AGRICULTURE: FARMERS’ SUICIDE - 2008 (January to December, 2008)

Compiled By Human Rights Documentation∗

Indian Social Institute, Lodi Road, New Delhi – 110 003, (India)

Two of family commit suicide after officials auctio n their land (20) LUCKNOW: : Two members of a family committed suicide after revenue department officials wrongly auctioned eight bighas of their agricultural land for non-payment of a loan. Kamlesh Singh, son of Sharda Singh, and his cousin brother Suneel committed suicide in the first week of December in Kaimi Bhood village, Lakhimpur district. Sharda Singh had taken loan of Rs 43,000 in 2002 from a nationalised bank for starting a dairy business. He returned Rs 19,800 in March and Rs 10,000 in July 2007. Singh promised the bank he would pay the balance in six months. But on October 23, his land was auctioned without any notice. Reportedly, revenue department officials did not even visit the village, which is mandatory for the auction. The village head Rakesh Singh said no auction actually took place but the land was shown as auctioned to Jagdish Singh, a farmer. Witnesses, whose signatures are shown on auction papers, deny that they were present. (Indian Express 2/1/08)

Farmers’ issues: UNPA keen on Left support (20) NEW DELHI: Ahead of the launch of a series of protest meetings across the country on the government’s “apathetic” attitude towards the plight of farmers, the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) on Monday met the Left party leaders in the hope of enlisting their support. Though the UNPA leaders said their meetings with Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat and his CPI counterpart A.B. Bardhan were “routine courtesy calls,” alliance convener N. Chandrababu Naidu did admit that they were looking for the Left parties’ support in the effort to mobilise opinion against the government on issues relating to the agriculture sector. Briefing mediapersons, the UNPA convener said large meetings were being planned in Aurangabad, Mumbai, Jharkhand and Haryana before the next session of Parliament. Thereafter, the UNPA will hold a “massive dharna” in here during the pre-recess budget session of Parliament. The UNPA also criticised the government for imposing the President’s rule in Nagaland and said it was done with an eye on rigging the upcoming elections. “All Raj Bhavans are being turned into Gandhi Bhavans,” Mr. Naidu said. UNPA chairman Mulayam Singh and alliance spokesman Amar Singh focussed on Uttar Pradesh and how Chief Minister Mayawati was using the bogey of development to force farmers to hand over fertile land to contractors she favoured. The Samajwadi Party would oppose the Noida-Ballia Ganga Expressway Project tooth and nail since farmers were being pushed out. Prior to addressing the press conference, the UNPA leaders met the Chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs & Prices, T. Haque, and urged him to liberally fix the minimum support price for various crops in view of the precarious situation facing the farm sector. Though the entire UNPA leadership was present at the press conference, they fielded no political questions. As mediapersons sought to ask the former Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference leader, Farooq Abdullah, whether he had joined the UNPA, and draw a comment from the alliance on reports of some of its partners allegedly hobnobbing with the Bharatiya Janata Party, Mr. Amar Singh quickly declared the press conference closed. (The Hindu 8/1/08)

Vidarbha farmers still in the red (20) YAVATMAL (Maharashtra): As the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena set out to woo voters in suicide-hit Vidarbha, the farmers there continue to battle for survival even after the initial promise of the Prime Minister’s package. BJP president Rajnath Singh completed a whirlwind two-day yatra on Friday in Vidarbha while the Shiv Sena held a farmers’ rally at Shegaon on Saturday. In Bothbodan village, about 12 km from here, 18 farmers committed suicide in the last 18 months, according to Anup Chavan, former sarpanch. It had the highest number of suicides for

∗ This is a collection of previously published news and views from the print as well as the electronic media, whose reference marked at the end of each news items. Department of Documentation and Library (DDL) of the Indian Social Institute, New Delhi neither claims to the veracity of the facts in the news nor subscribes to the views expressed.

any village in the area, he added and 11 of them followed crop failure. There were 400 families, most of them belonging to the Banjara community. The entire village was in debt. “All of us are defaulters,” said Kashinath Rathod. The Prime Minister’s package benefited 11 persons in the village. Tukaram Rathod, who owned five acres, said: “I was among those selected and the government gave me a diesel pump. I have a well so I thought the pump would help me.” However, he ended up paying Rs. 4,000 as a “contribution” to the cost of the pump. “It did not work even once. I started it and the whole thing burnt out,” said a dejected Tukaram. Under the package, he said he was to be given a diesel pump worth Rs. 10,000 and pipes worth Rs. 5,000. Tukaram took a loan to contribute for the pump. “The official said he would not give me the pump if I did not pay Rs. 4,000,” he said. His woes did not end there. In 2007, he bought 32 bags of Bt cotton seeds on loan from the Krishi Kendra at Kini, a nearby village. Not a single seed germinated, he said. “The seeds cost Rs. 17,000 but I had no luck. I planted it on 15 acres which I took on rent but I got no crop,” he said. He later learnt these were fake seeds. Now the Krishi Kendra, a private seeds and fertilizer shop, was harassing him for money everyday. “I told them if I am alive, I will repay you the amount for seeds and fertilizers,” said Tukaram. “I am on the brink of committing suicide. I have a debt of Rs. 80,000 now and I don’t know how to repay it, specially after my entire crop failed in 2007. The Kendra charges an interest of 5 per cent per month.” In 2006, Tukaram’s 60-year-old mother Parvati killed herself. She was one of the three women from Bothbodan who committed suicide. “We got no compensation as the land was not in her name. So many people came from Delhi even and promised me some money but nothing happened,” said Tukaram. Parvati took loans to get her two daughters married and for her crop but she could not repay them in time. ……. (The Hindu 13/1/08)

