboo cultivation as a viable option for the farmers in Vidarbha who have burnt their fingers with cotton and soyabean farming. They say cash-crop cotton and soybean have proved to be "disastrous" because of its diminishing returns, resulting in a large number of farmers committing suicide. Pratap Goswami, a bamboo activist and secretary of Kisan Manch, said that farmers can earn a minimum of Rs 20,000 per acre through bamboo farming that is also economically viable option. He noted the cotton yield is decreasing per acre and prices are not generating sufficient profit besides the threat of crop damage due to various reasons is looming large. Mr. Goswami said that in such a situation when the farmers could have taken up bamboo cultivation have been denied an opportunity this year in absence of a government policy. Maharashtra received a draft policy from National Mission for Bamboo Applications (NMBA) last month for perusing the matter by state forest department. It was pertaining to relaxation of stringent laws on forest protection for bamboo cultivation in private lands, sources in bamboo cultivation said. As many as 13 States, including Madhya Pradesh, have relaxed the forest control on bamboo growing but the state authorities are yet to take any step in this direction, they said. The policy draft was circulated among the bamboo stakeholders, industry, agriculture department. But since the Monsoon was fast approaching and if no policy on bamboo growing is finalised, the interested cultivators may miss this monsoon for planting the trees. Bamboo industry particularly from furniture to incense sticks to toothpicks have the potential to provide huge employment opportunities, Mr. Goswami said. Value added products like mats, sticks, woods and plywood substitutes, composite material, charcoal are all worth profits from bamboo products. Mr. Goswami said bamboo cultivation has been removed from the preview of the Forest Act and Bombay Forest Rules (1942) which defines it as a tree and forest tree. As a result, the forest department has a total control on cultivation, felling and transit of bamboo and moreover even if bamboo is grown on a private land, the Act applies. Kisan Manch has been demanding a status of agriculture or horticulture produce for bamboo which botanically speaking falls under the "grass" category. It is from grass family, he added. (The Hindu 10/5/09)

Debt-ridden farmer commits suicide (20) Bidar: A farmer, Sharanappa (36), allegedly jumped into a well and killed himself at his banana plantation field at Dubalgundi village of Humnabad taluk in Bidar on Sunday. According to the police, Mr. Sharanappa was in debt and was disturbed as he was unable to repay the loan. — Staff Correspondent (The Hindu 11/5/09) Battling a time warp in Punjab (20) Mansa, May 11, 2009: It's a tragic irony in the home of the Green Revolution: A farmer suicide registered before 2001 is no suicide at all. One registered after that year can be compensated with Rs 2.5 lakh. And it’s an irony that has driven 50-something Amarjeet Kaur to despair. “I have lost hope,” says the mother of two, sitting in the courtyard outside her two-room mud hut in Kotbhara village in Mansa district, about 250 kilometres west of Punjab’s capital of Chandigarh. “My husband killed himself in 1997, so I will get nothing.” Amarjeet’s husband Balwinder, a cotton farmer, hanged himself to death when he was 32, pushed to the edge by political apathy. The two cotton-growing districts of Punjab — Mansa and Bathinda — see erratic weather, inadequate irrigation and swarms of pests. Worse still, unlike the prices of wheat and rice, which are revised regularly by the state government, the price of cotton was stagnant till last year, entangled in red tape as the centre and state tussled. Bharatiya Kisan Union (Indian Farmers’ Union) activist Raj Mahendra Singh (45) says cotton farmers here are used to being off the radar and at the receiving end of official apathy. “The Punjab government’s farmer suicide toll for the last five years is 2,600. Ours is 4,450,” says Raj. “According to the Punjab government, about half these deaths didn’t happen.” Across the dirt road outside Amarjeet’s hut is the home of Labh Singh, a cotton farmer who killed himself by drinking a bottle of pesticide in 2007, leaving behind his wife and son. He was 36. Labh Singh’s son Mahendra has some hope left, he says, but not much. In 2001, after several union-led protests, the Parkash Singh Badal-led government announced that, for suicides registered with the police that year and later, the families of the dead would be eligible for Rs 2.5 lakh in relief. “So far, that promise has remained on paper,” says Mahendra, a 26-year-old with a careworn face and wrinkled hands that make him look 40. Punjab may be a state of farmers — and wealthy ones at that — but cotton is not a prestigious crop here, like rice and wheat are. Seventy per cent of Punjab’s population of 2.40 crore are farmers. Cotton growers account for about 8 per cent of the farming population — a majority of them in Bathinda and Mansa.In a massive protest rally in December 2008, farmers, their wives and even their children stationed themselves on the railway tracks at Bathinda, demanding better cotton rates and procurement practices. The government seemed more worried about the passengers and cancelled trains. Back at Kotbhara, both Amarjeet and Mahendra have framed pictures of their dead on their walls, and plenty of unpaid bills. Even in the midst of the elections, there is little hope that things will change. The Bathinda Parliamentary constituency, which includes Mansa, went to the polls last Thursday, the culmination of a battle of pride between Punjab’s first families. The Congress fielded Raninder Singh, Captain Amarinder Singh’s son. He is pitted against Harsimrat Kaur, wife of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal. Which candidate has more promise? Cotton farmer Ram Singh shrugs. “Yahaan pe kahawat hain, chor gaye, dakoo aye. (We have a proverb here, after the thief has gone, it’s the turn of the dacoit).” (Hindustan Times 11/5/09) State's fresh survey of distressed Vidarbha farmers (20) NAGPUR: The state government may undertake yet another massive door-to-door survey of the over 18 lakh farmer families in the six distressed districts of Vidarbha hit by the farmer suicide crisis. This decision was communicated by the government to the state human rights commission last week. The commission headed by former chief justice Kshitij Vyas was told about the decision following a directive issued by the commission to the state government to implement the Narendra Jadhav report. The human rights body of the state , while hearing a pending petition filed by Kishore Tiwari of Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti, expressed surprise that the Jadhav report which the government had accepted over six months ago was yet to be implemented. Jadhav had recommended urgent measures like food security, quality healthcare, better educational facilities and a regulator for monitoring farm credit flow to the six distressed districts. The special relief packages had been announced by the prime minister in 2006 for these districts, and the state government has done little to rescue farmers from economic distress. Strangely, the state has sought some time claiming that it would conduct a fresh survey of beneficiaries of the relief schemes. The earlier and first of its kind of door-to-door survey was conducted in April-May 2006 under the leadership of the then Amravati divisional commissioner Sudhir Kumar Goyal. Widely hailed for the

disturbing data it brought to fore, the survey had identified around four lakh farmers living under serious financial stress, on the verge of desperation and needing urgent relief. It was a massive exercise involving the huge state government machinery. The fact that another survey will be conducted is nothing but buying time, alleged Tiwari. (Times of India 13/5/09) Debt-ridden farmer ends life (20) KADAPA: A farmer-turned labourer Enumula Gangadhar, 42, committed suicide by consuming poison in Pandollapalle village in Lakkireddipalle mandal late on Tuesday night. Gangadhar, belonging to Pandollapalle Kaspa, incurred debts due to failure of two successive paddy crops on two acres of land taken on lease. (The Hindu 14/5/09) Man kills self, children (20) CHICKABALLAPUR: A farmer allegedly strangled his two children to death and later committed suicide in Chintamani taluk of Chickaballapur district on Saturday. The police said that following a reported quarrel with his wife, Krishna Reddy (32) of Hulugummanahalli village strangled his daughters Pavana (6) and Bhavana (4) with a wire. Later, he hanged himself from a tree in his farm. The Chintamani Rural police have registered a case. (The Hindu 18/5/09) Farmer commits suicide (20) Tumkur: A farmer reportedly committed suicide at his home in Raitarapalya, near here, on Monday. Police said Puttaveeraiah (55), was found dead by his son, Shivakumar. The police said the death was caused by poisoning. Mr. Shivakumar said the family has been burdened by debts. The police have registered a case. — Staff Correspondent (The Hindu 19/5/09) Congress pledge is food for thought to Sharad Pawar (20) NEW DELHI: Contrary to speculation that the Agriculture, Food and Consumer Affairs Ministry will be bifurcated, the Maratha strongman, Sharadchandra Govindrao Pawar, 68, gets to keep all the departments. This shows Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s faith in an experienced hand, especially when he has to deliver on the Congress election promise of supplying 25 kg of wheat or rice at Rs. 3 a kg to BPL (below the poverty line) households. In the absence of a Common Minimum Programme of the United Progressive Alliance, there was a rumour that the Department of Food would be handed over to a Congressman so that the party could get the credit. The Nationalist Congress Party chief, who vacated his traditional Baramati constituency for his daughter Supriya Sule and successfully contested from Madha, has his tasks cut out in his second innings as Agriculture and Food Minister. He will have to come up with a pragmatic National Food Security Law, which will ensure fulfilment of the Congress promise of access for all people, especially the most vulnerable sections, to food. Ministry sources have hinted that the food subsidy will entail crores to fulfil this pledge, besides the onerous responsibility of maintaining grain stocks to be disbursed under the law. Luckily for Mr. Pawar, grain production this year is expected to match last year’s level, if not be higher. Wheat and rice procurement have surpassed last year’s level. With a “near normal” monsoon forecast, grain production next year, too, is expected to be comfortable. Yet there are concerns at shortfall in sugar output and stagnation in the production of pulses and edible oils, leading to imports. As in his last term, Mr. Pawar will have to deal with farmers’ suicides. Though the conditional waiver of loans of small and marginal farmers paid rich dividends to the UPA in the elections, suicides have continued in the water-scarce cotton belt of Vidarbha. The government will have to evolve strategies and policies to address the debt woes of those who borrow from moneylenders. There is the long-pending demand of farmers for lowering the interest on loans. Foreign Direct Investment in retail and the impact of climate change on agriculture and forestry are new challenges. A Commerce graduate, Mr. Pawar was elected to the Maharashtra Assembly when he was 27 and he became Chief Minister at 38. In 1999, he formed the NCP with the former Lok Sabha Speaker, P.A. Sangma, after he left the Congress over the issue of the foreign origin of party president Sonia Gandhi. The same year when neither party won an absolute majority in Maharashtra, the NCP formed a coalition government with the Congress. (The Hindu 24/5/09) Farmers’ group blames Pawar for Vidarbha suicides ( 20) Mumbai, May 25, 2009: Unfortunate. That is what the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti, an activist group working for distressed cotton farmers of Vidarbha, has termed the re-induction of Sharad Pawar as Union

Minister for Agriculture, Food and Civil Supplies. Samiti President Kishore Tiwari said in a press release that Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has been rejected not only by Vidarbha and Marathwada’s cotton farmers but also by sugarcane farmers in western Maharashtra, which is supposed to be the agriculture minister’s bastion. In the recent Lok Sabha polls, the NCP-Congress combine did not win a single seat in western Vidarbha where farm suicides top political and social agenda. The partners had fielded two candidates each there. In Marathwada, NCP was shown exit doors everywhere except Osmanabad. In its traditional stronghold western Maharashtra, the NCP failed in garnering expected numbers and as a result, it finished with a mere eight members of Parliament from the state. Tiwari blamed NCP’s poor performance and farm suicides on Pawar. “Pawar was too busy in cricket to visit Vidarbha where over 10,000 farmers committed suicide over the last five years,” Tiwari said. “Pawar’s keen interest in cricket events such as Indian Premier League and politics of national and international cricket boards was reported by international media like Asia Times in February 2009.” Tiwari added: “The Centre’s lackadaisical approach to agricultural problems was best exemplified in Pawar finding time to be BCCI president who travels frequently abroad to see cricket matches.” “It might have been cause for a scandal in some other countries but not yet in India,” he added. The activist said the country needed more proactive and non-corrupt minister to head the Civil Supplies Ministry because a massive scam in wheat import was reported during Pawar’s earlier stint. (Hindustan Times 25/5/09) Farmer ends life (20) GULBARGA: Unable to repay loans, Vishwanath Inapur (28), a farmer, allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself at his house at Kanakapura village of Chincholi taluk of the district on Sunday. The police said that he was under pressure to repay loans he had taken from various sources. — Staff Correspondent (The Hindu 25/5/09) Move to ‘simplify’ norms to buy farmland criticised (20) Mysore: In response to the statement by Minister for Home Dr. V.S. Acharya on ‘softening’ of the existing restrictions on non-agriculturists buying agricultural land, the Federation of State Farmers’ Association (FSFA), the State Sugarcane Growers’ Association (SSGA), the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) and the Sarvodaya Karnataka Party (SKP) have decided to oppose the Government’s move. Dr. Acharya told presspersons that the Government was planning to ‘simplify’ norms of land conversion. The Government was contemplating on allowing purchase of cultivable land by non-agriculturists and there were plans to empower gram panchayats to allow conversion of land. The president of SSGA, Kuruburu Shanthakumar, told The Hindu that cane growers, who were already facing a crisis, would stage protest in front of the Vidhana Soudha in case the Government went ahead with its plan. “With Tamil Nadu Government relaxing norms, real estate mafia is on a buying spree in the state. Realtors are claiming themselves as ‘agriculturists’ after buying a few guntas of land in the border areas of Tamil Nadu and acquiring agriculture land. Further relaxation of the norms will be against the welfare of farming community,” he said.. Writer and president of SKP expressed shock and deep regret over what he described as ‘insensitivity’ of Government. He said the SKP would support farmers’ movement against the ‘anti-farmer policies’ of the Government. The KRRS president, K.S. Puttannaiah, described the move as being detrimental to the farming community in the State. “Mr. Yeddyurappa who has taken oath in the name of farmers is working against the interests of farmers. While the Government was planning to tighten the noose around the necks of farmers, both Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) are watching the development as mute spectators”, he regretted. Cautioning that softening of restriction on land conversion would lead to mass migration to urban areas, he said the KRRS would launch a Statewide agitation to protest against the proposal and modes of agitation would be discussed in the meeting that would be convened soon. Criticizing the proposal, Mr. Devanuru Mahadeva said reasons being given by the Government for ‘softening’ of the norms were highly ridiculous. “This shows what would happen to the people in case inexperienced and those incapable of handling responsibility come to power. Proposal is sure to harm the food security and compromise with food security would make farmers beggars in future,” he noted. He added that the Government was ‘intentionally’ pushing farmers to take the extreme step of committing suicide by allowing mining and land mafia to squander natural resources. (The Hindu 1/6/09) Farmer ends life (20) SANGAREDDY: S. Srinivas (30), a farmer belonging to Donti village in Shivampet mandal committed suicide by consuming pesticide on Tuesday. According to the sources, Srinivas was having an acre of