Suicides down 15 pc in Vidarbha cotton belt (20) NAGPUR, JANUARY 16: The six cotton-producing districts of Vidarbha begin the New Year with the good news that suicides by farmers are now down by 15 per cent. From a record 1,448 in 2006, the number came down to 1,230 in 2007, according to the official state government website. The Indian Express had reported in September that the suicide rate was dropping slowly, thanks to a good monsoon and state and central government packages worth Rs 4,800 crore. Markets provided further relief in the latter half of the year, with cotton being purchased at Rs 2,300 per quintal and soyabean fetching a record Rs 2,000 per quintal. The corresponding prices last year were Rs 2,100 and Rs 1,300. In the crucial post-July period, the suicide figures have dropped even more substantially — by 21 per cent — from 797 in 2006 to 628 last year. This period is crucial as all major factors behind suicides — lack of funds for farm operations, bad monsoon, access to pesticides and market trends — come into play then. Trends over the past few years have shown the suicide tally is always divided lopsided between the two halves of the year. In 2004, it was 94 and 314 (total 411), in 2005, 128 and 303 (total 431), and in 2006 651 and 797, respectively. In 2007, the gap narrowed significantly, with 602 suicides before July and 628 in the remaining five months. What is also interesting is that among these suicides, only 233 have been attributed to agrarian causes (heavy loans, crop damage, harassment for loan recovery etc). Enquiries in 163 of the 1,230 suicides are still pending. In 2006, 577 of the 1,448 suicides were judged as agrarian. Thus, according to the Government, agrarian suicides came down from 40 per cent of the total in 2006 to 21 per cent last year. The Government probes all suicides to decide which are due to agrarian reasons. Among the six districts covered, Buldana registered a significant slump in suicide tally from 306 in 2006 to 186 in 2007. In Akola, the number come down from 174 to 125. But Yavatmal remains at the top with 359 suicides in 2007, just one less than the 2006 tally. Corresponding figures for Amravati, Wardha and Washim are 269-260, 154-128 and 185-173, respectively. (Indian Express 17/1/08)

Massive loan waiver scheme for farmers on the anvil (20) NEW DELHI: The Union government is set to unveil a debt relief package for farmers, according to sources in the Agriculture Ministry. The scheme envisages writing off the unpaid loans of the small and marginal farmers and a big relief for the big farmers over four years. An estimated 30 million farmers had gone out of the institutional credit system due to defaults. On Monday, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and Finance Minister P. Chidambaram agreed on the broad contours of the policy, which will be finalised at the Prime Minister’s level. “We had a meeting. We discussed the package. It involves a huge investment but in principle we have agreed. Now we will meet the Prime Minister,” Mr. Pawar told The Hindu here. It will be decided at the Prime Minister’s level whether the funds needed should be raised by levying a “farmers’ rehabilitation cess or surcharge” or through a budgetary provision by diverting resources. The total outgo over four years is expected to be about Rs. 70,000 crore. The Agriculture Ministry has proposed

imposition of a one per cent cess on direct taxes and two per cent on indirect taxes. This is expected to yield about Rs. 8,500 crore per annum. A credit risk fund, called the National Agriculture Stabilisation Fund, will be set up to cover the risk of future default due to reasons beyond the farmers’ control. Under the package to be announced in the budget proposals, the Ministry has proposed the waiver of the entire overdues from the small and marginal farmers owning land up to two hectares, entailing an outgo of about Rs. 25,000 crore. Seventy per cent of the farmers who had availed themselves of loans come under this category. For the rest, there will be a one-time settlement (OTS) scheme. It will be shared among the government, farmers and banks over four years. Those given debt relief will be eligible for fresh credit. It is estimated that the total overdue in the case of direct agriculture advances will be to the tune of Rs. 91,200 crore. Of this, the Non-Performing Assets is estimated at Rs. 31,200 crore, the overdue above one year at about Rs. 30,000 crore and the less-than-one-year overdue at Rs. 30,000 crore. The Ministry has also proposed that those paying back their loans regularly should be given a three per cent interest subvention, such as bringing down the rate of interest from seven to four per cent. This will be in line with the recommendation of the National Commission on Farmers. (The Hindu 23/1/08)

17,060 farm suicides in one year (20) Mumbai: Farm suicides in Maharashtra rose dramatically in 2006, more than in any other part of the country. The State saw 4,453 farmers’ suicides that year, over a quarter of the all-India total of 17,060, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) in its report Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India, 2006. That is the worst figure recorded ‘in any year for any State’ since the NCRB first began logging farm suicides. The previous worst — 4,147 in 2004 — was also in Maharashtra. It has seen ‘36,428 farmers’ suicides’ since 1995, ‘in official count.’ ‘2006 is the latest year for which data are available.’ The suicides in Maharashtra mark an increase of 527 over the 2005 figure. This was four and a half times bigger than that in Andhra Pradesh, the next worst-hit State, which saw a rise of 117 farm suicides over 2005. It was also more than twice the increase of 198 in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh taken together. Worse, it means farmers accounted for half ‘the increase’ in all suicides in Maharashtra in 2006. Significantly, Maharashtra’s upward spike occurred in the year when the relief packages of both the Prime Minister and Chief Minister — worth Rs. 4,825 crore in all — were being implemented in the Vidharbha region, where suicides have been most intense. The NCRB figures show an unrelenting uptrend in what can be termed the ‘SEZ’ or (Farmers) ‘Special Elimination Zone’ States. These States, which account for nearly two-thirds of all farm suicides in the country, include Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh (including Chhattisgarh). As a group, the ‘SEZ’ States saw an increase of 6.2 per cent in such deaths. Among them, Maharashtra (4,453), Andhra Pradesh (2,607) and Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh (2,858) show a sharp upward spike. Karnataka (1,720) reports a decline. So though the all-India numbers for 2006 reflect a very small decline of 61 over the 2005 figure of 17,131, the broad trends of the last decade continue. And the trend of rapidly rising farm suicides, particularly post-2001 in the ‘SEZ’ States, remains unchanged. So the minuscule decline in the figure for the country as a whole marks no break from the dismal decade-long trend. NCRB data record 1,66,304 farmers’ suicides in a decade since 1997. Of these, 78,737 occurred between 1997 and 2001. The next five years — from 2002 to 2006 — proved worse, seeing 87,567 farmers take their own lives. This means that on average, there has been one farmer’s suicide every 30 minutes since 2002. (The Hindu 31/1/08)

Now, a farm suicide story from Punjab (20) NEW DELHI: Twelve families, mostly children and widows, of indebted farmers who committed suicide in Punjab, a prosperous agricultural State, are here to knock at the doors of the Centre. On Thursday, the children will be joined by several others here in a solidarity march. They will wear T-shirts with the message, “Every farmer counts. Every child dreams.” The children had to give up their studies and are struggling to keep the local moneylender at bay. “Nothing can be done for you” is the common refrain they have been hearing from the local administration for years, even as the loans their farmer-fathers took multiply with huge interest. One farmer’s wife burnt herself to death rather than face the ignominy of having the artiya (moneylender) on her doorstep every week. Tears welled up in his eyes as 16-year-old Dharmendra from Chotia village recounted the death of his father, who consumed pesticide. Dharmendra has three siblings and mother to take care of. His father sold off his land and cleared part of the debt. The family still owes Rs. 4 lakh-5 lakh to the local moneylender as well as some relatives. Last year this 10th Class student gave up his studies, though he loves to pursue education, and became a daily

wager. “We want karza-maafi [loan waiver],” he said. Paramjeet Kaur, a mother of three children, became a widow at the age of 28. “Unable to face the harassment for return of a loan, my husband consumed spray and took his own life.” Of the three children, the eldest daughter has continued her studies by taking up tailoring. Paramjeet herself is a daily wager and she even does household chores for neighbours. She wants karza-maafi and free education for her children. “Education is free for Dalits, but not for us Jats,” she said. Naresh Khan, 18, lost his mother who doused herself with kerosene and set herself afire. “The loan keeps increasing because of high interest.” Seventy-year-old Chameli’s farmer-son committed suicide not being able to return a loan of Rs. 1.5 lakh. Now Chameli, along with her daughter-in-law, works as a daily wager. “There are so many of us in the same boat; nobody is able to help anyone in Punjab,” she said. Surprisingly, none of them has heard of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. U.S.-based Harpreet Kaur of Sach Productions said activists came upon several families in Sangrur district, where the farmers had committed suicide. “We are highlighting the issue of farmers’ suicide and making a universal statement. These families are humiliated. They feel stressed out and start trembling when the moneylender comes, threatening to take away their land or homes. In our research, we have focussed on mothers and children, especially children because they suffer most.” Harpreet said this was the first time the children and women had come out of Punjab. “We hope our efforts, with the help of local NGOs, Lokraj and Navdanya, can help them get pension and that people will come forward to adopt these families.” On Thursday, the victims of farmers’ indebtedness will meet Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar. They are also trying to seek an appointment with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. (The Hindu 31/1/08)

NGOs’ protest march over farmer suicides (20) New Delhi, Jan. 30: Several non-governmental organisations, including Nav Danya, will march in protest against the unabated suicides of farmers across the country and against the failure of governments in checking the trend. The march will start from Mandi House and will end at Krishi Bhavan, where they will sit in protest. A Texas-based NGO in the United States, which is making a documentary on farmer suicides in Punjab, will also participate in the march. Also taking part in the protest march will be the farmer families from Sangrur district of Punjab where cotton farmers have committed suicides after their crops failed. The story of a 12-year-old daughter of a suicide victim, Jasbeer Kaur, is quite pathetic. Her mother abandoned her and two of her younger brothers when her husband Lala Singh took the extreme step after he failed to repay the loan to the village moneylender. His one-acre land failed him when he sowed cotton. Now, the only person left to take care of them is her 80-year-old grandmother. Jasbeer and her brothers are now studying in the local school run by the government with a monthly handout of Rs 1,000 extended by a local non-governmental organisation. In another family, the wife committed suicide after her husband was unable to pay back the loan in time. Sangrur also had a family which had four suicides in less than 10 years. First, Darshan Singh took his life on failure of a crop. Then his younger brother Nacchatar Singh took the extreme step for the same reason in 1995. Again, his younger brother Nika Singh committed suicide in 1998. In another case, the owner of a 10-acre land took his life out of depression. He sold the land after failing to repay the loan for cotton crop and became a landless labourer. This was unbearable for him as he passed through his sold land every day. (Asian Age 31/1/08)