land but unable to cultivate due to lack of water source. Besides, he had health problem and took loans to the tune of Rs. 2 lakh. Shivampet police registered a case.- Staff Reporter (The Hindu 3/6/09) Justice to Farmers (Editorial)(20) The 2009 mandate for UPA was fired by hopes for deeper inclusivism in society and economy. Inclusive policies are needed most for rural areas. The UPA flagship programme, the National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme was responsible for Congress resurrection, which of course also owes to the loan waiver and other schemes for farmers. The UPA government during the last couple of years had waived around Rs 65,000 crore accumulated on the farmers. But under the neo-liberal economic policies, this is not expected to help the agricultural sector from further slumping into crisis. Since the mid-nineties, the country has witnessed the tragic phenomenon of farmer suicides primarily driven by rising household indebtedness. A spate of farmer suicides has occurred, the number touching around 1 lakh in states like Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab and Karnataka. These facts notwithstanding, the government claims that India has enough foodgrains, more than needed to feed the 110-crore population. However, the mode of production and the quantity of produce do not enthuse much confidence. The higher level of profitability in agriculture that was generated till the early 90s and served as an engine to capitalist development in Indian agriculture has been on decline. Indian agriculture since 1991 has been facing a situation of crisis due to neo-liberal economic policies.Significantly, the government has increased the minimum support price for farm produce but it is not benefiting the entire peasantry. Most of the farmers do not have surplus produce, any more than consumption level. With the opening up of the food and other crop markets, the Indian farmers were exposed to the volatility of the world prices. Since 1995, the world prices of almost all primary products have experienced a significant fall. Though the government has raised the support price, the process of creation of a surplus fund for the future could not be achieved, as the farmers have to cope with the rising prices for inputs. While the government has increased the support price it has also reduced the subsidies for inputs like seeds, fertilisers and others. There is growing demand for abolishing subsidy, but the government has to ensure that the farmers get fertiliser, water and power at the right rates and regularly. The Congress has received an inclusive mandate. Now it is the responsibility of the UPA government to ensure that mandate for inclusive growth, equitable development and a plural India is consolidated and takes concrete shape. Instead of doling out a loan waiver, the government should think of making corrective and positive investments: How to inject this huge amount in a more productive manner? While it should see that farmers get proper power and water, it should also open up the local market for their produce. The recent decline in export should serve as an indicator. Instead of looking towards foreign market, the farmers should be encouraged to sell their products at profitable rates in the native market. The government can also explore the south Asian market for this. The future growth of agriculture does not lie in bad investment, but in proper marketing of the agriculture produce with a major thrust on carrying out reforms in agriculture. (Nav Hind Times 6/6/09) Suicide over loss of crops in Aila (20) MALDA, 4 JUNE: A farmer Mr Gul Mohammad (40), committed suicide by consuming pesticide out of depression over crop loss, last night, at Brihasthali village, under Chanchal police station.“Failing to save the boro crop from Aila, my husband went into depression," said Mohammad's, wife Mrs Sahela Bibi. “My husband had obtained Rs 21,000 from a loanshark, to cultivate the crop and had taken additional loan for my treatment. He intended to pay off the lender after harvesting the boro paddy.”“We lost the entire crop to the storm,” she lamented. Mr Mohammad, who was a marginal farmer, owned an acre of land at Brihasthai village, in Chanchal-I block, which he had inherited from his father. The local panchayat has informed the death incident to the BDO and has sought help from the next kin, of the deceased. Some locals, however, alleged that Mr Gul Mohammad committed suicide due to other family related problems. The police are investigating the incident. The Chanchal SDO, Ms Debjani Datta said: “I have learnt of the suicide. We would verify the matter and a probe is being carried.” ;SNS (Statesman 6/6/09) He spoke for farmers (20) AHMEDABAD: His RTI application was responsible for Gujarat government finally succumbing to the fact that there were farmers suicides in Gujarat and that they were happening in large numbers. For the first time, the state government admitted that they were because of crop failure, debt and family nourishment issues. Bharat Jhala, 48, through his RTI application had painstakingly followed each and every case of farmers' suicides in the state for the last two years and even forced the government to put it on records

the reason for the suicides. The issue proved to be quite embarrassing for the state government when the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) quoted Jhala's RTI and sought a detailed explanation from the state government. "I was taken aback when the state agriculture minister told the assembly in 2007 that there were just 148 suicides. I am a farmer myself, I deal with their issues and I knew that most suicides were recorded as accidental death cases by police and in many cases they were never recording them. I wanted to bring this discrepancy out," says, Jhala who recently joined an NGO Manav Darpan. Jhala's application was forwarded to each and every taluka police station and revealed that there were 498 farmer suicides till August 2007 and finally the numbers grew to 598 in January this year. "In fact when the state government reported to the NHRC the state reported 2,479 suicides in villages few months ago. I have filed another RTI application to know the details of the state government reply," adds Jhala. Another issue close to Jhala is National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), "My RTI revealed that many in Surendranagar had job cards under NREGS, but there were no jobs despite the payment being released. Recently, the state government sanctioned Rs 20 lakh worth of civil works and jobs were assigned to the list provided by my RTI." Another landmark RTI that Jhala had filed was on the issue 2005 flood relief package to Surendranagar district farmers where Jhala belongs. "My RTI application was forwarded to every village in Surendranagar and found that against the allotment of Rs 15,000 per hectare flood compensation the collector had dispersed at the rate of Rs 900 to Rs 3,300. The state government had immediately ordered to release the rest of the funds to the affected farmers." Today, Jhala is after Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC), "I had seen advertisements inviting contractors for cleaning state transport buses. Despite this I never see any of the buses clean." (Times of India 16/6/09) Farmers' relief mission to be headless again (20) NAGPUR: The Vasantrao Naik Shetkari Swavalamban Mission, which has the sensitive task of implementing the state government's and the Prime Minister's special relief packages in the six farmers suicide-prone districts of Vidarbha, will soon be headless again. It is learnt that the present director-general Gopal Reddy's request for deputation to New Delhi has been cleared. In the last three years, Reddy was the fifth incumbent to hold charge of the mission. The government's failure to find an officer to implement the projects, which have got an extension of three years, is cited as a major reason for the poor implementation of the relief measures and leakages in it. Reliable sources said Reddy's request for deputation to the Centre has been cleared and he is likely to join as secretary in the social justice department headed by Mukul Wasnik. Who will replace him is not known and Amravati divisional commissioner Rajgopal Deora may get the additional charge till a new comes in. The mission handles schemes worth Rs 5,000 crore under the PM and state packages. The mission appears to have no takers because of the difficult working conditions for its chief. There is a dearth of staff, vehicles and facilities for the mission, it is learnt. What has also made the post less attractive is that a proposal to upgrade the post to secretary-level and place it directly under the Prime Minister's Office has not materialised. As a result, no one wants to take full time charge of the mission. Reddy himself holds additional responsibilities as director of National Horticulture Mission, whose office is in Pune, and he keeps shuttling between Pune and Amravati. Alarmed by the high rate of suicides among farmers (mainly cotton growers) in six districts of Yavatmal, Amravati, Akola, Washim, Buldhana and Wardha, the mission was set up in 2006. Initially, the then divisional commissioner S K Goyal headed the mission and completed the work of house-to-house survey of 12 lakh farming families to assess the distress levels. After his transfer to Mumbai as principal secretary (co-operatives and marketing), Manoj Saunik took over for a few months before he opted for a Delhi posting. His successor Anup Kumar too stayed in Amravati for a couple of months before heading for Delhi. His replacement Lokesh Chandra followed the same route and got a Delhi posting within days. Interestingly, Reddy will be the fourth bureaucrat to reach the national capital via the Amravati-based farmers' mission! (The Hindu 16/6/09) He made Guj govt take notice of farmer suicides (20 ) Ahmedabad : His RTI application was responsible for Gujarat government finally acceding to the fact that there were farmers suicides in Gujarat and that they were happening in large numbers. For the first time, the state government admitted that they were because of crop failure, debt and family nourishment issues. Bharat Jhala, 48, through his RTI application had painstakingly followed each and every case of farmers' suicides in the state for the last two years and even forced the government to put it on records the reason for the suicides. The issue proved to be quite embarrassing for the state government when the

National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) quoted Jhala's RTI and sought a detailed explanation from the state government. "I was taken aback when the state agriculture minister told the assembly in 2007 that there were just 148 suicides. I am a farmer myself, I deal with their issues and I knew that most suicides were recorded as accidental death cases by police and in many cases they were never recording them. I wanted to bring this discrepancy out," says, Jhala who recently joined an NGO Manav Darpan. Jhala's application was forwarded to each and every taluka police station and revealed that there were 498 farmer suicides till August 2007 and finally the numbers grew to 598 in January this year. "In fact when the state government reported to the NHRC the state reported 2,479 suicides in villages few months ago. I have filed another RTI application to know the details of the state government reply," adds Jhala. Another issue close to Jhala is National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), "My RTI revealed that many in Surendranagar had job cards under NREGS, but there were no jobs despite the payment being released. Recently, the state government sanctioned Rs 20 lakh worth of civil works and jobs were assigned to the list provided by my RTI." Another landmark RTI that Jhala had filed was on the issue 2005 flood relief package to Surendranagar district farmers where Jhala belongs. "My RTI application was forwarded to every village in Surendranagar and found that against the allotment of Rs 15,000 per hectare flood compensation the collector had dispersed at the rate of Rs 900 to Rs 3,300. The state government had immediately ordered to release the rest of the funds to the affected farmers." Today, Jhala is after Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC), "I had seen advertisements inviting contractors for cleaning state transport buses. Despite this I never see any of the buses clean." (Times of India 17/6/09) Debt-ridden ryot, kin commit suicide (20) DHARMAVARAM: Mounting debts and heavy crop loss forced a farmer to end his life along with his family members in Anantapur district on Friday. The bodies of the farmer, Rami Reddy (32), his wife Laxmi, 28, and their two children - Gowthami, 6, and Girish, 3 - were found on the railway tracks near Nimmalakunta village on the Dharmavaram-Puttaparthi route. The family was from Konapuram village in Puttaparthi mandal. Rami Reddy, who had three acres of agriculture land, suffered losses due to crop failure and later took to dairy farming by purchasing milk-yielding cows at a huge cost. However, Reddy suffered losses in dairy farming also. "He even took the family to Bangalore to make both ends meet but came back soon after," sources said. "With no alternate source to eke out a living, he approached a private moneylenders for loans," a source said. His debts mounted to over Rs 3 lakh and was unable to pay them off. Sources said Reddy took his family to his co-brother's house in Tadipatri recently and could have committed suicide on the way back. (Times of India 20/6/09) After their fathers' suicides, farmers' kids find h ope in God (20) PUNE: Among the lakhs of warkaris who entered the city as part of the annual pilgrimage on Wednesday, a small group of children had a distinct identity. Some 60-odd children of farmers who committed suicide, and now residing at an orphanage called Adar Tithya' at Triambakeshwar in Nashik, are led by Tryambak Gaikwad on the wari (a pilgrimage). "Within the group, there are children as young as two years who live at the orphanage and are unfortunate to have lost their fathers. In order to inculcate devotion for god and also to give them a feel of what pilgrimage is, we took them along," Gaikwad told TOI. The children donned white kurta payjamas with the traditional tilak on the forehead and saffron flags in their hands with a few even carrying beating the cymbals. They joined the palkhi at Wakdewadi and walked till the Dnyaneshwar Paduka chowk on Fergusson College road, a distance of eight kilometers. Monali Ghule, a 12-year old from Amravati, who is a part of this group, said, "I was here last year too. It gives us a sense of pride participating in the palkhi and it is a great experience. Also, it allows us to forget all our sorrows as we chant Dnyanba Tukaram'." This is the second year that the orphanage has brought the children to this pilgrimage. Last year, it was a smaller group of 27 children, this year it has grown to 40 boys and 20 girls. Another participant, Vishal Raut from Parbhani said, "It is a feeling of oneness and gives us enough strength to lead our lives strongly and forget the past. It has given me tremendous motivation looking at the warkaris while some are even in their 90s seen walking undeterred." According to Gaikwad, "The children are also spreading a message through their act. They are not just living in their sorrow but want to tell people through this medium that farmers' suicide should stop. That no farmer should reach a stage where he has to give up his life due to the conditions around him." The orphanage started three years ago with destitute children from small villages in Dhule, Amravati, Parbhani, and the Vidarbha region other

districts. "Through this we also want to pray to god that let there be enough rain across the state this year," said Sandeep Rajvanshi, another participant from Dhule. (Times of India 20/6/09) Two farmers commit suicide in Vidarbha region: NGO (20) NAGPUR: Failure to get crop loan from the bank and perturbed over second sowing due to paucity of rainfall in the region, have prompted two farmers to commit suicide in the Vidarbha region, an NGO, Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti has claimed here on Tuesday. 30-year-old Parasram Dhurve who failed to get crop loan from a nationalised bank and Mangal Raju Chavan, 37, who apprehended huge losses due to water scarcity ended their lives on Monday in Yavatmal district, Samiti president Kishore Tiwari has alleged in a release on Tuesday. Samiti said Dhurve had sought loan from State Bank of India, Patanbori branch in Yavatmal district and his proposal was rejected by the bank. Bank asked him to furnish a no objection certificate for fresh loan and fed up by the harassment by bank management, Dhurve took extreme step, the release said. Chavan had undertaken sowing but due to paucity of rainfall, he suffered losses. He too had sought loan from Bank of Maharashtra but the bank flatly refused him loan saying unless he pays the old dues he is not entitled for fresh loan. Chavan, who consumed poison, was rushed to Government Medical College, Yavatmal where he succumbed, it said. (Times of India 23/6/09) After 4 years of drought, 5,000 farmers sign suicid e pact (20) Ranchi, June 30, 2009: This could well be another Vidarbha in the making, where failing monsoons and the burden of debt drove scores of farmers to kill themselves. Done in by both the rain gods and the government, 5,000 farmers of drought-prone Palamu district in Jharkhand have singed a suicide pact. Farmers from the Chatarpur block, 170 west of Ranchi, have launched a signature campaign seeking permission to commit mass suicide. On Monday, their plea for help reached President Partibha Patil. “We cannot lead a respectable life; we should be allowed to die in (a) respectable way,” read their letter. This is the fourth successive year of draught in Palamu —the district has received 8.6 mm of rainfall in June as compared to the expected 154 mm — and the farmers allege that they have been deprived of the benefits of government projects. The protests have shaken the district administration. The deputy commissioner (DC) of the district, Amitabh Kaushal, has asked the officials to get the details of the campaign. Talking to HT, Kaushal admitted that the situation is a cause for worry. “Paddy is grown on around 48,000 hectare of land in the district. But, till date, the farmers have been able to sow seeds on just five per cent land. The scenario with maize is even worse. It’s just about one per cent,” the DC said. He has asked agricultural scientists to draw up a strategy to combat the situation. The protest against the nature’s cruelty and the government’s apathy has come to the fore in Chatarpur area, but similar situation prevails in other blocks like Lesleiganj and Satbarwa. These blocks had in the past have also reportedly witnessed hunger deaths. Gopal Singh, Vishunu Deo Singh and Mahang Saw, who have been spearheading the signature campaign, said that the memorandum would be sent to the President, chief justices of the Supreme Court and Jharkhand High Court and the Jharkhand Governor. Janata Dal (United) legislator from Chatarpur Radha Krishna Kishore said the failure of the successive governments to address the issue of water scarcity in the area — which had been declared drought-prone by the Centre in 1974 — was responsible for the farmers’ plight. “The area still does not have any successful irrigational networks, despite the central government initiatives,” he said. “Even during good monsoons, the district, with the population of around 18 lakh, produces just about 70,000 metric tonne of food grains against the required 3.32 lakh metric tonne,” Kishore added. The deputy commissioner, however, assured that necessary steps have already been taken to fight the drought. “We have stored food grains. Apart from this, there are ICDS (Integrated Child Development Scheme) for children, old-age pensions for the aged, NREGA for working hands, etc, to fight the drought,” Kausal said. (With agency inputs) (Hindustan Times 1/7/09) Farmer commits suicide as bank staff fail to pay si phoned money (20) LUCKNOW: A disillusioned 55-year-old farmer, who was deprived of Rs 32,000 from his bank account allegedly by two employees of a local bank, consumed poison within the bank premises on Wednesday afternoon and then walked up to the local police station in Moradabad to tell the cops about what he had done. He breathed his last while being rushed to the district hospital. The victim was later identified as Bharat Singh, a petty farmer from Bhoolapur hamlet in Khai Khera area in Moradabad. Police said that a poor Bharat Singh had managed to collect around Rs 40,000 by pooling in his meagre savings over the years. He had deposited his money at a local finance company by the name of Prathama Bank. On March 30, when Bharat Singh reached the bank to withdraw Rs 700 from his account, he was shocked to