Not all suicides are due to indebtedness: Deshmukh (20) MUMBAI: On the day when The Hindu published a front page story saying that farm suicides rose dramatically in 2006 in Maharashtra, quoting figures from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh sought to underplay the issue saying that every suicide cannot be related to indebtedness. The suicides were going down, Mr. Deshmukh told a press conference. The Chief Minister had just returned on Thursday after attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, with a three-day stopover in Germany. Mr. Deshmukh, who was asked various questions on infrastructure in Mumbai, the possible exit of one of his senior bureaucrats T. Chandrashekhar and farm suicides among other issues, said that he believed that suicides were coming down as journalists had reported this and he trusted them. However, when questioned that journalists were also reporting a rise in suicides, he said he was inclined to believe local journalists and not “senior journalists.” He appealed to the press not to forget Davos and Germany, “otherwise you will be going on non-issues,” he cautioned. However, he said the government was very serious about the suicides and had implemented a package for farmers. Regarding his visit to Davos, he said he was the only Chief Minister from the country who was invited there and he was happy that Mumbai was being perceived as an international financial hub. There was great curiosity about the city and developments there, he said. At Davos he

spoke about expansion of infrastructure including waterways and urban renewal. He admitted that infrastructure projects, including the Mumbai metro, were behind schedule and they would have to be given a time line of 2011-2012 for completion and the government would press hard for this. Regarding the resignation of Mr. Chandrashekhar, vice president of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) and officer on special duty, Dharavi Redevelopment Project, he said he had not seen the resignation and he would try and persuade him to stay. However, he indicated that no one was indispensable and many bureaucrats were leaving because of more lucrative options. He said the Dharavi Redevelopment Project which was headed by Mr. Chandrashekhar would proceed on schedule and there would not be any set back to it. Meanwhile in Germany, Siemens and the Government of Maharashtra signed a letter of understanding to support the company’s expansion plans in the State. Mr. Deshmukh also visited the Volkswagen factory at Wolfsberg and the Hannover Trade and Exhibition Centre. He said that a similar permanent centre could be developed in Mumbai. The authorities at Hannover have agreed to support the planning and design of such a centre in Mumbai. He also had discussions with German companies which were desirous of setting up factories in Maharashtra. (The Hindu 1/2/08)

Farmers’ suicide: kin meet Pawar (20) NEW DELHI: Children and wives of indebted farmers who committed suicide in Punjab had mixed feelings after they met Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar here on Friday for about 30 minutes. The Minister said he would write to Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal about their demands. The children sought free education and farm loan waiver. While young Dharmendra said he was “hopeful,” Jasmeet Kaur, the only elder relative who was allowed with the 12 children, was happy that they got an audience with the Minister but felt that he had only pushed the ball in the State government’s court. “Let’s see what happens. He has said he will write to Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal. But I am not very hopeful,” she told The Hindu, adding that she was unable to relate her story personally. In a memorandum submitted to Mr. Pawar, the Sangathan sought “secure livelihood” for the families that had lost a relative to indebtedness. It asked for ex gratia payment of Rs. one crore for each farmer who committed suicide. It sought total loan waiver, guaranteed procurement of farm commodities at remunerative prices, ban on import of wheat and on genetically modified seeds and foods. (The Hindu 2/2/08)

Implement farmers’ panel report: BJP (20) BANGALORE: Expressing concern over the massive number of farmers’ suicides in the country, the BJP on Sunday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to immediately implement the National Farmers’ Commission report to bail out farmers from the crisis and also demanded that an emergency Parliament session be convened to discuss farmers’ problems. Addressing a press conference in Bangalore, BJP president Rajnath Singh pointed out that more than 17,000 farmers committed suicide in the country in 2006, according to statistics available with the National Crime Records Bureau. In other words, every 30 minutes one farmer was committing suicide in the country, he said. This had clearly shown that all the farmers’ packages announced by the Prime Minister, including the much-hyped Vidharbha package, had failed, Mr. Singh argued. He wondered why the Prime Minister was sitting on the report of the National Farmers’ Commission headed by renowned agricultural scientist M. S. Swaminathan. Demanding that an emergency session of Parliament be convened to discuss the agrarian crisis, he also sought a one-time waiver of farmers’ loans besides reducing the interest on farm loans to 4 per cent. Mr. Singh said that the country’s foodgrain storage which was around 20 lakh tonnes when the NDA government stepped down in 2004 had now decreased to a mere two lakh tonnes under the UPA regime. He accused the UPA government of “ignoring” the interests of the country’s farmers. The UPA government, which was importing wheat, was paying higher prices to foreign farmers than that paid to our farmers though the wheat produced by the foreign farmers was of substandard quality, he alleged. The BJP leader alleged that that the UPA government had totally failed to check the rise in prices of essential commodities and handling of internal security. The UPA government was “directionless and spineless” and the people of the country were yearning for a change, he said. (The Hindu 4/2/08)

Left set to attack govt over agri policy (20) New Delhi, Feb. 5: After resisting implementation of the nuclear deal, Left parties are set to take on the UPA government on the issue of farmers in the Budget Session of Parliament, alleging that the National Agricultural Policy was an "eye-wash". The UPA’s crucial allies said the policy of the government has not only threatened the land possessions but also the farmers’ livelihood.

"The immediate challenge is to take up the issue in the Budget Session. The National Agricultural Policy is an eye-wash," CPI leader D. Raja said at a farmers’ meet. CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan called on farmers’to make coordinated efforts. "Why does the finance minister have sleepless nights when the sensex fall? Why does he have nothing to say while hundreds of farmers commit suicide in our villages? the answers are obvious," he said. (PTI) (Asian Age 6/2/08)

Frost damages over 50% crop in Rajasthan dists (20) Jaipur, February 8: With more than 50 per cent of their crops damaged due to cold wave conditions and heavy frost, the farmers of Sriganganagar and Hanumangarh districts in Rajasthan have developed a sense of insecurity. On Friday, thousands of farmers from Sriganganagar district participated in a rally demanding compensation for their damaged mustard crop. In protest, all agricultural mandis remained closed. According to the officials of Agriculture department, crops worth Rs 313.8 crore were damaged in Hanumangarh district, while Sriganganagar incurred a loss of Rs 252.5 crore. Rajasthan is the largest producer of mustard in the country, contributing 40 per cent of the total produce. Around 7 lakh hectares of crop, out of 2.3 million hectares, were damaged. “The farmers in these two districts have lost mustard worth over Rs 1,000 crore. In Sriganganagar, over 85 per cent crop have been damaged, while in Hanumangarh over 50 per cent have been damaged,” said Hetram Beniwal, member of the Bharatiya Kisan Sabha in Sriganganagar. If the state Government does not announce a special relief package for the affected farmers, they will be forced to close down the mandis for the entire season Beniwal said. “We demand that the farmers be paid Rs 10,000 per hectare as compensation. Farmers of Hanumangarh and Jhunjhunu districts will also launch agitation unless the Government takes immediate steps,” he said. According to a report prepared by the state Agriculture department, crops and green vegetables worth Rs 677 crore have been damaged in 22 districts due to the long-spell of cold wave conditions. Rabi crops, including mustard and its varieties, chana, dhania, saunf, jeera, isabgol and leafy vegetables in 9,00,000 hectares of cultivable land have been damaged with the mercury dipping to below zero degree Celsius in January. The output of winter pulses is likely to fall to 8.6 million tonnes in 2007-08 from 9.40 million tonnes in 2006-07. Meanwhile, the state Government has asked the district collectors to submit their reports —after the assessing the extent of crop damage—by the end of this month. Following this, the state Government will announce a relief package for the farmers. Sources said Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje is likely to approach the Centre for help. (The Indian Express 9/2/08)

22-year-old farmer commits suicide in Bargarh distr ict (20 BHUBANESWAR: Close on the heels of suicide by a debt-burdened farmer in Jajpur district, a young farmer has ended his life in Barahaguda village of Bargarh district of the State. Twenty-two-year-old Pramod Sahu allegedly took the extreme step after suffering huge losses in vegetable cultivation. Sahu committed suicide by consuming pesticide and his body was recovered from his house early on Saturday. Although the exact reason for the suicide was not immediately known, Sahu’s family members said that they had taken a farm loan of Rs. 12,000 from the local cooperative society another loan from a bank for purchase of a power-tiller. They said Pramod was depressed because the cabbage that he and his two brothers had grown over two acres of land did not give enough returns as they had to sell the vegetable in the market at a very low price. District Collector Harihar Panigrahi who visited the victim’s village in the afternoon, told The Hindu over the phone that Sahu’s neighbours told him that the farmer had taken the extreme step after suffering losses in vegetable cultivation. He said he was not able to talk to the brothers of the victim as they had gone for cremating the body. He said that he has assured the victim’s mother about payment of Rs. 5,000 for the cremation. Stating that the family did not appear to be financially weak, Mr. Panigrahi said the exact cause behind the suicide would be known after inquiry. Additional District Magistrate Meghnad Nayak was conducting an inquiry into the incident to ascertain the cause of the suicide, Mr. Panigrahi said. As regards the loans taken by the victim’s family from the cooperative society as well as the bank, Mr. Sahu said the same could not be verified during the day, as it was a holiday. Nabaghana Sahu, a 62-year-old farmer of Raghunathpur village in Jajpur, had committed suicide on the verandah of the local cooperative society on the night of January 30 after he was issued a loan recovery notice. Although the family members said that Sahu had repaid the loan that he had obtained, the society had issued a loan recovery notice asking the victim to pay Rs. 8,505 against a loan of Rs. 4,250 that he availed way back in 1984. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has already issued orders for initiation of criminal proceedings against the former secretary of the society. An inquiry into the loans reimbursed by the society has also been ordered. (The Hindu 10/2/08)