discover his account balance short of Rs 32,000. The amount was withdrawn from the account in one go in the month of February. An illiterate, Bharat Singh immediately informed the bank manager who in turn assured a proper inquiry and action into the case. On April 30, the bank inquiry concluded accusing the assistant manager Hari Babu Bhardwai and cashier Pradeep Kumar Sharma of withdrawing the money from Bharat Singh's account illegally. When Bharat asked the bank to lodge an FIR against the accused employees, the two reportedly approached him begging forgiveness and assured him that they would return his money back soon if he didn't pursue a police case against them. As the poor farmer was more concerned to get his money back rather than getting the culprits arrested, he agreed not to report the matter to the police. However, when Bharat failed to get his money back even after doing over 100 rounds of the bank and asking the accused employees to return his money, he was left frustrated and disillusioned. On Wednesday afternoon Bharat again reached the bank and asked the two employees if they had arranged for his money. When the two replied in the negative, Bharat reportedly left the scene without uttering a word. However before stepping out of the bank, he consumed poison which he was carrying with him. Bharat then walked up to the local Mudha Pandey police station and informed the police that he had consumed poison because he was fed-up of approaching the bank staff for his money which they had swindled and were now unwilling to repay. Shocked by Bharat's declaration, the cops first rushed him to the local PHC from where he was referred to the district hospital when his condition deteriorated. Bharat, however, breathed his last before he could reach the district hospital. Later his son Pulendra lodged an FIR accusing the two bank employees of forcing his father to take such a drastic step. The police later arrested the accused bank employees and sent them to jail. (Times of India 2/7/09) Farmers’ outfits unimpressed (20) Bangalore: Farmers’ organisations in Karnataka are not impressed with the promise made in the Union Budget of achieving 4 per cent agricultural growth rate. They say that this rings hollow in the absence of a long-term vision to boost the sector. “The economic survey shows that the growth rate in agriculture came down from 4.9 per cent to 1.6 per cent in 2008-09. Over two lakh farmers have committed suicide so far in India. The budget speaks of food security Bill and accelerating the growth rate, but it does not propose something as basic as putting a stop to acquisition of fertile agricultural land for special economic zones,” says J.M. Veerasangiah, general secretary, Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha. He says that thousands of acres of agricultural land will be lost for 58 SEZ projects in Karnataka. “In Bellary alone, farmers will lose 1,800 acres to the airport project,” adds Mr. Veerasangiah. State president of the Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha, Maruti Manpade, says that Rs. 1,000 crore allocated for irrigation is inadequate to take forward the 136 major irrigation projects in the country. He says that there is no mention of moving towards self-reliance in fertilizer production. (The Hindu 7/7/09) ‘Farmers have right to produce, sell seed’ (20) NELLORE: Senior Civil Judge and Gudur Mandal Legal Services Committee (MLSC) chairperson K. Sailaja has said the farmers have every right to produce and sell seeds and no department or person can take action against ryots in this regard. Speaking at a Legal Awareness campaign organised by MLSC at the Mandal Parishad Development Officer’s officer at Gudur on Tuesday, Ms. Sailaja said in many cases farmers were subjected to harassment by agriculture, police and the media personnel threatening them to punish them on the pretext of patent rights, but the farmers can produce and sell seeds under PPVFR Act, 2001. The judge directed officials of Agriculture, Police and Revenue Departments to encourage farmers in developing and selling seeds and protect their traditional rights. She asked them not to harass farmers who are developing seeds, which is against law. Farmers were also enlightened on Right to Information Act and Consumers Protection Act on the occasion. Gudur RDO Y. Ramachandra Reddy advised the farmers to follow the latest scientific methods in cultivation for achieving good production and get the produce insured. Later, the officials clarified the doubts raised by the farmers. Deputy Director (Agriculture) Ravi Kumar, assistant directors T.Usha Rani and Sudhakar Raju, Gudur Lok Adalat members P. Harinath Prasad and P.Janakirama Reddy and others were present. (The Hindu 15/7/09) Farmer commits suicide (20) BIJAPUR: A sugarcane grower committed suicide by swallowing poison on Monday night. The deceased, Umarali Hasanasab Kuri (55) of Khainur village of Sindagi taluk, took this drastic step as he could did not get compensation for the loss of his crops in a fire. Last year, after his sugarcane field caught fire, he approached the government and requested for compensation. The delay in release of compensation

amount ruined his peace of mind, which drove him to consume poison. He was admitted to Sindagi hospital, but he did not respond to treatment. Sindagi police have registered a case in this regard. (Times of India 15/7/09) Poor fertilizer availability leaves farmers frustra ted (20) Bangalore: Farmers in the neighbouring districts of Haveri and Davangere are frustrated despite good monsoon this year as they have not received adequate quantity of fertilizer. A similar crisis last year had led to agitation by farmers, resulting in the death of two farmers in police firing in Haveri, and violent incidents in Davangere. There have been sporadic protests and roadblocks by farmers over the past week in Haveri, particularly over shortage of urea this year. Snap strikes by farmers in front of the taluk agricultural offices have been reported in Davangere. There has been a temporary respite for farmers in Haveri over the last two days as the Agriculture Department has distributed small quantities of urea of one or two bags each. However, the larger problem remains unresolved, as the actual quantity of urea required for the farmers is yet to reach them. In Haveri district alone, there is need for an additional 5,000 tonnes of urea. The district needs roughly around 10,000 tonnes of urea till the end of July in the kharif season, of which about half has reached the district. Officials say that about 5,500 tonnes of urea will reach the district by Saturday. In Davangere, the total requirement of urea till mid-July is 19,679 tonnes, while the district has received 10,571 tonnes. The total requirement of complex fertilizer is 24,957 tonnes of which the district has so far received 18,776 tonnes. Officials in the Agriculture Department in Haveri attribute the increased demand for urea to early sowing and good rain. As it rained almost evenly across all the taluks, everybody rushed to buy urea simultaneously, resulting in a sudden increase in demand and apprehensions of scarcity, they said. This year sowing began 15 days in advance due to early rain. As a result, it is now time to give supplementary manures like urea. “Urea helps in checking excess dampness in the field and in increasing the crop yield. Farmers usually spray urea after incessant rain. Our fear is that if we do not do it, the crop yield will come down,” said Siddappa N. Bidari, president of district unit of the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha. “The Agriculture Department officials knew about the situation and yet did not take it seriously.” In Haveri, early rain raised the hope of a good monsoon this year, and as a result farmers in the district increased the sowing area by more than 50,000 hectares compared to last year, adding to the problem. Fertilizer crisis is localised to central and northern districts and has not touched other districts. Chitradurga saw some unrest following reports of shortage in Haveri district. However, the Agriculture Department does not foresee problems. As the kharif season lasts till September, the officials hope to receive fresh consignments periodically. The demand for fertilizer is even through the season because of the varied sowing pattern among taluks here. While Chitradurga, Holalkere and Hosadurga go for early sowing, Challakere, Molakalmur and Hiriyur have delayed sowing. Similar is the situation in Udupi where farmers are not dependent on one crop. Speaking to The Hindu, president of the Udupi Zilla Krishik Sangha Ramakrishna Sharma said: “The problem arises in districts of central and north Karnataka because farmers there take up sowing almost at the same time resulting in shortage of fertilizer.” He added that farmers in Udupi were also increasingly using organic fertilizer. In Chickaballapur, although sowing has not commenced on a full scale due to delayed monsoon, farmers have started storing fertilizer fearing a scarcity in the coming days. The Department of Agriculture has warned farmers and traders not to create artificial scarcity by storing/hoarding fertilizer. (The Hindu 16/7/09) Farmers shying away from Kharif paddy cultivation Kendrapara (Orissa) (PTI): Monsoon rains might have ended the dry spell in Orissa, but Brundaban Roul is apprehensive. The small farmer from Bhagabanpur village in Patkura area of coastal Kendrapara district owns two acre of irrigable agriculture land. But compelling factors like escalating labour cost and introduction of Rs Two-a-kg rice scheme have prompted grim faced land owners to skip the khariff paddy cultivation. This time there is no oscillating movement of paddy plants in the crop field with farmers like Roul deciding not to cultivate. The poor farmer has his own rustic wisdom and put forth his logical argument to corroborate his decision to forego paddy cultivation this year. "Growing paddy is a risk which I am not prepared to undertake. I am not sure of the return. So it is better to wait for next year. I am thinking of trying my luck in rabi crops in the coming months", he summed up. Like Roul, reports of farmers missing out khariff paddy cultivation are pouring in from various parts of this region where the economy is entirely regulated by agrarian activity. This prominent agriculture belt is a no-industry zone. Of the 1.22 lakh hectares of fields where paddy is grown annually in these parts, hardly 47,445 hectares

have come under rearing of the crop till date. The rest is lying bare providing fodder to cattle. Like Roul, majority of farmers are hard-pressed not to grow paddy for factors beyond their control. "How can we afford the farm labour cost? It has gone up to Rs 150-160 a day. Poverty alleviation schemes like NREGS have distracted the bulk of labour force from farming. "The farm labourers assured of 100 days's engagement are shying away from agriculture work because it is strenuous to toil in paddy fields", said another farmer. In almost every village, daily wagers are enrolled in muster roll. In comparison to labour input, the return is more in NREGS project works. Thus they are demanding more to toil in crop field, many land owners feel. The Rs 2-a-kg rice scheme has also affected agriculture to a great extent. Easy availability of rice at highly subsidised price has left the toiling sections complacent. The demand for higher wages has become the order of the day. To add to this, charges for hiring agro implements like power tillers and tractors have shot up considerably. The cost of paddy cultivation in an acre of land is calculated to exceed Rs 10,000 of which labour cost has gone up to Rs 7,500 an acre. On the other hand, one has to struggle to get a return of Rs 11,000 by way of minimum support price for paddy procurement fixed by the government. Incurring heavy loss is writ large on the wall in the event there is distress sale of paddy. (The Hindu 19/7/09) ‘Anti-farmer policies’ deplored (20) BIDAR: The Bidar South MLA Bandeppa Kashempur on Saturday claimed that the reported suicide of Basavanappa (88), a farmer of Nirna village in Humnabad taluk, was perhaps the first time a suicide note had been addressed to the Chief Minister. Mr. Kashempur told presspersons that he would consult Janata Dal (Secular) Legislature Party leader H.D. Revanna and Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah and raise the issue on Monday in the ongoing Assembly session. The former Minister said that Basavanappa had written in the suicide note that he took the extreme step owing to erratic power supply, which made it impossible for him to irrigate his fields of sugarcane and chilli. He also said that he had no money to repay the loans he had taken from Prathamika Krishi Pattina Sahakara Bank and State Bank of Hyderabad. Criticising Mr. Yeddyurappa for adopting “anti-farmer policies”, Mr. Kashempur said that Mr. Yeddyurappa took oath in the name of farmers, but soon after assuming office there was police firing on farmers in Haveri. He alleged that there was a shortage of fertilizers in Davangere, which is represented by Minister for Agriculture S.A. Ravindranath. Mr. Kashempur said that when H.D. Kumaraswamy was the Chief Minister, seeds were distributed to farmers at 75 per cent subsidy but the present government had reduced the subsidy to 50 per cent. “Basavanappa’s suicide should open the eyes of the State Government to the condition of farmers in the State,” he said. Mr. Kashempur said that in recent days serial suicide by farmers had started to occur and that the State Government should act to prevent farmers from taking the drastic step. Earlier, Mr. Kashempur consoled Basavanappa’s bereaved family members. Gurupadappa, Basavanappa’s son, told Mr. Kashempur that his father had been worried about crop loss. Later, Mr. Kashempur visited Udabal village in Humnabad taluk where another farmer, Baburao, reportedly committed suicide by hanging himself a couple of days ago, as he was under pressure to repay loans. Baburao’s wife, Sharadabai, told Mr. Kashempur that crop failure had forced her husband to commit suicide. (The Hindu 19/7/09) Farmers' suicides of great concern, says Clinton (2 0) US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Sunday said farmers need financial security to prevent them committing suicide as has been happening in India, and stop them from drifting away from agriculture, like in the US. 'Yeah, it (farmers' suicides) is a great concern. It is mainly because of loans,' she said. In India, she said, farmers are committing suicide because of the burden of debt and in the US, they are 'drifting from it (agriculture)' for the same reason. Clinton said farmers need financial security. In recent years, there have been many cases of farmers' suicides in India due to debt and crop failure. The United Progressive Alliance government has waived off billions of rupees in loans for farmers to stem the suicides. Clinton said farming needed to be organised. The situation can improve 'if we can put more dollars back to the farmers' instead of allowing middlemen to step in. (India e-news 19/7/09) Opposition accuses govt. of ignoring farmers (20) New Delhi (PTI) Opposition parties on Monday slammed the government for ignoring the interests of farmers and said funds allocated in the General Budget for agriculture ministry were not sufficient. Participating in the debate on demands for grants for the Agriculture Ministry, Rewati Raman Singh (SP) said farmers in Maharashtra, Kerala and Karnataka were committing suicide despite the loan waiver

announced by the Centre. He claimed children of farmers were not ready to take up the profession and were ready to work as peons. Mr. Singh said while 58 per cent of country's population was involved in agriculture and related activities, the government has neglected the farmers. He said in the absence of cold storage facilities, 40 per cent of fruits and vegetables were getting damaged. The SP member suggested that the government set up bio-fertiliser plants in both public and private sector to help farmers get sufficient fertilisers. He also demanded a 'white paper' on the condition of agriculture sector in the country. Vijay Bahadur Singh (BSP) lamented that while 62 per cent of the population was dependent on agriculture, the budgetary provisions were a mere one per cent. "For 62 per cent people you provide only one per cent, and for the rest 38 per cent the allocation is 99 per cent," he added. Also see (The Hindu 20/7/09) Protest planned against agriculture bill (20) CHENNAI: Demonstrative activities, condemning the recently-passed Tamil Nadu State Agricultural Council Bill 2009, have been planned by 12 agriculture welfare groups, working under the umbrella organisation called South Against Genetic Engineering. Addressing a press conference on Friday, the members stated that the bill brought the State’s agricultural practices, which are more than 5,000 years old, to a halt with its conditions. The bill, among other things, disempowers those without agriculture degrees from counseling farmers on their agriculture-related decisions. The bill, stated Miguel Braganza, Organic Farming Association, took the entire organic farming industry by surprise, owing to the nature of the conditions it laid. “Especially the clause which said farmers had to seek guidance only from those with degrees in agriculture and nobody else,” he said. Dr Nammalwar, Organic Farming Scientist, VANAGAM, said the Bill disregarded the acquired wisdom of all agriculturists, who did not have a degree in the subject. “The Bill doesn’t stop with making it mandatory for farmers to seek the advice of those with Degrees in Agriculture in prescribed Universities. It even calls for a punishment for non-degree holders who counsel farmers, with Rs 5,000 as fine for the first time, and Rs 10,000 as fine or 6 months imprisonment or both, for the second time,” he said. With this bill coming into force, organic farming, which forms less than 2 percent of the curriculum in Agriculture courses, will suffer greatly, he observed. In a bid to mark their protest, a padayathra spanning over 500 km has been planned on October 2, starting from Dindugal.(Express Buzz 8/8/09) Agrarian crisis dominates AIAWU general council mee ting (20) Malavalli: The two-day general council of All India Agricultural Workers Union (AIAWU) which commenced here on Sunday touched upon the unfolding agrarian crisis and its socio-economic impact on the peasantry. The meeting being held in the backdrop of drought plaguing large parts of the country which has accentuated the grim living conditions of the peasants and farmers, also sought the implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGA) in letter and spirit in addition to pressing for a comprehensive Central Legislation for agricultural labour and installation of a universal public distribution system which was systematically being dismantled to pave way for targeted PDS that has come under flak for its limitations. Speaking to The Hindu on the sidelines of the general council meeting A.Vijayaraghavan, MP and general secretary, AIAWU, said the general council meeting was significant in view of the unfolding crisis in the agricultural sector. The crisis further aggravated by decline in food production and price rise which directly affects the agricultural workers. Mr.Vijayaraghavan warned that about 20 crore people were directly affected by the emerging crisis and this could lead to starvation deaths while pointing out that the country was going through such a crisis for the first time since Independence. The Government came under flak for ignoring the conditions of agricultural workers and doing little to ensure the purchasing capacity of the rural people while displaying concern towards investors entering the agro-business sector. The Government’s failure to pursue policies that would help the farmers, and to ensure that nearly 82 crore people who earn less than Rs.20 a day get enough work and food, has worsened the agrarian crisis, said Mr.Vijayaraghavan. In all, 105 members of the AIAWU from across the country are attending the general council meeting during which they will also focus on the declining share of agriculture to the GDP and its decrease from 21.7 per cent in 2003-04 to 17.8 per cent in 2007-08; the negative growth in food production which fell short of the actual target by -1.4 per cent while coarse grain, the staple food of the poorest sections showed a decline of 7.9 per cent while the total area under crop cover was down 30 per cent this year compared to 2007-08. “This was reflective of Government’s focus on turning attention to cash crops in lieu of food crops and was hampering the country’s food security”, said Mr.Vijayaraghavan. Mr.Suneet Chopra, Joint Secretary of AIAWU attributed

the rise in price of essential commodities to the speculative investment in food grains leading to futures trading that has created an artificial scarcity adding it was a parody that the Government allowed food export when there were alarming levels of hunger in most States. Hence the general council will also focus on the proposed National Food Security Act and its implications for the country. Mr.Chopra and Mr.Hannan Mollah, former MP and Joint Secretary, AIAWU, pointed out that public distribution system had collapsed and even the proposed Food Security Act would reduce the number of beneficiaries by excluding a large section of people.Hence the AIAWU will seek revamping of the PDS on a war footing with adequate funding to help provide full quantity of grains to BPL and APL card holders as well as Antyodaya beneficiaries while seeking a ban on speculative trading in food grains and hoarding and profiteering from scarcity. The AIAWU office bearers questioned Government’s claims of registering 7 to 8 per cent economic growth despite recession and said such claims will have no buyers in the light of stagnation in agriculture, closure of small and medium scale industries and the decline of the manufacturing sector. Atrocities against Dalits, condition of women agricultural labourers are other issues of importance to be taken up in the meeting. The meeting is being attended by S.Ramachandra Pillai, president, All India Kisan Sabha and Politbureau Member of CPI(M) P.Ramaiah, former MLA and president of the AIAWU, G.N.Nagaraj, vice-president, Karnataka Prantha Krishi Cooliekara Sangha and other office bearers. (The Hindu 9/8/09) Two farmers end their lives (20) NALGONDA: The continuous dry spell in the district has started taking its toll on the farmers as two distressed farmers ended their lives in misery in Bommalaramaram mandal on Wednesday. According to sources, Dharawath Shankar, 40, a tribal farmer of Chandunayakthanda, consumed pesticide in the wee hours of the day and died. Shankar reportedly landed in a debt trap after he suffered huge crop losses due to failure of the borewell and extensive damage to his crop. Another debt-ridden farmer S. Lakshma Reddy, 50, committed suicide by consuming pesticide at Chowdarypalli village in the same mandal on Wednesday evening. Reddy cultivated paddy in six acres with borewell water. Failure of monsoon and three of his five agriculture borewells shattered his hopes and caused severe damage to his crops. (The Hindu 13/8/09) Andhra admits: 20 farmer suicides in 40 days (20) Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh government on Friday admitted that 20 farmers committed suicide in the state in the last 40 days but maintained that the actual reasons were yet to be ascertained. The CMO, in a press release, said 20 farmers committed suicide in the state and Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy has directed district collectors to distribute compensation of Rs 1.5 lakh each to the families of those who have ended their lives. Reddy has also asked the collectors to immediately submit a report on farmers' death. "TDP has been brazenly spreading lies that 70 farmers have ended their lives in the last 40 days because of drought. Actually, it has not been established yet whether the suicides were because of drought or other reasons," the release said.(CNN IBN 15/8/09) Thousands protest against lack of drought relief wo rk in Bidar district (20) BIDAR: Thousands of National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) workers laid siege to the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Karnataka’s Bidar district on Monday, in the first large-scale protest against lack of drought relief work in a district which has seen nine farmers’ suicides in the last month. The protesters were led by CPI(M) MP Brinda Karat, the former MLA, G.V. Sriram Reddy, State Secretariat member of CPI(M) K. Neela. District units of the Akhila Bharatiya Janawadi Mahila Sangha and Krishi Koolikarara Sangha were present. They urged the Union and State governments to take-up relief work in the district, which has been declared drought-hit owing to scanty rainfall. The rally started from the Ganesh Maidan and ended at Deputy Commissioner Harsh Gupta’s office where a memorandum was submitted. Addressing a public meeting before the rally, Ms. Karat said the government took several months to declare a district drought-hit and then did not immediately follow up with relief work. NREGA wages were not being paid on time, she alleged. “There have been nine suicides in the district this last month. Further complicating matters is the collapse of the public distribution system. There is no work, no rationing, and prices are sky high.” Ms. Karat demanded an increase in the wage rate to labourers under the NREGA to Rs. 100 a day. Calling for prompt payments to labourers, she said the Act stated that payment should be made on the same day of work. However, the least that should be done, she said, was to see to it that “payments to the individual accounts are made at least once in a

week.” The rally was to demand jobs for labourers under the NREGA and not to “beg” for it, she said. She warned the officials concerned not to indulge in “fraudulent” activities such as collection of “commission” from labourers for the work issued to them. Flaws in the policies of the Congress-led Union government led to the rise in prices of essential commodities and it was the poor who were affected. A kilogram of tur dal cost Rs. 100 and sugar about Rs. 35, she said. (The Hindu 18/8/09) ‘Five farmers commit suicide in Vidarbha' (20) Nagpur: Five farmers from Vidharbha region committed suicide on Independence Day, a NGO said on Monday. Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti president Kishore Tiwari claimed that as many as 32 farmers ended their lives during the last 10 days. Aircraft skids off runway, passengers safe Dhaka: A Delhi-bound Jet Airways aircraft carrying 139 persons skidded off a runway just before its take off from the Bangladesh capital on Monday but no one was hurt in the accident. The Boeing-737 aircraft of India's private Jet Airways skidded the runway by over three meters at Dhaka's Zia International Airport just ahead of its take-off. Bangladesh Civil Aviation Authority Chairman Air Commodore Saked Iqbal Khan Majlis said, "The aircraft skidded off the runway just before take-off but there was no incident of casualty and all passengers and crew are safe." Airport officials said all scheduled foreign and local flights were suspended following the accident and an investigation was ordered immediately. (Mumbai Mirror (18/8/09) Six farmers commit suicide in Vidarbha in last 24 h ours (20) NAGPUR: Six farmers have committed suicide in various parts of Vidarbha as drought situation looms large over the region, an NGO has claimed. The suicides were committed since yesterday, Kishore Tiwari of Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti, tracking farmers suicides in the region, said in a release. The deceased have been identified as Vijay Bodhe, Mahapal (Yavatmal), Vishwanath Gavne, Pimpri (Amravati), Ramesh Maraskolhe, Pathrat (Yavatmal), Ramchandra Mungale, Bhishi (Chandrapur), Dilip Nandne, Ithlapur (Wardha) and Arun Dakhre, Yenikini (Nagpur), the release said. He said as many as 38 farmers have ended their lives in August and 62 farmers in last 18 days in Maharashtra, he added. (Times of India 19/8/09) 25 farmers committed suicide in AP since July 1 (20 ) Hyderabad, Aug. 20 Andhra Pradesh has recorded 25 farmers suicides in the last 50 days. Fifteen other deaths in the farm sector were due to poor financial status of farmers, but unrelated to the seasonal conditions, according to the State Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy. Speaking on adverse seasonal conditions in the Legislative Assembly, Dr Reddy said the State has stepped up efforts to analyse the reasons for such deaths in the last two months. Necessary measures have been initiated to address the concerns of farmers. He also called upon the opposition parties and his colleagues not to press the panic button. Any such move to do so would only aggravate the situation rather than providing solutions, he said. The Chief Minister said one of the priorities for the Congress Government was to address farm sector issues. That was one of the reasons why the first step initiated by the State was to waive power dues of Rs 1,100 crore and the interest burden of Rs 2,000 crore on the farm sector loans. This was followed by a Rs 13,150 crore debt relief package as a part of the national initiative. In addition, Rs 1,850 crore was provided to the farm sector. In all, about Rs 17,000 crore was allocated to the farm sector in one year after the Congress Government took over last time. The number of farmers committing suicide has also come down from a high of 1,031 in 2005. In 2006, the State recorded total deaths of 540, 2007 (432), 2008 (277). Between January 1, 2009 and June, two deaths were reported. However, this number has shot up in the last two months. District administration is studying the reasons for such instances, he said. In many instances, deaths due to other than farm sector related issues are being projected as farmers’ suicides. Therefore, the committee empowered to study the conditions of farmers would provide the reasons for such deaths. (Business line 21/8/09) Slight improvement in drought situation (20) HYDERABAD: Following week-long rains, the drought situation in the State registered a slight improvement as evident from the revival of agricultural activity, increase in the sown area and a better supply of drinking water. The wet spell has evenly benefited all the three regions and cut the State’s rainfall deficit from 57 to 50 per cent, besides providing relief to AP Transco which is straining every nerve to meet the increased agricultural demand. A further improvement is likely as the monsoon remains

active. Reviewing drought-related issues with district Collectors through a video-conference here on Saturday, Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy ordered enumeration of crop loss for purposes of compensation to farmers by way of input subsidy to raise alternative crops. He announced that he would take a decision on declaring the State as drought affected on Monday after discussions with bankers. on disbursement of crop loans which reached 50 per cent of the target as against 16 per cent earlier as a result of rains. If a drought is declared, crop loans would be rescheduled into term loans and fresh ones given at 3 per cent interest. Collectors were asked to expedite the loan disbursement as only one week was left for the season. Going by briefings by Commissioners of Agriculture and Disaster Management Sunil Sharma and Dinesh Kumar, the Chief Minister said he hoped that the sown area during kharif might go up from 42 to 62 lakh hectares against the season’s normal of 79 lakh ha -- nearly 80 per cent. Expressing serious concern over suicide by 25 farmers, Dr. Reddy wanted the committees to submit a preliminary report within 24 hours of such death so that ex gratia and other benefits could be extended to the bereaved family. Collectors were asked to hold Adarsha Rythus responsible for farmers’ suicides as they were appointed mainly to educate farmers on all issues. To stop suicides, the officials must give a clear message to the farmers that “the government is here to help you out in case of a problem — be if loss of crop or lack of fodder”. Dr. Reddy said a helpline (phone no. 1100) would be operational in four days to attend to the complaints about crop damage, fodder shortage, lack of work etc. Also, cattle camps would be held immediately in Anantapur, Mahabubnagar and Medak districts which reported fodder shortage. (The Hindu 23/8/09) Submit report on farmer suicides within 24 hours (2 0) HYDERABAD: Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy today warned the district collectors and other Government officials concerned that they would be held responsible for any `negligence’ in taking up drought relief works particularly in implementation of National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP) works meant to benefit agriculture labour. There would be no holidays or leaves to officials involved in drought relief works, he said. Holding a video conference with all district collectors and other senior officials concerned from the State Secretariat here today, the Chief Minister reviewed drought conditions, drinking water supply in villages and cities, NREGP, prices of essential commodities, farmers’ suicides etc. He took the bureaucrats to task for their failure to initiate adequate relief measures in time resulting in suicides by 25 farmers in the last 45 days in the State. `Negative publicity’ by a section of the media and `unnecessary talk’ by Opposition parties on drought had made the farmers insecure leading to such unfortunate incidents. The Chief Minister directed the district collectors to submit a preliminary report (given by the RDO, DSP and local agriculture officer concerned after verification) within 24 hours of the incident. ``Don’t wait for the post-mortem report or the forensic report and finally dispatch a report after a month or 45 days. Ask the Revenue Divisional Officer and Deputy Superintendent of Police concerned to conduct an enquiry whenever a suicide is reported and send the report to the Government within 24 hours,’’ the Chief Minister said. There is a need to create confidence among the distressed farmers, he said. “You should create confidence among them (distressed people/farmers) and to tell them that they need not worry since the Government is very proactive in resolving their problems. Both the district administration and model farmers will be held responsible for negligence in the event of suicide by a farmer,’’ he told them. Stressing the need that no stone should be left unturned in taking up drought-relief measures, Rajasekhara Reddy insisted the senior officials to immediately set up a helpline centre with toll free number 1100 to facilitate farmers to have access to information pertaining to availability of subsidised seeds, fertilizers, fodder, drinking water, crop loans etc. With regard to NREGP implementation, he asked the officials to take steps for effective implementation of the programme and to ensure that no single farm labour was left without work during drought conditions. Besides officials, NGOs and model farmers should be involved in NREGP implementation, he added. On this occasion, the Chief Minister strongly advocated for implementation of cooperative farming to overcome the crisis. Initially, it would be implemented on a pilot basis in 50 villages in the State i.e. two villages in each district with a funding of about Rs.1,000 crore. He directed the district collectors to involve poor farmers to take full advantage of the scheme. Rajasekhara Reddy further said that he would have `rachha bandas’ (meetings in village centres) to have direct interaction with the people to know about their problems from September 2. As part of tour schedule, three districts i.e. one village in each district would be covered in a day, and three to four days would be spent in a month for the purpose. The Ministers, the Chief Secretary, Principal secretaries, secretaries, commissioners and other senior officials concerned were present.(Express Buzz 23/8/09)

Farmer commits suicide in collector’s office (20) SAMBALPUR, 23 AUG: In a shocking incident, a villager committed suicide on the collectorate premises at Bargarh when the collector was on tour to Padmapur for weekly grievance yesterday. Some staff found Samrat Jagadala (52) of Behera village in critical condition at about 4.30 p.m. and rushed him to the district headquarters hospital. In spite of all efforts, Jagadal breathed his last there. Doctors confirmed that he consumed poison. A letter recovered from his pocket reveals that he had come to put his grievance before the collector as to his personal problem in his native village at Behera and his son’s problem at Sambalpur. But he couldn’t do so and committed suicide before intimating his grievances either to the collector or to police, sources from Bargarh said. However, the collector Mr S C Padhi said that he never came to his grievance cell earlier. At the same time he didn’t to come to the grievance day of Saturday where ADM, sub collector and other senior officers were present up to 2.30 p.m. “If he had met our officers, then something could have been done for him and the problem he faced in his village could nave been solved. But without doing all these, he committed suicide,” Mr Padhi said. The letter reveals that some of the villagers were continually putting him to trouble. Even they didn’t allow him to celebrate Nuakhai (Nabanna) to be celebrated on Monday. At the same time his son was facing problems at Sambalpur where he worked in an NGO and dealing cash transaction of SHG groups. Mr Satya Babu of Sambalpur allegedly kept his son’s certificates and didn’t return him. At the same time he had given Rs 50, 000 to a man at Sambalpur for his service. But the man neither arranged the job nor refunded the money, Bargarh police sources said. “Being disgusted by all these and unable to bear with the pressure-both mental and financial, he might have committed suicide,” Bargarh SP Mr A K Biswal said. But he never intimated police as to his problems, he pointed out. On the basis of the letter recovered from him, police will investigate and take action against all those who are responsible for such unlawful activities and harassing an innocent person, he added.(Statesman 24/8/09) Troubled times for farmers (20) BANGALORE: There appears to be no end to farmers’ woes in Karnataka. As many as 50 farmers have committed suicide in the current kharif season. The hapless farmers are not only grappling with drought, which has hit 86 taluks in 20 districts, but also the erratic supply of fertilizer, which has delayed sowing. With the crop loss in rain-fed areas estimated to be Rs. 720.2 crore, and horticultural crops in over 60,000 hectares ruined due to scanty rain, the average farmer appears to be badly hit. Owing to drought, sowing has taken place only in 54.8 lakh hectares as on August 17 this year as against the targeted 72 lakh hectares. It is expected that about 10 lakh hectares would remain unsown during the current kharif season. From April 1 to July 31, 2009, according to Agriculture Department officials, 40 cases of farmers’ suicide have been reported from the districts. Ten more cases have been reported this month. As of July-end, the highest number of suicide cases have been reported from Shimoga (7), Chief Minister’s home district, followed by Tumkur (6), Belgaum and Hassan (5 each), Chikmagalur, Bidar, Davangere, and Bijapur (3 each), Chitradurga and Dakshina Kannada (2 each) and Mysore district (1). Of the 40 cases, 28 have been placed before a committee set up to sanction compensation to the next of the kin of the farmers. The committee rejected the claims in four cases and awarded compensation of Rs. 1 lakh to the families concerned in eight cases. Officials do not rule out the possibility of natural deaths being reported as suicide for claiming compensation. In the last nine years, the State has experienced drought for seven years, and this is one of the major reasons for farmers taking the extreme step, according to experts. A total 2,360 farmers ended their lives in 2000-01, 2,505 in 2001-02, 2,340 in 2002-03, 708 in 2003-04, 271 in 2004-05, 163 in 2005-06 and 343 cases in 2006-07, 340 in 2007-08 and 337 in 2008-09. More number of suicide cases were reported during the drought years. Farmers say that they have not been receiving farm inputs on time from the Agriculture Department due to shortage of manpower. As on July 10, 2009, there were 3325 vacancies in the Agriculture Department, and vacant posts was one the reasons for the ineffective extension services. The department has decided to fill 946 posts of agricultural officer through promotion. It has decided to fill 467 posts of assistant agricultural officer through direct recruitment. (The Hindu 28/8/09) Peasant surprise from suicide belt (20 MUMBAI: The number of farmer suicides in the country has come down significantly in the first half of 2009. Whereas 1,105 farmers committed suicide in 2008 because of agricultural factors such as crop failure, indebtedness and drought, the same number has come down to 203 in the first half of 2009. With 71, Maharashtra has had the largest number of such suicides in 2009 but the number is considerably