Farmers forced to sell their kidney for survival: U NPA (20) Sambla (Haryana): Distressed farmers were forced to sell their body parts for survival which lead to the kidney scam, United National Progressive Alliance leaders said at a rally here on Sunday. “UPA rule has rendered farmers helpless in their own Congress-ruled states like this (Haryana). Farmers have been forced to sell their kidney to survive,” Telegu Desam Party leader Chandrababu Naidu said at the rally organised by the Indian National Lok Dal here. “The rise in number of suicide cases in different States is unfortunate. The situation is created due to wrong policies of the Government,” he claimed. Agrarian issues are set to take the centre-stage in the budget session of Parliament as UNPA and the Left parties would rake up the matters in and outside the House, UNPA Chairperson and Samjwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav said in his address. Taking a dig at the Union Government for “failing” to address the farmers’ cause, UNPA spokesperson and Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh said:“While the farmers die of debts, our Agriculture Minister is busy with cricket.” The Left parties would also join UNPA in a joint protest rally in front of Parliament on February 26, the Front leaders announced at the rally. “People ask us if we are a insignificant alliance. My answer to them is to watch out for the Parliament demonstration. We are fighting the cause hand-in-hand with the Left partners,” Mr.Singh added. Similar protest march has also been announced by the Bharatiya Kisan Union during the Budget session. PTI (The Hindu 11/2/08)

‘A ryot suicide every 30 minutes’ (20) HASSAN: Although India is agriculture-oriented, yet one farmer commits suicide at every half an hour, said principal of PES ITI Arakalagudu H.T. Gururaje. Mr. Gururaje was addressing a National Social Service programme organised by Siddeswara Industrial Training Institute Hassan at Nittoor in Hassan taluk on Monday. Delivering lecture on “crisis in agriculture and farmer’s suicides,” Mr. Gururaje said that earlier 80 per cent of the population depended on agriculture. Now, it was reduced to 40 per cent. About 32 per cent of the farmers were landless and were workers who had switched over to building construction work. Successive governments at the State and the Centre failed to come out with clear agriculture policy. Lack of supportive prices for agriculture produce led to farmers committing suicide. Farmers borrowed from private banks and handed over their produce to middlemen, he said. Mr. Gururaje regretted that when there was crisis in cricket (Harbajan Singh episode in Australia), it was solved within a day by Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, who heads the cricket board. But Mr. Pawar failed to solve the problems of farmers. Merely announcing packages to farmers would not solve their problems. (The Hindu 20/2/08)

Over 50,000 farmers to gherao Parliament on Februar y 27 (20) Moga: More than fifty thousand farmers will stage a dharna and lay siege to Parliament on February 27 to increase pressure at the Centre to concede their long-pending demands including waiver of loans. This was announced by the Bhartiya Kisan Union’s Punjab unit President Ajmer Singh Lakhowal at a press conference here on Saturday. About 25000 farmers from Punjab will take part in the programme, Mr. Lakhowal, who is also the Chairman of the Punjab Mandi Board, said. Apart from waiver of loans, food package for the farmers of Punjab on the pattern of southern States like Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka and implementation of the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations are some of the other demands to be raised during the proposed agitation programme, he said. Meanwhile, a report from Rohtak said senior leaders of Janhit Congress including party MLAs Dharampal Malik and Rakesh Kamboj who were to observe a day-long fast-cum-dharna demanding special package for farmers were whisked away by the police from the dharna venue. Though police denied allegations of lathicharge on these leaders, Bhiwani MP and founder of the party Kuldeep Bishnoi said several leaders and farmers who were present at the dharna site in the morning had sustained injuries after police “rained lathis on them”. Rohtak’s police chief Hanief Qureshi, however, claimed that the protestors, who were trying to disturb peace, were taken away from the protest site and left off at some distance. -- PTI (The Hindu 24/2/08)

Suicide by 800 farmers early ’07 (20) New Delhi, Feb. 24: More than 800 farmers committed suicide in the first six months of last year, as per information obtained under the RTI Act. The agrarian crisis forced 607 farmers to commit suicide in Maharashtra, 114 in Andhra Pradesh, 73 in Karnataka and 13 cases of suicide were reported from Kerala in the first half of last year alone, the information revealed. Some states ruled by the Opposition NDA such as Punjab and Gujarat had failed to furnish details about the number of suicides by farmers to the Union agriculture ministry. States like Orissa, Sikkim,

Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Goa and Haryana and five Union territories did not report any case of farmer suicide during the period, according to government records. The Union government, as part of its rehabilitation package for the affected farmers, has disbursed Rs 9,650 crores in 16 districts of Andhra Pradesh, Rs 2,389.64 crores in six districts of Karnataka, Rs 765.24 crores in three districts of Kerala and Rs 3,879.26 crores in six districts of Maharashtra in this connection. (Asian Age 25/2/08)