down from 2008 when it stood at 622. The Congress-led UPA government had announced a populist loan waiver scheme in February 2008 to bail out some 3.6 crore farmers who had borrowed from various public sector banks. It is now being cited as the key reason for the drop in number of farmer suicides. Experts though worry that the trend could reverse due to the drought that the country now faces. Three crore small and marginal farmers as well as 67 lakh other farmers have so far benefited from the loan waiver scheme that cost the exchequer Rs 65,318 crore. The scheme is said to be one of the key reasons which helped UPA pull off a victory in the 15th Lok Sabha elections. In Maharashtra, 1,906 farmers took their own lives in 2008. However, only 622 of these deaths were attributed to purely agricultural reasons. Until June 18, 2009 the total number of farmer suicides in the state is down to 513, of which, only 71 were an outcome of agrarian factors. Economists though caution against reading too much into the loan waiver scheme and the impact it has had on the general plight of farmers. "It is natural that politicians will take credit for the fall in number of farmer suicides by attributing it to their scheme. But we have to remember that much of the agriculture that is practised is non-viable and there are a host of factors which drive a farmer to suicide. It may not just be indebtedness and you cannot draw a direct link between loan waiver and suicides,'' said Abhay Pethe, an economist from Mumbai University. Bhede explained that the main purpose of the loan waiver scheme was to restructure the manner in which finance is made available to farmers by banks. "The real benefits of the scheme will percolate only slowly to agriculturists,'' he said. Experts also point out that the number of farmer suicides has fallen in the first six months of 2009 when there was no drought-like situation. Since then monsoons have played truant increasing the misery of farmers in the main cropping season. Rainfall in the country between June 1 and August 12 has been 29 % below normal. This is one factor which may reverse the trend of falling number of farmer suicides. (Times of India 30/8/09) Suicides: ryots body seeks white paper (20) HYDERABAD: Andhra Pradesh Ryotu Sangham has demanded the government to publish a white paper on farmers’ suicides in the State in the past 100 days. Sangham’s president K. Ramakrishna and general secretary R. Venkaiah, said that not a single problem of the farmers was solved, nor were any of the promises made by Chief Minister implemented. In the past eight months, 382 farmers had ended their lives in different districts, they said . The Sangham leaders criticised the government for the delay in declaring drought. In spite of the announcement that crop lending would be increased, the banks were not extending loans. (The Hindu 1/9/09) Punjab ranks highest in per capita farm indebtednes s (20) Fazilka: Wall Street is not the only place burdened with toxic debt. Punjab farmers suffer from the malaise too. The state has the highest per capita farm indebtedness in the country, leading to a spate of suicides in the region. Ironically, a major cause of indebtedness is the race among even small and marginal farmers to own tractors and farming equipment, since this is a major status symbol for Punjabis. According to the Annual Budget of Punjab for 2009-10, rural debt is estimated to be Rs 35, 000 crore. This comprises Rs 22,000 crore as institutional debt, and Rs 13,000 crore of debt towards money lenders and arhtiyas. The per-farm household debt stands at Rs. 41,576—the highest in the country, against the all-India average of Rs 12,585. The work done by a progressive farmer in Punjab to provide solutions for rural debt has yielded admirable results, through his Zamindara Farmsolutions Private Limited in Fazilka, started in 2004. Ahuja was recently awarded by the state government for developing a blended-value business model, with which he helps farmers to come out of the debt trap. Ahuja’s rationale is simple. Those who want to read good books regularly don’t buy the whole library—they simply become members. Ahuja too developed a tractor-and-equipment bank, which rents out top-of-the-line, latest equipment to farmers. Instead of making heavy investment in such equipment, poor and marginal farmers take tractors and equipment from this bank whenever required. Talking to FE, Ahuja said that he now tries to convince farmers to pay for use, rather than pay for ownership. “Punjab has an unenviable figure of approximately Rs 10,000 crore debt in the agriculture sector, due to high spending on farm machinery. A tractor is economically viable only if it runs 1,000 hours in a year, but it is used for only 250-300 hours in a year. Statistics show that there are 4. 30 lakh tractors in the state, while the requirement is for only about one lakh tractors. Due to this unnecessary indulgence, excessive money has been blocked, and the yearly interest burden on this alone is to the tune of Rs 900 crore,” avers Ahuja. Taking farming equipment on rent is a major money saver for farmers. The company has 6,300 users in Punjab , Haryana, Rajasthan

and Uttar Pradesh. More importantly, Zamindara Farmsolutions has helped 500 farmers out of the debt trap. With eight centres in the... (Financial Express 3/9/09) Seven farmers commit suicide in Vidarbha: Samiti (2 0) Nagpur, September 05, 2009: Seven farmers have committed suicide during last two days in various parts of Vidarbha region, an NGO has claimed, on Saturday. Deceased have been identified as Namdeo Kohdade. Waghada (Yavatmal), Ramesh Sontakke, Chikhali (Yavatmal), Kavishwar Deotale, Tirzada (Yavatmal), Narayan Nibharkar, Asegaon (Amravati), Ramesh Dudharmai, Marartola (Gondia), Ganpat Jadhav, Dalmbhi (Akola), Arun Dhande, Talegaon (Amravati). Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti, president Kishore Tiwari said in a release on Saturday that with these seven untimely deaths, the toll of farmers suicide in September has gone up to 10 and 618 during the year 2009.(Hindustan Times 3/9/09) Farmers’ suicide in Ekta’s next soap (20) Ekta Kapoor’s new television serial has a young girl’s story set against the backgrop of farmers’ suicides, which has been one of the Ekta Kapoor. Ekta, moving away from saas-bahu sagas, in her new show, Bairi Piya on Colors, has touched upon this sensitive issue. It’s a story of one such troubled farmer’s family. It is the story of a girl Amoli, who is forced to marry a rich, cruel, philandering landlord in order to save her family from certain doom as her farmer father finds himself in debt. The story traces Amoli’s journey through life against the backdrop of devastating farmer suicides. Says Ekta, “This show is based on the real India and the real problems it faces. The idea was to highlight the plights of the kisaan who after 60 years of the country’s independence still face many problems. The show is set around a poor farmer’s family that is financially deprived.” Although different from Balaji’s usual saas-bahu format, this show focuses on social issues, while also addressing certain other economic and financial issues faced by rural India. It’s just a change in the ambience of the story, but the struggles and issues of the protagonists remain similar, points out Ekta adding, “The concept touched my heart and it was a story that had to be told.” (Times of India 3/9/09) Depressed farmer attempts suicide (20) NALGONDA: Upset over the tragic death of Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy in the helicopter crash, V. Narsaiah, 55, of Keshavapuram village in Wadapalli mandal consumed pesticide and fell unconscious near the bus stop. The passersby shifted him to a hospital in Miryalaguda where his condition is stated to be stable. K. Venkatnarsaiah, 57, an ardent fan of Dr. Reddy, had a fatal fall from the first floor of an office building at the Hill Colony in Nagarjunasagar in the afternoon.(The Hindu 4/9/09) Rs 15 crore being realised as goonda tax in UP: Mul ayam (20) Lucknow, September 05, 2009: Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Saturday accused the Uttar Pradesh government of failing to ensure relief work in drought and flood-hit areas and alleged that people are being forced to pay “goonda tax (extortion money)”. “Crops have been damaged due to drought and floods rendering lakhs of people homeless and forcing farmers to commit suicide but the insensitive state government has done nothing to provide relief so far,” Yadav said during a meeting of party leaders. Alleging that crime was at its peak in the state, he said traders are being abducted, looted and killed while women are insecure. “Around Rs 15 crore is being realised as goonda tax in the state every day. Even Chief Minister Mayawati is taking 40 per cent commission,” he alleged. Yadav said that at a time when six members of a family committed suicide due to poverty in Allahabad and industries are closing due to power crisis, Chief Minister Mayawati is spending money only on erecting parks and memorials. He said that imposition of VAT has led to price hike and the government has failed to check hoarding and adulteration. SP state president and MP Akhilesh Yadav said the party will launch a five-day agitation starting from September 11 to protest the “anti-people policies and corruption in BSP regime”. (Hindustan Times 5/9/09) 11 more farmers commit suicide in Vidarbha (20) Nagpur, September 06, 2009: When a high-level team from the centre was visiting different districts and assessing the loss because of drought in the region, 11 more farmers from Vidarbha ended their lives since September 1. A central team has come here to make an on-the-spot study of drought-hit districts of Vidarbha region. According to reports reaching Nagpur on Sunday, among the victims, four were from Yavatmal, three from Amravati, two from Buldhana and one each from Gondia and Akola district. Nine

farmers killed themselves by swallowing pesticides while two ended their lives by hanging themselves, reports said. Kishore Tiwari of Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti claimed that most of the farmers had taken the drastic step because of crop failure. Paddy, Soyabean and cotton crops were badly affected because of paucity of rains in the region, he pointed out. An average two farmers now commit suicide every day in the region. As many as 48 farmers have committed suicide in Vidarbha last month while the figure was 784 last year. The farmers' pressure groups in Nagpur attributed rising costs of cultivation, low rate of remunerative price of agriculture produces, lack of credit availability for small and marginal farmers and repeated crop failures are the main reasons for such a pathetic state of farmers in the region. The former Shetkari Sanghatana president Vijay Jawandhia demanded that the government should declare a total moratorium on the farm loans in view of the situation of farmers in Vidarbha till the crisis ends. Tiwari insisted that the government should also provide food security for farmers of Vidarbha to prevent more deaths. (Hindustan Times 6/9/09) Indian farmers sell wives to survive (20) Debt-ridden farmers in north India had resorted in extremis to selling their wives and daughters to money-lenders in recent months as the country suffered one of the worst monsoons in years, said the National Commission for Women, a government body. At least three cases have been reported in the Bundelkhand region, Uttar Pradesh, of farmers selling female family members for Rs4,000-Rs12,000 (£50-£150), Girija Vyas, the commission’s chairperson, told the Financial Times. Sangeeta, a woman sold by her father to a money lender, said: “I was sold because my family had no other alternative.” Another victim said: “What are we supposed to eat? Although we have land, we cannot grow anything as it has not rained enough ... We have already taken massive loans.” In spite of a rise in rainfall in the past two weeks, India has had one of the worst monsoons in years, forcing the government to declare drought in 278 districts in 11 states. A good monsoon is vital to India: more than 70 per cent of the country’s 1.2bn-strong population lives in rural areas, and in about 60 per cent of cases farmers’ crop land is not irrigated and thus dependent on rainfall. The poor monsoon has also driven at least 25 people in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh to suicide in the past two months as farmers have struggled to pay their debts. Since 2001 almost 90,000 farmers have committed suicide in India as the result of indebtedness, according to a report prepared for the government. The sale of these women took place in the state governed by Kumari Mayawati, who has been criticised for squandering public funds to erect statues of herself and monuments to honour people at the bottom of Hinduism’s rigid caste ladder – once known as untouchables and now called dalits – instead of fighting poverty. Ms Mayawati, a dalit herself, who has been chief minister of Uttar Pradesh since 2007, has been asked earlier this year by India’s Supreme Court, to justify spending an estimated $425m (€293m, £257m) to build hundreds of statues in the state capital. The Bharatiya Janata party, the leading opposition, blamed Ms Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj party and the ruling Congress for not providing the necessary relief to farmers. “The centre has been talking of creating a separate authority for Bundelkhand while some factions want a state. Nobody is helping these farmers,” said the Bharatiya Janata party. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. You may share using our article tools. Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web. (Financial Times 8/9/09) Farmers end life (20) BIJAPUR: A farmer committed suicide after being unable to repay the loan amount taken for the development of the land at Inchageri village in Indi taluk on Tuesday. The name of the deceased was Kasappa Jokappa Bellennavar alias Harijan (37). He had taken a loan of Rs 40,000 from Jigajevanagi branch of Karnataka Vikas Grameen Bank and Rs 20,000 from Inchageri Society and Rs 90,000 from Indi PLD Bank, with an overall loan debt of Rs 1.50 lakh. His tomato crops did not meet his profit expectation and hence he was worried about how he could make the repayment to the banks and finally resorted to consuming pesticide and killing himself. The Horti police registered a case as per the complaint lodged by his wife Lalita Kasappa Bellennavar alias Harijan. (Times of India 10/9/09) Madhya Pradesh farmers rally to demand ban on GM cr op trials (20) Thousands of farmers from 20 districts of Madhya Pradesh held a peaceful demonstration here Thursday to protest against the GM Corn field trial and demanded that the state government declare the state as a GM-free state. 'Companies like Monsanto are notorious for their anti-farmer activities and if GM seeds like Monsanto's GM Corn are allowed, farmers' rights over their seeds and their agriculture would be seriously

jeopardized,' said Jayant Verma of Hamara Beej Abhiyan - an NGO working for the welfare of farmers in the state. 'The state government should, as a real solution to the current agrarian distress in the state, shift farmers towards low-cost, toxic-free ecological farming practices,' he said. The GM Corn trial underway in Jabalpur consists of Monsanto's proprietary technologies centred around herbicide tolerance and insect-resistance and has been sown with the permission of the central government. The protesters burnt the effigy of Monsanto and presented a memorandum in the name of the chief minister to the district authorities. A traditional tribal ritual for banishing evil forces, in this case symbolising Monsanto and GM Corn, was also enacted by the activists. A funeral procession of GM Corn was taken in a rally through the city. 'Since both agriculture and health are state subjects as per the Indian constitution, the state government should therefore immediately intervene and exercise its policy of making Madhya Pradesh into an organic state,' demanded Nilesh Desai of Beej Swaraj Abhiyan. 'It is apparent that the state level apparatus laid down under the Environment Protection Act's 1989 rules is missing in Madhya Pradesh,' he alleged. Brij Kishore Chaurasia of Adivasi Sushasan Sangh, another NGO, said, 'It is ridiculous to pump in crores of rupees for supporting rural employment in the form of NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) and then take away existing employment potential in agriculture, especially for women and poor agricultural workers, by bringing in technologies like herbicide tolerance.' Ishwar Tripathi of Bharatiya Kisan Union opined that GM crops do not increase yields as claimed by the industry and pro-GM scientists and it is apparent in the case of Bt Cotton in Madhya Pradesh. This technology, which is irreversible and uncontrollable, will be a bigger trap for farmers than the earlier corporate-driven agricultural technologies. The state government, for the sake of farmers and agricultural workers, should immediately destroy this trial plot and not allow any more trials in the state like Kerala, Tripathi demanded. 'In this kind of neo-colonialism, agriculture and seeds have become the medium to enslave Indian farmers and we should resist this at all costs,' he lamented. Sachin Jain from the Right To Food Campaign explained that GM foods are known to cause many adverse health effects and with such unsafe foods, a precautionary approach is the only way forward. He demanded that GM foods should be prohibited through the proposed Right to Food/National Food Security Act. More than 40 networks, groups and organisations that joined this huge protest included: Coalition for a GM-Free MP, Beej Swaraj Abhiyan, Hamara Beej Abhiyan, Lok Jagriti Manch, Bhartiya Kissan Union, Dalit evam Adivasi Mahapanchayat and Right to Food Campaign.(India E-News 1/10/09) Concern over suicides by tenant farmers (20) ELURU: The convention of Rytu Mitra Groups held here on Friday under the banner of the Rytu Mitra Group Samakhya has expressed serious concern over the spate of suicides by tenant farmers in the district allegedly due to non-availability of financial assistance from banks. Samakhya district coordinator K. Srinivas, who chaired the meeting, said as many as six tenant farmers reportedly committed suicide, each in Eluru, Pedapadu, Denduluru, Poduru, Pedavegi and Koyyalagudem mandals, in the last two months. All the six farmers were constrained to take loans from private money lenders for interest rates ranging beyond five per cent for agricultural operations and resorted to suicide following pressures from lenders for repayment. He said the tenant farmers were vexed with the alleged non-cooperation from bankers in financing the RMGs formed with tenant farmers. The bankers made the tenant farmers run from the pillar to the post for loans and lose hope at the end of the day, which forced them to depend on private lenders, Mr. Srinivas alleged. Contradicting official claims of arranging bank finance for over 48,000 tenant farmers, he said the figures were far from reality. Of the total 1.75 lakh tenant farmers, hardly 25,000 of them got institutional finance. Even as the district administration claimed to have formed 22,000 Rytu Mitra Groups in the district, as many as 14,000 became defunct since the former failed to keep its word with regard to arranging financial support from banks, he said. N. Venkateswarlu, Joint Director, Agriculture, stated that the administration had provided a financial assistance of Rs 97 crore to 4,748 tenant farmers in the current khariff in collaboration with bankers. B. Balaram, president of the samakhya State committee, spoke. (The Hindu 3/10/09) Expert quits Organic Farming Mission (20) BANGALORE: The much-hyped Karnataka State Organic Farming Mission of the State Government has received a jolt with its prominent member and the State’s leading face in organic farming L. Narayana Reddy tendering his resignation expressing “pain” over the manner in which the mission was being run. “The mission has not helped even a single farmer ever since it was formed about a year ago. None of the benefits have reached farmers. What is the point in continuing in this post?” said Mr. Reddy, who leads a

Gandhian way of life and has mentored a large number of farmers in organic farming in the State. The 23-member mission, headed by A.S. Anand, was set up in August 2008 to promote organic farming on a mission-mode approach. The mission, which has 14 organic farmers and nine officials and vice-chancellors, has a host of objectives, including formulating programme and operational guidelines for promotion of organic farming. The mission has set up district-level committees of organic farmers to implement its objectives. Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Reddy alleged that not many people on these committees were farmers. “Some of them are contractors. What is more painful is that a large number of them are just political followers of the rural party who have nothing to do with farming.” Mr. Reddy, who travels extensively in the State to meet farmers and whose model farm in Doddaballapur is visited by a large number of farmers and students, said: “I meet nearly 1,000 farmers, a majority of them organic farmers, in a month during my extensive travels to villages. But I could see that none of the farmers had received any benefits from this mission though it has been working for more than a year.” Mr. Reddy, who has been honoured by the Hampi Kannada University with the Nadoja Award, for his contribution to the agricultural field. Mr. Reddy, who trains students of foreign agricultural universities at his farm, said he was ignored by the mission which never actively involved him in its work. “I was not informed about its formal launching ceremony in January,” he said (The Hindu 4/10/09) Vidarbha farm widow to take on the mighty (20) Wani/Bothbodan (Yavatmal), October 06, 2009: When Bebitai Bais Patil (45) addressed her first political rally at Wani, 140 km southwest of Nagpur, on Friday, she fumbled with the words. But her audience — farm widows and debt-ridden farmers — understood what she wanted to convey. A frail Bebitai was draped in a white sari with a faded green floral print — perhaps the only one she has because she has not bought a new one since her husband, Chattarsingh, committed suicide two years ago. She sat nervously clutching some pamphlets as other speakers appealed to voters to support her. When she was called to speak, she finished in 30 seconds. “You know our plight,” she said as the modest gathering applauded. “Farming has failed over the years and the government is doing nothing for us. I want to raise the suicide issue.” But she did not appeal for votes. Bebitai is pitted against mighty candidates of the Congress and Shiv Sena in Wani. She replaced the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti’s original candidate Kalawati Bandurkar who pulled out allegedly because sponsors who had committed to help her family after Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi visited her, threatened to withdraw. An ailing Kalawati could not be contacted for a comment. A Rajput, Bebitai said she was determined to take on her mighty opponents. “I know why Kalawati did not contest,” she told Hindustan Times. “I will not buckle under pressure because the janata is with me.” There are over 7,000 farm widows like Bebitai in Vidarbha alone. The widows and at least 35,000 orphans are in distress despite government relief packages. Bebitai visited Bothbodan village where she met farm widows. “We don’t have the money to aid Bebitai’s campaign but we’re fit to go campaigning with her,” said Sharad Thakare (22), a taxi driver from Wani. Shetkari Sanghatana’s Sharad Joshi, a Rajya Sabha member, flew in from New Delhi to kick off Bebitai’s campaign. “Bebitai’s poll symbol is a burning candle,” said Joshi, who led agitations for farmers two decades ago. “And we have to keep that flame burning so that there will always be light.” (Hindustan Times 6/10/09) Compensation sought for crop loss (20) Davangere: Farmers of Harpanahalli taluk whose crops have been destroyed in the recent rainfall and floods, have demanded a compensation of Rs. 10,000 an acre of land on which maize crop was grown and Rs.15,000 for each acre of land where cotton, sunflower and onion were grown. Somlibai, Venkatesha Naika, Ganga Naika and many other farmers of Harpanahalli told presspersons here on Monday that they crops cultivated on over 30,000 hectares of land were damaged in the rain. They said that they had taken loans to buy seeds, fertilizers and insecticides with a hope of getting good returns. But after the rainfall, they cannot imagine what the future holds for them. They urged the Government to come to the rescue of the farmers with liberal financial help so that the farmers could settle their debts. Otherwise, they said it would not be a surprise if more number of farmers committed suicide. A few farmers were in tears during the press conference in which they displayed samples of their destroyed crops. Hosalli Mallesh, leader of the All India Kissan Sabha said that the Chief Minister B.S.Yeddurappa had donated Rs.137 crore to maths and now he had gone to the Centre with a begging bowl for funds for flood relief. Let the Chief Minister come to the rescue of the farmers otherwise many more farmers are sure to commit suicide for which he would be responsible, he said. (The Hindu 6/10/09)

Farmers' widows hold silent protest at Rahul rally (20) More than 200 farmers' widows staged a silent protest near the venue of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's first election rally in Yavatmal in eastern Maharashtra Friday. The widows, sporting white bands on their mouths, were kept away from the stage. Later, the security personnel and some Congress leaders allowed a two-member delegation to meet Gandhi, said Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS) president Kishor Tiwari. Bebitai Bais, the VJAS candidate from Wani, and Shantabai Waghmare met Gandhi near the helipad where he landed and briefed him about the plight of the 7,000-plus widows and some 30,000 orphans of farmers. The two submitted a memorandum to Gandhi demanding pension for all the widows, ownership rights to the land owned by their husbands, foodgrain for the widows and their families, free higher education to the children and financial assistance for the marriages of the daughters. Gandhi accepted the memorandum before addressing the rally, Tiwari said. The Vidarbha region where farmers have committed suicide in large numbers includes Yavatmal, Nagpur, Akola, Gondia, Gadchiroli, Wardha, Amravati, Buldana, Washim, Bhandara and Chandrapur districts. The Wani seat, where Bais is contesting, is in Yavatmal which has seen the maximum number of suicides by farmers in the past five years. (India E-News 9/10/09) Debt-ridden farmer commits suicide (20) HUBLI: A farmer suicide case in times of floods has been reported from Yerebudihala village in Kundgol taluk near here. Neelappa Myageri (50), a farmer having a land holding of 3 acres and 25 guntas, has ended his life. He "allegedly" consumed pesticides only to be seen sleeping dead on Sunday morning. He is survived by wife, two sons and two daughters. It is said that Neelappa had suffered losses as the heavy rain had destroyed his chilli, cotton and soyabean crops. Following which he was worried about repaying the loans. He had borrowed Rs 50,000 from Karnataka Vikas Grammen Bank apart from some tens of thousands from private moneylenders. (Times of India 12/10/09) Farmer's widow left with tears and tobacco (20) NDTV Correspondent, Monday October 12, 2009, Muddguppe village, Mysore district: While more cases of farmer suicides are being reported across the country, Karnataka seems relatively better equipped this time to handle the agrarian crisis. Even one distress death in a district like Mysore indicates that something is wrong somewhere for the farmer. Shobha is just 28 years old, but she has two teenage children, a 10x12 hut, and a debt of Rs one lakh hanging over her young head, all left to her by her late husband, a farmer who drowned himself in the village pond four months ago. Mahadev Shetty was all of 35; he had a loving wife and two young children. To understand why a young able farmer in a fertile district like this, should think of taking his life, is to understand the essence of farmer suicides in this part of the country. "He was a very nice boy. In today's age, no one does so much for siblings. But he got his five sisters married and got his brother married as well, purchased a piece of land and built this house. Because of the loan trouble, he killed himself," said M L Raje Gowda, head, Muddgoppe, Gram Panchayat. It was his reasons for taking the loan that reflect the plight of thousands of farmers like him. Erratic electricity - supplied for only two hours a day in Karnataka - made Mahadev depend only on rains that came too late. Tobacco being a weather-sensitive crop failed, and so the money he got could hardly repay his loans. It was that money that weighed on his mind. "The night before he woke me up and gave me Rs 5,000 from that trunk. I went out crying. He then said, 'Shobhee, why are you crying?' He had never given me any money, then he did. That's why I had tears in my eyes," said Shobha. Tears and tobacco will stay with Shobha longer than her husband Mahadev did. (NDTV 12/10/09) Cong demands NHRC probe into farmers' suicide (20) Bhubaneswar: Alleging suicide by farmers in Orissa due to crop loss caused by inadequate rain and pest attacks, Congress today demanded a probe by National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and financial assistance to the families of the dead peasants. "We demand an enquiry through NHRC into alleged suicide by at least two farmers in Orissa's western parts,"Leader of Opposition in the state assembly Bhupinder Singh told newsmen here. Accusing the BJD government in the state of being 'callous' towards farmers, he said Congress had submitted a memorandum to Governor MC Bhandare on the farmers' plight and sought his intervention into the matter. He also asked the Naveen Patnaik government to set up a Kisan Commission to enquire into distress sale of paddy in the state after harvest of Kharif and Rabi crops besides incidents of farmers' suicide. All farmers should also be covered under Agriculture

Insurance Scheme, he demanded. Lambasting the state government, Congress MP Amarnath Pradhan accused it of meting out stepmotherly treatment to western Orissa, and said the people there would be forced to demand separate statehood if they were neglected constantly. The party in its memorandum to the governor sought amendments in the relief code to give adequate financial assistance to the next of kin of the farmers who have committed suicide.(DNA 12/10/09) Social security scheme termed a huge success (20) TIRUCHI: The social security and welfare scheme being implemented in the State for the agricultural workers and small and marginal farmers in the last three years became a great success and a boon to the agricultural workers and farmers, said K. P. Ramalingam, chairman of Tamil Nadu Agricultural Workers Welfare Board, here on Wednesday. Distributing various types of welfare assistance to the tune of Rs.65.12 lakh to 487 beneficiaries of agricultural workers and small farmers under the social security welfare scheme, Dr. Ramalingam said that till end of last month about 1.73 crore members were registered as members with the Tamil Nadu Agricultural Workers Welfare Board from the 76 lakh family card holders. Dr. Ramalingam pointed out that a total welfare assistance to the extent of Rs.348 crore had so far been distributed to 4.48 lakh beneficiaries in the last three years in the State of which about Rs.133 crore was disbursed to 1.08 lakh families at Rs.12,500 per family as compensation for natural death of the head of the family and for performing funeral rites. The chairman said that under the scheme, the agricultural workers and small farmers would get marriage assistance for the members and their children, old age pension, education grant, maternity assistance and a compensation of Rs.1 lakh if the breadwinner of the family died in accident. Besides, the members were also being covered under the Chief Minister Kalaignar’s Health Insurance Scheme for Life Saving Treatment. Dr. Ramalingam said that Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi was taking special interest in the welfare of the farmers and agricultural workers and according priority for implementing several welfare schemes. He said that as many as 4,644 families were given a total compensation of Rs.45.33 crore for the death of the head of the family in accidents since the implementation of the scheme. The Government has also decided to give free dhotis and saris also to the persons getting old age pension under the scheme, he said. Collector T. Soundiah who presided over the function, said that steps were taken to enrol more agricultural workers and farmers as members under the social security scheme and pointed out that as many as 7.25 lakh members had so far been registered under the scheme. He said that welfare assistance of more than Rs.10 crore had so far been disbursed to 11,369 beneficiaries in Tiruchi district. The Collector pointed out that the scheme was being implemented effectively in the district and appealed to the farm labourers, small and marginal farmers to register their names under the scheme to get various benefits from the Government. MLAs K. N. Sekaran, Soundapandian and Anbil Periasamy, District Revenue Officer V. Dakshinamurthy and others spoke. Earlier, Dr. Ramalingam who reviewed the progress and implementation of the agricultural workers and farmers social security scheme with the Collector and other officials, appreciated the district administration for achieving good progress. (The Hindu 15/10/09) Farmer commits suicide in Nabarangpur district? (20 ) BERHAMPUR: Another farmer reportedly committed suicide in Orissa. This time the report of suicide came from south Orissa district of Nabarangpur. The farmer, who had committed suicide, was Sunil Sutar (45) of Murtuma village near Umerkote. Sunil allegedly consumed pesticide to kill himself. As per the allegations made by his wife Hasiram Sutar and his brother Nirmal Sutar, his worries related to loan burden and possibility of crop loss drove him to take the extreme step. It may be noted that recently there has been a spurt of farmers’ suicides in the State. It is allegedly fifth such incident in last three weeks. But for the first time a suicide has been reported from south Orissa. All other suicides had occurred in western and coastal Orissa. Speaking to The Hindu, Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC), southern division, Satyabrata Sahu said he had directed the Nabarangpur district Collector to initiate a detailed investigation into the reasons behind the suicide. Meanwhile, tehsildar of Umerkote Niranjan Behera reached the village to make preliminary investigation. A police team from Umerkote police station sent the victim’s body for post mortem. Mr Behera has submitted a report regarding his investigation to the district administration. Mr Behera in his report has denied the possibility of crop loss being the reason behind the suicide. Murtuma happens to be a village established for Bangladeshi refugees under the Dandakaranya project. The deceased and his two brothers used to cultivate around four and half cares. But Sunil had a debt of over Rs. 40,000 . Last year he had got his daughter married, which had increased his financial burden. Earlier, he had availed a loan worth Rs. 15,000 from State Bank of India. In 2009, when banks

refused him loan as he had not repaid his past loan, he took two loans worth Rs. 10,000 each from a private financer and local Self-Help Group (SHG). Apart from it he had also taken loans of around Rs. 5000 from local money lenders. This was a too great financial burden for the poor peasant. As per the Mr Behera Sunil’s two brothers had good crop. Sunil had cultivated paddy on one acre and cabbage on half acre of land allotted to him by his brothers. The officials suspect some family tussle may have become stumbling block for the agricultural prospects of Sunil. He was also alleged to be having habit of drinking alcohol which had increased his financial burdens. Only detailed investigation would reveal the reason behind the suicide. However, the suicide would boil the politics related to farmers’ suicide in the state. Farmers’ agitation has started to spread in western Orissa over the issue. Orissa unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has demanded resignation of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Agriculture Minister Damodar Raut for their alleged failure to alleviate problems of farmers hit by pest attack and crop failure. (The Hindu 22/10/09) ‘No Bt Brinjal, please’ (20) BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh has joined Kerala, Orissa and Chhattisgarh in saying “no” to Bt Brinjal. Agriculture Minister Ramakrishna Kusmariya has assured civil society organisations that Bt Brinjal will not be allowed in the State as it is “the latest version of East India Company-type colonisation of the country” that will destroy Indian farming. The State Govt’s stand has been welcomed by GM-free Madhya Pradesh, a consortium of civil society organisations opposing the Centre’s move to introduce Bt Brinjal and other genetically mod foods into India. “This stand honours the commitment made by the State Govt,” said Nilesh Desai of Beej Swaraj Abhiyan. (The Hindu 28/10/09) Cash relief after farmer suicides (20) Bhubaneswar, Oct. 28: Faced with peasant agitation following farmer suicides, chief minister Naveen Patnaik today announced a slew of short-term and long-term measures to deal with the situation arising out of erratic rainfall and pest attack. At least seven farmers — most of them small and marginal — committed suicide for reported crop failure and debt in recent weeks. Presiding over a high-level meeting to discuss follow-up measures on the basis of agriculture production commissioner R.N. Senapati’s report, Naveen today announced to pay compensation to the pest-affected farmers at the rate of Rs 2,000 per hectare for un-irrigated land and Rs 4,000 per hectare for irrigated land. Senapati visited affected areas in Sambalpur and Jharsuguda districts recently on Naveen’s direction. As per an official estimate, kharif crop in 88,979 hectares in 12 districts has been affected by pest attack. It was also decided to construct 1 lakh farm ponds every year in the land of small and marginal farmers, particularly in rain-fed areas, to ensure irrigation to agricultural land during dry period. This year, kharif crops in several hilly districts were badly hit by erratic rainfall. The chief minister asked the officials to take up farm fund construction on war footing and achieve the target for construction of 5 lakh farm ponds within next five years. If necessary, community tanks would be constructed on government lands in rural areas, he said. Naveen also instructed officials of water resources department to take up renovation of minor irrigation projects in large scale this year with an estimated cost of Rs 300 crore. He also stressed on energisation of defunct lift irrigation points on war footing. A secretary-level committee was formed to monitor and co-ordinate farm-related programmes. (Telegraph 29/10/09) Compensation of Rs. 10,000 per acre sought (20) VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh Rythu Sangham has demanded a compensation of Rs. 10,000 an acre for the farmers who have suffered losses either due to drought or floods.The farmers organisation passed resolutions in favour of compensation, institutionalisation of farmers’ private loans, remunerative prices for farm produce, monthly pension, health insurance and old-age pension for farmers, compensation to tenant farmers and a few other related subjects at the end of the three-day State conference here on Wednesday. The resolution on crop compensation questioned the Government announcing an input subsidy of just Rs. 341.44 crores, when the value of crop lost was Rs. 1,250 crores. Each farmer had spent between Rs. 5,000 and Rs. 10,000 an acre and the compensation of Rs. 1,800 announced by the Government would of little use. Waiver of crop loans and disbursement of fresh loans should be announced along with a compensation of Rs. 10,000 an acre, the resolution said. In another resolution, the Rythu Sangham demanded that an ordinance be promulgated to provide institutional credit to farmers for repayment of private (or non-institutional) loans. Though farmers were getting loans from banks and cooperative societies, in reality no money was being actually given to them. The loans being