800 farmer suicides in 6 months (20) NEW DELHI, Feb. 24: Agrarian crisis forced more than 800 farmers to commit suicide in four states during the first six months of 2007. As per the information provided by the government under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, Maharashtra remains the state with most incidents (607) of suicides. It’s followed by Andhra Pradesh(114), Karnataka(73) and Kerala (13). States like Orissa, Sikkim, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh,Nagaland, Goa, Haryana and five other union territories did not report any case of farmer suicide during the period. As part of the rehabilitation package to the affected farmers, Union government has disbursed Rs 9,650 crore in 16 districts of AndhraPradesh, Rs 2,389.64 crore in six districts of Karnataka,Rs 765.24 crore in three districts of Kerala and Rs 3,879.26 crore in six districts of Maharashtra. (Statesman 26/2/08) “Maharashtra too should waive loans to farmers” (2 0) MUMBAI: The Shiv Sena on Tuesday literally whipped the government for its failure to address the agrarian crisis in the State. Party executive president Uddhav Thackeray launched a State-wide campaign to demand a complete loan waiver for farmers by whipping an effigy of the government, at Shivaji Park. Opposition parties in Maharashtra are in poll mode with massive rallies being held by the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), demanding a complete loan waiver for farmers. Mr. Thackeray said farmers did not really need leaders but someone to support and understand their needs. Mr. Thackeray said that while he did not have too many expectations from the budget, Maharashtra should also consider a loan waiver for farmers. In response to questions, Mr. Thackeray said Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad should not worry about Biharis in Mumbai. He should worry about people in Bihar and if he had paid some attention to them in the past, the present situation would not have arisen. The Opposition is also taking up the cause of adivasis and fishermen. On Monday BJP national general secretary Gopinath Munde flagged off the party’s election drive with a massive rally in the adivasi dominated Jawhar, a three-hour drive from Mumbai, demanding the bifurcation of Thane district. Mr. Munde said the BJP had made this demand 12 years ago and the bifurcation of Thane district, which has a huge adivasi population, would help focus on the development needs of the poor sections. Jawhar, Mokhada, Wada, Vikramgad and Dahanu are some of the poor adivasi dominated areas in Thane district, which were beset by problems of unemployment, migration and lack of basic amenities. Making a promise to the large number of people who had gathered for the rally, Mr. Munde said that if the BJP-Sena was voted into power, he would definitely ensure the district was divided into two. The present coalition government had diverted Rs. 450 crores to the Krishna Kore irrigation scheme from the tribal and social welfare departments, he pointed out. He attacked Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and said he had provided poor quality wheat which was unfit for eating in adivasi areas. Vishnu Savra, BJP MLA from Wada, said Thane district received Rs. 100 crore in the employment guarantee scheme funds every year, but all of it was spent only on paper. A new district with a distinct focus on adivasis would ensure they got more funds and attention. Much of Thane district was urbanised but there was a definite divide in the region with large pockets of poverty, malnutrition and unemployment. The district also witnesses large migration to the tune of 40,000 people every year. (The Hindu 27/2/08)

Bengal cops again fire on farmers, 50 injured (20) Kolkata: The West Bengal Police fired at farmers protesting lack of cold storage facilities for their potato crop at Gangarampur in South Dinajpur district on Wednesday. While agencies have said 10 farmers were injured, unconfirmed reports placed the figure at 50. A large number of farmers had gathered at Kaal Dighi village of Gangarampur block to protest the refusal of cold-storage owners to accept their potato crop. Reports that bonds that have to be executed by farmers seeking cold-storage facilities were being sold in the black market with the connivance of the police and local CPI(M) leaders incensed them further. The police first lathi-charged the farmers to disperse them. When that didn't work, they resorted to firing 10 rounds. Wednesday's firing follows last month's police action against Forward Bloc agitators, in which five persons were

killed. South Dinjapur is adjacent to Raiganj, the parliamentary constituency of Union Information & Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi. "The farmers had come to register their protest against the black-marketing of bonds. But the police, instead of arresting the culprits, lathi-charged and fired at the farmers, most of whom had voted for the Left Front Government," said a Trinamool Congress leader. Opposition activists claimed cold storage bonds were being sold at a premium by CPI(M) cadre because there was a high demand for them on account of this year's bumper potato crop. However, IGP (Headquarters) J Chatterjee claimed that the police intervened when farmers attacked them. He described the situation as tense. Chatterjee said, "Some farmers, mostly potato growers, were injured in the lathicharge, while one policeman was injured in brick-batting." (Pioneer 28/2/08)

Parliament stalled on farmers’ issue (20) NEW DELHI: Practically no business could be transacted in Parliament on Wednesday as members of the Opposition entered the well in both Houses protesting the plight of farmers across the country. In the Lok Sabha, members of the Rashtriya Janata Dal also trooped into the well, agitating against the attacks on north Indians in Maharashtra. The two Houses met twice in the pre-lunch session but the presiding officers ruled adjournment for the day after the second attempt to transact business proved futile. The Lok Sabha adjourned within two minutes of convening on both occasions; the second time after tabling the papers listed for the day. Speaker Somnath Chatterjee warned members that from Thursday he would take action against those who trooped into the well. “I can only say that you are deliberately denigrating this country and parliamentary democracy. I am giving you notice. From tomorrow those members who come to the well of the House will suffer. This is a notice I am giving…from tomorrow do not expect anything.” While the Rajya Sabha adjourned immediately after meeting in the morning for question hour, Deputy Chairman K. Rahman Khan refused to give in to the protests at first when the House met at noon. Amid slogan-shouting by the Bharatiya Janata Party and Samajwadi Party members, the statutory resolution approving the Proclamation of President’s Rule in Nagaland as well as The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2007 was passed. Mr. Khan repeatedly sought to remind the members that the House could not be taken for granted and that it was not a platform for agitation. He also made an attempt to take up a short-duration discussion on the recent attacks on north Indians in Maharashtra, but adjourned the House as slogan-shouting continued. (The Hindu 28/2/08)