disbursed were just book adjustments. Farmers were, therefore, forced to depend on private lenders for their seasonal requirements. Banks should extend credit for the repayment of these non-institutional loans, the resolution said. The Rythu Sangham demanded Rs. 2,000 as monthly pension, health insurance and old-age pensions for farmers. (The Hindu 29/10/09) Debt drives two farmers to suicide (20) BIDAR: Two debt-ridden farmers committed suicide in Bidar and Gulbarga districts on Saturday. Vijaykumar Digamber Pawar (55) of Dhupatmahagoan in Aurad taluk of Bidar district allegedly committed suicide by consuming poison at his fields on Saturday evening. The police said he was under pressure to repay loans which he had borrowed from various sources. Ramu Bodda (39) committed suicide by consuming pesticide at Shadipur in Chincholi taluk in Gulbarga district on Saturday night. He had availed himself of a loans to the tune of Rs 3 lakh. The farmer had cultivated red gram but crop had failed forcing him to take the extreme step. — Staff Correspondent (The Hindu 2/11/09) Organic farmers to mobilise public opinion against Bt brinjal (20) MYSORE: Organic farmers in the region have planned to mobilise public opinion against the move to introduce Bt brinjal in the market. They have called for greater public involvement in critical issues related to food and agriculture. Vivek Cariappa, member, State Organic Farming Mission, said here on Monday that the issue did not pertain to brinjal alone but a whole gamut of vegetables and agricultural produce. He said that there was a threat to genetic diversity that could impair seed sovereignty of farmers which, in turn, would impact food security. Like-minded farmers and environmentalists plan to inform the public about genetically modified crops and the risks associated with it in a phased manner. They plan to distribute handbills and pamphlets in the district. Mr. Cariappa and Julie Cariappa, who are organic farmers in H.D. Kote with more than 20 years of field experience, said that transgenic plants were notoriously unstable and known to behave in unpredictable ways when placed in natural environments. “The chance of Ayurvedic plants getting contaminated by Bt brinjal cannot be ruled out. Society should not allow destruction of effective medical and nutraceutical system of Ayurveda because of the whim of a scientific community that cannot tolerate a few worms in brinjal,” they said. Mr. Cariappa said that the States needed to make public the work being done on GM crops in their agricultural universities using public funds. He called for a full report regarding the status of GM research and crops. He said, “Our natural heritage is being jeopardised by unbridled profiteering and a compromised scientific community. We cannot risk losing our internationally acclaimed health systems such as Ayurveda, Unani, Siddhi and Homeopathy or Nati medicine to transgenetic contamination.” Mr. Cariappa said that 85 per cent of the fields in which Bt cotton was introduced had failed or the yield was not significantly different but associated expenditure had multiplied. Similarly, instances of farmer suicides were high in areas where Bt cotton had been taken up on a large scale. Pointing out that the Indian agricultural system had evolved over thousands of years, Mr. Cariappa said that the American and European methods of agriculture involved high costs and high risk apart from being ecologically unsound and energy-intensive. He added that it was not suitable for India. The Cariappas said that they had tried to alert the State Government on the risks of GM food but the Organic Farming Mission had not taken the issue seriously. “The mission group has to be pro-active on this issue as GM technology will ring the death knell of organic farming and rural sustainability.” He said agriculture was a State subject and State governments had an obligation to take a stand and formulate policies regarding GM food based on public opinion and the genetic security of the State. The Union Government should not enter into agreements with other countries on agricultural issues without the consent and consultation of the States, he added…….. (The Hindu 3/11/09) Spate of farmers’ suicides reflection of agrarian c risis (20) MYSORE: Even as the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Government in the State is embroiled in a ‘power struggle’ within its own ranks, suicides among farmers continue unabated in the State. The reasons are largely owing to crop failure, debt, drought, flood and socio-economic insecurity. The recent drought and floods have only pushed farmers to the brink. As many as seven farmers have committed suicide in the last ten days. Kariyappa (60) of Urulukatte village of Jagalur taluk in Davangere district; Hanumanthappa Mallappa Kadalli (60) of Hulugur village in Shiggaon taluk of Haveri district; Vishwanath (57) of Santekolalu village in Chikmagalur taluk; Udhav Madhav (45) of Kamblewadi village in Basavakalyan taluk of Bidar district; Sripadayya Channaveeraiah Koti (38) of Varavi village in Shirahatti taluk of Gadag district; Mallikarjuna (28) of Bisalahalli village of Bellary taluk; and Thimma Pujari of Guddekeri village in

Thirthahalli taluk of Shimoga district, allegedly committed suicide under pressure to repay loans from banks for agricultural activities, and for failure of crops. According to sources in the Department of Agriculture, 88 farmers committed suicide during the year till October 15. As many as 337 farmers committed suicide during 2008-09. While Bidar and Hassan districts recorded the highest number of suicides with 13 cases each, Shimoga and Belgaum districts stood second by registering 11 cases each. Eight farmers committed suicide each in Tumkur and Davangere districts. Various works have been taken up to contain suicide among farmers in Belgaum, Chitradurga, Hassan, Shimoga, Chikmagalur and Kodagu districts, which have been included in the Centre’s 72,000-crore-farm loan waiver and debt relief package. According to the leader of Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) K.S. Puttanniah, a skewed agricultural economy with high cost of agriculture production and non-remunerative prices are the causes for farm distress. Farmers find it difficult to get loans and most of them approach moneylenders who charges exorbitant rates of interest. “In some cases they pay 120 per cent interest a year. Ensuring hassle-free farm loans from commercial banks may contain the phenomenon,” he said. Reluctance of the State Government to utilise funds provided by the Centre is also one of the reasons, he said. (The Hindu 4/11/09) ‘Loan burden, crop loss cause of farmer suicides’ ( 20) Umerkote: Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly Bhupinder Singh on Wednesday visited Murtuma village under Umerkote Tehsil to convey his condolences to the family of the deceased farmer Sunil Sutar, who allegedly committed suicide following loan burden and crop loss in October. He offered Rs 5,000 to the family of the deceased, assuring them of mitigating their hardship. Later, speaking to the media, Singh asserted that the farmer’s suicide was due to loan burden and crop loss, while the district administration was intentionally trying to suppress the issue by painting a different picture to exonerate them. He demanded that the Government conduct an inquiry by the Kissan Commission or by Human Rights Commission. He said the Bhaskal irrigation project constructed years back to irrigate 400 hectare of land is now in a sloppy condition and has failed to meet the requirement of the farmers. He called for an exemption of water tax and compensation to farmers who have lost crops due to inadequate water. Among others present were former Minister Parama Pujari, former MLA Sadan Nayak, Umerkote Block chairman Uldhar Majhi, Gopal Pujari, Muna Tripathy, Sankar Dey and Muna Padhy were present. (Pioneer 5/11/09) Orissa Government comes under fire on farmers’ suic ide (20) BERHAMPUR: A farmers’ meet was organised at Sanakhemundi in Ganjam district on Sunday to protest against the government for not accepting crop loss and debt burden as the reason for suicide of farmers in Sanakhemundi block. The farmers’ meet was organised by the tribal organisation Lok Sangram Manch (LSM). Social activist Praful Samantra and spokesperson of CPI-ML (New Democracy) Bhala Chandra Sarangi, Zilla Parishad member Pratap Nayak were among the activists who attended the meeting. The farmers were critical of the recently-declared norms for sanction of loans to the sharecroppers in the State. As per the norms, the land owners should stand guarantee for the loans of sharecroppers. According to farmers, no land owner would agree to it. They wanted the State government to stand guarantee for loans to the sharecroppers. The farmers decided to stage a dharna in front of the Sanakhemundi block office at Patapur from Tuesday. It may be noted that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is expected to visit his home district Ganjam on that day. Similar farmers’ agitation would be taken up in all the blocks of Ganjam district from Thursday if the State government did not heed to the demands of farmers, said LSM leader Umakant Patnaik. The farmers’ who attended the meeting demanded that the State government caution the officials to refrain from the attempts to hush up the suicide of farmers in the district of the Chief Minister through false claims and data. “The government and administration should accept that these suicides were related to loss of crop and debt trap,” Mr. Nayak said. They also demanded fair survey of crop loss and payment of compensation to the farmers who had committed suicide. It may be noted that Banchhanidhi Pradhan of Srichandanpur and Kailash Panda of Gangapur under Sanakhemundi block of Ganjam district recently committed suicide. It was alleged that these sharecroppers were allegedly disturbed by the crop loss due to low rainfall and pests. (The Hindu 9/11/09) Hundreds arrested for protesting against Orissa gov ernment (20)

More than 250 workers and leaders of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were arrested for breaking a police cordon Wednesday during a protest here against the state government's failure to control farmer suicides and illegal mining, an official said. Shouting slogans against the Biju Janata Dal government led by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, the protesters came in a procession from their party office with placards and banners bearing slogans which read 'Naveen Patnaik down down'. 'We have arrested more than 250 people after they broke a police cordon,' Deputy Commissioner of Police Himanshu Kumar Lal told IANS. The exact number of those arrested would be known later, he said. Prominent people taken into custody include BJP national vice president Jual Oram, state BJP president Suresh Pujari and several former ministers and legislators of the party, police said. 'The state government has failed in every areas,' BJP leader Jual Oram told IANS. He added that at least one thousand protesters were taken into custody by police and released a few hours later. 'At least 30 farmers have committed suicide due to crop loss and due to government neglect. Similarly the government is silent on the issue of illegal mining,' he said. Oram added that his party wants an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into illegal mining that was rampant in the state. He also alleged that the law and order situation in the state had deteriorated in the last few years. A spokesman of the ruling Biju Janata Dal denied the allegations and said no farmer in the state has died due to government neglect. He added that the government was taking all steps against illegal mining.(India E News 18/11/09) Seven Vidarbha cotton farmers end lives in 24 hrs ( 20) Nagpur, November 19, 2009 Seven farmers from Vidarbha region committed suicide in 24 hours till Wednesday evening. The seven farmers, including one woman, had availed of loans from banks or private moneylenders and they were unable to repay the same due to crop failure. While four of the victims ended their lives by consuming pesticide, the woman farmer set herself ablaze at her residence, late on Tuesday. Collector of Yavatmal district, Sanjay Deshmukh, confirmed reports of five farmer suicides in the district on Wednesday. “We have not been able to get details of the cause of the suicides,” said Deshmukh. “Family members of the deceased have been busy with the last rites.” Among the latest suicides, five were in Yavatmal — the region’s most suicide-prone district. One each was reported from Wardha and Gondia. The region’s farmer suicide toll due to the agrarian crisis has touched 42 so far this month while the figure for last month stood at 54, according to the Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti. The organisation has been documenting farmer suicides since 2001. This year, 154 cotton farmers have ended their lives in Yavatmal district while 142 were from Amravati. This year, Vidarbha’s cotton crop has turned out to be a killer for many a farmer. The failed monsoon has had a drastic impact on the cotton yield. (Hindustan Times 19/11/09) Orissa assembly adjourned over farmers committing s uicide (20) The Orissa assembly was repeatedly adjourned Thursday as the opposition Congress took up the issue of dozens of distressed farmers committing suicide allegedly due to their crops failing and government neglect. Trouble began as soon as question hour started with leader of opposition Bhupinder Singh demanding that the deaths of the farmers in various parts of the state be condoled in the house. Speaker Pradip Amat rejected the demand saying the house had no such practice, prompting Congress legislators to rush towards the speaker's podium shouting anti-government slogans. The speaker wanted the members to raise the matter only after question hour was over, but the opposition legislators were in no mood to oblige and did not allow the speaker to conduct normal business. The speaker initially adjourned the proceedings of the house for one hour, but had to do so repeatedly when the chaos in the house continued. The opposition Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party allege that at least 30 farmers have died in the past few months due to crop failure and the government's apathy towards their plight. On Wednesday, the opening day of the month-long winter session, the opposition members demanded that the house should include the names of the deceased farmers in the obituary references. This had been rejected by the speaker. (Sify News 19/11/09) Over 3,500 farmers committed suicide in Orissa in 1 1 years (20) Bhubaneswar: As many as 3,509 farmers have committed suicide in Orissa in the past 11 years, the state government said today. Replying to an adjournment motion on unabated suicide of farmers in the state, agriculture minister Damodar Rout said in the assembly that social factors were mostly the reasons for such extreme steps. All farmers did not commit suicide due to crop loss, he said. The highest number of 418 farmers committed suicide in 1998, Rout said, adding that suicide among farmers was less than that

of other sections of the society. "A total of 48,631 people committed suicide in the state from 1997 to 2008. The number of farmer suicide was 3,509 during the period," Rout said. Stating that 73% of the state's population earn their livelihood from cultivation, he said that most of the farmers committed suicide due to reasons like family disputes. "This is a grave situation. Therefore, all members including those in the opposition should suggest measures to the government for the socio-economic development of the community (farmers)," Rout said. (DNA 21/11/09) Cane agitation continues; one farmer dies (20) LUCKNOW: Farmers' protest against low cane purchase price continued in west UP on Saturday. While the section led by the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) refused to sell its cane below Rs 280 per quintal, those led by the Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan convener VM Singh agreed to supply cane but said they will protest in Lucknow on December 15 to demand adequate price. Meanwhile, situation became tense in Baghpat following reports that a debt-ridden farmer committed suicide after he did not get adequate price for his produce. The police, however, said the farmer had succumbed to accidental burns. Isbuddin (51), a resident of Asara village, Baghpat, was reportedly depressed for the past few days. In order to repay his loans, he wanted to sell his produce for a minimum of Rs 270 per quintal. The farmer leaders from Baghpat, however, said that Isbuddin first set afire his field and later jumped into it. Isbuddin's brother, who tried to rescue him, also suffered burn injuries. But, he could not save Isbuddin. Police, however, said Isbuddin suffered burn injuries while trying to douse fire in his field. The crop had caught fire accidentally, police said. (Times of India 22/11/09) 'Gabhricha Paus' looks at farmers' plight (20) PANAJI: "Are well-tarred roads and extensively lit skies a bonus taken away from someone else?" asks a refrain from Satish Manwar's debut film "Gabhricha Paus" (The Damned Rain). Set in Vidarbha, "Gabhricha Paus" is a haunting story of how farmers in drought-stricken areas of Maharashtra are increasingly resorting to suicide. It also highlights the injustices done to the farming community by way of a lack of modern farming equipment, electricity and high interest rates on agricultural loans. The movie, one of India's entries for the Golden Peacock award at the International Film Festival of India (Iffi), revolves around Kisna (played by debutant Girish Kulkarni) a farmer desperately trying to harvest his cotton crop. This, despite the fact that his land has been mortgaged and he is up to his neck in loans. Kisna's wife Alka (Sonali Kulkarni) is almost certain her husband plans on killing himself. She asks their 6-year-old son Dinu (Aman Attar) to keep a constant watch on him. Meanwhile, Kisna keeps toiling hard in his field, and in spite of having to re-sow, prays that the rains will be good. Never meaning to end his life, he decides to make sure that he yields a good harvest. Whether his efforts bear fruit or not, forms the climax of this gripping movie. Produced by Prashant Pethe "Gabhricha Paus" is also the first Indian film to win the Hubert Pal's fund distribution grant of the Rotterdam International Film Festival in the Netherlands. However, although it has gained international recognition and has received accolades at a host of film festivals, Pethe lamented that the movie hasn't reached to as many people in India as he would have wanted it to. "Unfortunately, in India, distributors make up their mind beforehand whether a film will do well or not. These preconceived notions have affected the distribution of the movie in our own country. In fact, it is easier to screen "Gabhricha Paus" in the USA than in India," he said on Monday. Incidentally, although the film has been released in Mumbai and Pune, it hasn't been screened in any other part of the country. "It's a pity that suave urbanites-like myself-have no clue about the trials and tribulations that our farmers have had to face over the years," said actor Girish Kulkarni. "However, this movie has been an eye-opener for me and has moved me, not only as an actor but also as a person," he added. Addressing the widespread notion that farmers suicide not only because of crop failure but due to a disintegration of human relationships and factors like the burden of marrying off their daughters, Manwar said, "I've researched the subject extensively and have found that the farmers of India have been grappling to keep up with a changing economy. All the other problems stem from their financial struggles, for when one is poor, relationships obviously start disintegrating and responsibilities loom like a nightmare." (Times of India 1/12/09) Debt pushing farmers out of agriculture in Punjab ( 20) CHANDIGARH: The debt burden on Punjab farmers has shot up by a staggering 500 per cent over the past ten years, pushing more marginal farmers out of agriculture. According to a new study by the Institute for Development and Communication (IDC), farm debt in the State rose to Rs.30394.12 crore in

2007-08 compared to Rs.5700.91 crore in 1997, when the first estimates were made following a spate of suicides by farmers, agriculture labour and members of their families. According to IDC’s Director of Punjab Development Studies, Prof. H. S. Shergill, the farm debt increased five times at current prices and doubled at constant prices of 1997. The study established an average debt of Rs.20,000 per owned acre. Of the 72 per cent heavily indebted farmers, 17 per cent were under more than Rs.80,000 per acre owned. They were in a “debt trap” what with 60 per cent of them being marginal and small farmers who could not pay even the annual interest on their loans from their current farm income. Meanwhile, the latest figures with the Government indicate that there has been a considerable reduction in the number of land holdings from 10.93 lakh in 1995-96 to 10.03 lakh in 2005-06, when the number of marginal farmers with less than one hectare holding went down from 2.03 lakh to 1.33 lakh. The latest study suggests that the per farm household debt had risen from Rs.52,000 to Rs.1.39 lakh, indicating that more farmers from the marginal sections may be pushed out of agriculture in the near future. The study points out that the minimum support price for the major crops, wheat and paddy, went up by 111 per cent and 80 per cent respectively. A steep rise in farm land prices notwithstanding, the amount of farm debt stood at four per cent of the total value of land under agriculture compared to three per cent in 1997. (The Hindu 4/12/09) Stop suicide by farmers, Government told (20) Gulbarga: The Karnataka Pranta Raitha Sangha (KPRS) has said the flawed economic policy of the Government was responsible for the crisis in the farm sector which has led to farmers’ suicides across the country. Sangha president and State secretariat member of the CPM Maruti Manpade was speaking after inaugurating the Sixth Karnataka Pranta Raitha Sangha conference of Gulbarga taluk here on Friday. He said that instead of adopting farmer-centric policies and amending the Land Reforms Act, the Union Government was initiating temporary measures such as waiving off of farm loan and granting of special packages to farmers. These measures, Mr. Manpade maintained, did not solve the problems of the farmers. Mr. Manpade said 1.84 lakh debt-ridden farmers in the country have committed suicide till date. Failure of crops and non-remunerative price given to farmers for their crops has forced them to take loans. “Karnataka has replaced Maharashtra as a numero one State as far as farmers’ suicides are concerned. Neither the State Government nor the Centre had done anything to reverse this trend,” he added. Mr. Manpade said if at all the Government was serious finding a solution to the problems of the farmers, it should immediately reverse the policy of liberalisation and adopt farmer-centric policies which would help to extricate the farmers from the debt trap. The Government should take effective measures to ensure that all the farmers got the farm loans from the nationalised banks and cooperative banks and no farmer should be made to depend on the loans from private money lenders in villages. The menace of private money lenders has been one of the major reasons for farmers’ suicides and the Government should, as a one-time measure, write off loans taken by farmers from money lenders. Besides, steps should be taken to stop private money lenders from exploiting farmers. Mr. Manpade said the Government should strengthen the Land Reforms Act and distribute land to landless agricultural labourers and ensure proper implementation of the crop insurance scheme. President of the Karnataka Pranta Koolikarara Sangha Nityanandaswamy said farmers and agricultural labourers should unitedly fight for their rights. President of the Gulbarga Taluk sangha Gouramma Patil presided over the meting. Senior leaders of the sangha Megharaj Khatare, Gopal Poojari and Nagendramma Guttedar were present. (The Hindu 5/12/09) Hope on the farm: Suicides show steep fall (20) New Delhi, December 09, 2009. This year, the barren fields of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have seen a glimmer of hope. After years of turmoil due to crop failure and mounting debt, farmer suicides have gone down considerably. Surprisingly, the recovery comes in a drought year. Experts attribute this to an aggressive farm credit policy. The last two years saw soft credit flow into stressed farmhands despite the global cash crunch, a loan waiver of Rs 60,000 crore - slightly more than what India spends for its military upgrade - and an almost 50 per cent hike in minimum support prices (MSP) of major commercial crops. All this helped ease the burden on farms, the experts said. MSP is the price set by the government for the grain it buys, which also serves as the base price for private traders. The suicides haven't stopped entirely but government data suggests a progressive drop between 2007 and 2009 (see box). In Maharashtra, for instance, the number of suicides went down from 627 to 259 in just a year. "Despite the recession, farm credit targets were met," said S. Mahendra Dev, who was a member of a committee set up by the Andhra Pradesh government to probe suicides by cotton farmers

between 2001 and 2003. Dev, who currently heads the Commission of Agricultural Costs and Prices that fixes MSPs, said that in the last two years, higher MSPs also played a key role. "Support prices increased by up to 50 per cent for all major cash crops," he said. In Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, the incomes of cotton growers increased by Rs 8,000 for every 10 quintals of yield per acre after MSP was hiked from Rs 1,700 in 2007 to Rs 2,500 in 2008 for small variety cotton and from Rs 1,900 to Rs 3,000 for the long staple variety. Then came the Agriculture Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme, in 2008. According to agriculture ministry figures, 3 crore small farmers and 68 lakh "other farmers" benefited from it. The government is disbursing funds to lending institutions in a phased manner, and has already released Rs 40,000 crore. "Now the government has set up a task force to look into the matter of farmers who'd taken loans from private lenders and are not covered by the waiver scheme," a ministry official, who didn't want to be named, said. According to government data, farm credit flow went up from Rs 86,981 crore in 2003-04 to Rs 2,87,149 crore in 2008-09. From the 2006-07 kharif (summer) season, farmers have received loans up to Rs 3 lakh at 7 per cent interest. An additional subsidy of 1 per cent is being paid from this year as incentive to those repaying short-term loans on time. Activists, however, greeted the government data with caution, saying the bulk of suicides are passed off as non-farm suicides. "There is pressure on the administration to downplay suicides because of political, compensation implications. Suicides are continuing in Adilabad in Andhra," Kavitha Kurugnathi of the Hyderabad-based Centre for Sustainable Agriculture said. She said district revenue officials are briefed to attribute a majority of suicides to non-agrarian causes. But Dev responded: "We think the thrust on farm credit has definitely helped bring suicides down." (Hindustan Times 9/12/09) Farmers plead before WIO for protection against gov t policies (20) BHUBANESWAR, 8 DEC: "Withdraw your support from polluting industries, invest in organic agriculture and remunerate us at par with the government and corporate employees. We will not commit suicide and you will not have to spend so much to discuss ‘food insecurity due to climate change.'" This telling message came from farmers and Water Initiatives Orissa (WIO), for the world leaders at Copenhagen. Water Initiatives Orissa is a network of civil society organizations working on water and climate change issues. As a build-up to the Fifteenth Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Fifth Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (COP 15 and COP/MOP 5), WIO met hundreds of farmers and interacted with the rural population to collect their "agenda" for the world leaders, who would be negotiating the future of this world at COP 15. Views of widows and orphans of farmers who have committed suicide this year, due to failure of agriculture owing to delayed and deficient rainfall, were taken into consideration while formulating the agenda. As expected, the people have set an "agenda" that would not only help Orissa fight food insecurity in a changing climate scenario but also teach the world some lessons on sustainable ways to adapt to climate change. WIO team received thousands of interesting and heart-rending suggestions, appeals and warnings from the farmers it met. "We are climate’s widows and orphans. It is failing us more regularly and intensely than ever before. The recent suicides by our husbands/fathers/fellow farmers are because of the delayed and insufficient rainfall which increased the heat in the area so much that insects like swarming caterpillars stayed for longer days and multiplied in thousands, damaging our standing crops overnight," cried out affected relatives of farmers and the farmers themselves. "Our government is offering us peanuts in terms of ex-gratia payments and subsidies in sprayer machines. Ask the government to understand the real problem which is 'climate change' caused by its faulty policies and do something that will last," said the orphaned. "We sacrificed land for the construction of the Hirakud dam, yet we do not get assured irrigation. Industries, however get water from these dam. The industries which are as such taking all our ground water, polluting our rivers and increasing the heat of the region are robbing us of our water," the farmers lamented. (Statesman 9/12/09) Food security: Can India learn from Brazil? (20) New Delhi: Brazil, in this context, stands closer in comparison with India. Unlike China, Brazil and India are multi-party democracies. The main difference is that India has a population pressure more than Brazil. India is characterized by a number of small and marginal farmers. Brazil has large farmers and also small farms. It has tried to manage its dual system of agriculture through two separate ministries – Ministry for Commercial Agriculture and Ministry for Family Farms. These two ministries have well defined policies. Some argue that small holdings are not productive and hence this is primarily the reason for farmers’ suicides in India. But this is not true. The needs of food security and exports are met by small and

marginal farmers. Small farms in China and Japan are also productive. The cause for suicides is the mismatch between the expenditure and income of Indian farmers. The government needs to take proactive measures to increase the income of farmers. In Brazil small family farms largely cater to the needs of domestic food security, while the commercial farms produces mostly for exports. According to the special advisor to the Brazilian President, Maya Takagi, the productivity of small family farms is increased through government support. Despite occupying 24% of the area, family farming is responsible for 38% of production and generate 74% employment. Since 2003, Brazil has launched its food security programme called ‘Zero Hunger Programme”. The budget for this programme in 2009 is $ 10.8 billion. The Brazilian government purchases food from small farmers and cooperatives against remunerative prices for meeting the needs of the Zero Hunger Programme. The Zero Hunger Programme is similar to the recently launched Food Security Mission in India. Like in India, the food purchased from farmers in Brazil are stocked and distributed to the poor under token system. Food is also served to children within the age group 0-14 years in government’s elementary schools – a case comparable with the mid-day meal scheme in India. Brazil also has programmes for addressing private nutrition, including special programme for mother and children. To meet the needs of food security, Brazil has a programme to supply foodgrains to cheap restaurants, community kitchens and food banks. In 2008 147,000 small family farms in Brazil benefitted by an investment of $ 284 million and in 2009 the funding has increased to $ 326 million. The incentives for small family farms in 2009-10 is slated to increase to... (Financial Express 18/12/09) 'Farmer suicides persist in Yavatmal district' (20) Faremers' suicides in the district were still continuing despite Rs 3,000-crore farm loans lent to farmers by banks during the last one decade, Yavatmal district Collector Sanjay Deshmukh said today. Hence the Government has to study the 'backdrop' and circumstances that are compelling farmers to commit suicides, he said. Nationalised banks and co-operative banks have disbursed a total of Rs 3,000-crore farm loans in the district during the last one decade. "We have lent Rs 740-crore farm loans in 2009-10 fiscal and during the preceding years of the decade, farm loans ranging from Rs 480-crore to Rs 900-crore each year were given to the farmers," he said. The basic reasons for farmer suicides should be studied closely, he added. Sanjay Deshmukh told PTI that 1,708 farmers have reportedly committed suicide in Yavatmal district alone between 2001 and 2009. Of them, 1,173 farmers have committed suicide owing to the debt liabilities while 83 farmers have committed suicide due to crop failure, he added. According to official sources, Rs 4-crore was due to banks from 1,173 farmers who committed suicide while 58 suicide committed farmers each had taken loans that range from Rs 5,000 or even less. The farmers who had loans below Rs Rs 10,000 were 147 while 460 farmers had taken loans between Rs 10,000 and Rs 25,000 each. The number of farmers who had loans between Rs 25,000 and 40,000 each were 253 while 255 farmers had loans above Rs 50,000 each. The ever growing cost of farming and the low market prices of agriculture produce are stated to be the main cause of the agrarian crisis and the Government should initiate effective measures to bridge this great gap, General Secretary of Peasants and Workers Party (PWP) Ashok Bhutada said. (Business Standard 18/12/09) Number of farmers' suicide declining in four states : Govt (20) NEW DELHI: The government on Friday said the number of farmers' suicide have dipped in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Kerala, after the states were provided financial assistance of Rs 16,978 crore. In order to address farmers' suicide in 31 districts spread over four states, the government had approved a rehabilitation package of Rs 16,978 crore in 2006. As on September 30, the government has released 99.8 per cent of the total package. "Since the implementation of rehabilitation package, the number of suicide by farmers are showing a declining trend in most of the states," Minister of state for agriculture K V Thomas said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha. The incidents of farmers' suicide have declined to 75 in Andhra Pradesh as on November 15, from 519 in 2006. In Maharashtra too, the suicide cases have fallen to 144 from 575 in the review period, he said, adding the data for Karnataka and Kerala were, however, not available. Thomas informed Parliament the reasons for farmers' suicide and also shared views of the Veeresh Committee in this context in Karnataka. As reported by the states, the reasons for committing suicide are crop failure, drought, indebtedness and socio- economic conditions. However, the Committee has concluded that connecting the spate of suicides directly to any single cause would be erroneous, he said. (Times of India 11/12/09)

Another debt-ridden farmer commits suicide (20) CHANDRAPUR: A debt-ridden farmer Namdeo Pise (72) committed suicide by jumping into farm well in Nagri village in Warora tehsil. His body was recovered from the well of an adjoining farm on Sunday morning. According to reports Pise had 10 acres of farmland. He was facing crop failure since last two years. This year he had cultivated soyabean in eight acres and cotton in two acres. He had taken a loan of Rs 60,000 from Bank of India. However, his soyabean crop failed due to pest attack. Distressed of mounting loan burden and repeated crop failure, Pise jumped into the well of adjacent farm three days back. But his body was recovered on Sunday morning. Warora police has registered an offence in this regard. (Times of India 20/12/09) ‘Crisis in agriculture sector will lead to food gra in shortage’ (20) PALAKKAD: All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) president and CPI(M) Polit Bureau member S. Ramachandran Pillai has said that the crisis in the agriculture sector will result in acute shortage of food grains in the country. Inaugurating a three-day State conference of the AIKS at the Town Hall here on Monday, he said the liberalisation and globalisation policies being pursued by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre had deepened the crisis in the agriculture sector. Due to the absence of remunerative prices for agriculture produces, more and more farmers were shunning the sector. “Since the availability of farm produces is decreasing, there will be shortage of food items that will result in huger and starvation,” he said. Mr. Pillai said another reason for the crisis in the agriculture sector was the failure of the Centre to implement a scientific water management policy. Last year, 300 districts were affected by drought and some other districts faced flood. These calamities also created environment problems and brought down the area of cultivation, he said. He said since agriculture was not a profitable vocation, the farmers were selling their land. This had resulted in the increase in the number of landless people in rural areas. Mr. Pillai said though the Kisan Sabha was not against scientific development in the agriculture sector, it was against introducing genetically modified (GM) vegetables like Bt. Brinjal which would be harmful to health. He said research and development in the sector should be controlled by government agencies and institutions under it so that its benefit reached the farmers. The meeting was presided over by Kisan Sabha State president M.K. Bhaskaran. Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan; Local Self-Government Minister Paloli Mohammed Kutty; CPI(M) central committee member E.P. Jayarajan; district secretary P. Unni; and Kisan Sabha State secretary C.T. Krishnan were among those who addressed the gathering. (The Hindu 22/12/09)

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