Over 48 p.c. of farmers in debt (20) NEW DELHI: The Economic Survey on Thursday made out a case for a Debt Relief Package for Farmers, which is expected to be unveiled in the Budget presentation on Friday. In a separate column on Farmers’ Indebtedness, it said that the National Sample Survey Organisation pointed out that 48.6 per cent of the farm households were indebted. Of the total number of indebted farmers, 61 per cent had operational holdings of below one hectare. It is estimated that 57.7 per cent of the outstanding amount was sourced from institutional channels (including government) and the balance 42.3 per cent from moneylenders, traders, relatives and friends. The Radhakrishnan Expert Group had estimated that in 2003 non-institutional channels accounted for Rs. 48,000 crore of farmers’ debt, of which Rs. 18,000 crore was taken at an interest rate of 30 per cent per annum or more. Of the total outstanding amount, 41.5 per cent was taken for purposes other than farm-related activities. It is estimated that 30.6 per cent of the total loan was for capital expenditure purposes and 27.8 per cent was for current expenditure in farm-related activities. The Group has recommended inclusion of financially excluded, particularly the small borrower households, and adoption of risk mitigating measures for agriculture. It has proposed setting up of the Price Risk Mitigation Fund to compensate farmers in extreme situations of price collapse. The survey points out that the international experience of price stabilisation fund had generally been “disappointing.” The basic principle of a stabilisation fund was that prices should converge to the mean. Prolonged slumps in prices made the fund bankrupt and sustained high prices eroded the incentives for being associated with the fund, as the transaction costs of operation of the fund were considered avoidable. (The Hindu 1/3/08)

“Globalisation brings down agricultural growth rate ” (20) Tuticorin: The advent of globalisation has slowed down the agricultural growth rate in the country considerably, according to S.V. Hariharan, Professor (International Economics), School of Economics, Madurai Kamaraj University. Delivering the keynote address at a workshop on ‘Impact of globalisation on Indian agriculture,’ organised by Kamaraj College here on Saturday, he said that the growth rate had plummeted below three per cent after the economy was

liberalised in 1991, owing to liberal import policy and fall in government investments, among others. The decade prior to introduction of liberalisation policy had witnessed an average growth rate of 3.6 per cent in the agriculture sector. Dr. Hariharan said that agriculture growth rate graph showed an increase only in Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura, after the economy was opened up in 1991. Gujarat, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Union Territory of Puducherry registered a negative growth rate during the period. He opined that the Government should not show any hastiness to reduce subsidies to farmers to overcome the crisis faced in the sector. Any further reduction in subsidies meant lower income for farmers, he said. (The Hindu 3/3/08) AIDWA hails focus on agrarian crisis (20) NEW DELHI: The All-India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) has hailed Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram’s initiative of taking cognisance of the huge agrarian crisis and taking steps to bring relief to farmers, who include a large number of women also. In a statement, Subhashini Ali, president, and Sudha Sundararaman, general secretary of the AIDWA, said the measures for debt waiver and debt relief did not, however, address the critical issue of loans taken from private moneylenders. Secondly, many regions in the grip of crisis such as Vidharbha and Rayalaseema were dry land, where individual holdings were usually more than two hectares, eligible for relief. The crucial question of reduction in the rate of interest to 4 per cent on agricultural loans was ignored. Finally, it was not just debt relief but rejuvenation of the entire agricultural sector through a massive increase in public spending that would alleviate this crisis, the statement said. After four years, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government heeded to the voice of lakhs of anganwadi employees but their demand for an increase in wages was met only partially. Secondly, the budget did not reflect the allocations for universalisation of the Integrated Child Development Services and make 14 lakh anganwadi centres functional by the end of 2008 as per a Supreme Court directive, especially at a time when child malnourishment and infant mortality continued to remain high. Given the huge increase in the prices of essential commodities, especially wheat, rice, pulses, it was expected that the budget would suggest measures to curb inflation, which was exacerbated by the recent increase in fuel prices. The statement said the UPA gave an undertaking in the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) to strengthen the public distribution system and move towards universalising it. However, the meagre increase in the food subsidy allocation from Rs. 31,456 crore last year to Rs. 32,667 crore was hardly adequate to ensure basic food security for more than 70 per cent of the population that lived below poverty line. “This cannot meet the needs of food-deficit States such as Kerala, as well as States that were adversely affected by the recent cuts in allocations of foodgrains,” it said. The allocations for health and education remained far below the targets set in the CMP and the decision to shift the burden of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan to the States showed the lack of commitment of the Centre to implement the constitutional guarantee of right to education. “As far as gender budgeting is concerned, we welcome the fact that more Ministries had provided a gender budget analysis of their expenditure,” the statement added. (The Hindu 2/3/08)

Unable to repay loan, farmer kills self (20) KANPUR: : At a time when the Union Government is waiving loans of all small farmers, a poor peasant committed suicide in an Uttar Pradesh village on Tuesday night, reportedly after being harassed by local moneylenders. Lal Singh (55), a poor farmer in Chandranagar village under the Gajner police station, died after he consumed poison. His son said Lal took the step after moneylenders threatened to take away his land if he did not pay back his loan. The police have sent the body for postmortem, though no case had been registered till late evening. Jagdish Kumar, Lal’s son, said his father owned only four and a half bighas of land, which was not sufficient to feed their family of 10. “My father took loan from local moneylenders to marry off three of my sisters. He could not return the money,” he said. Jagdish said local moneylenders often humiliated his father and said they would take away his land if he did not pay up. On Tuesday night, Jagdish said, Lal consumed poison and died on way to hospital. (Indian Express 6/3/08)

Tea workers’ plight comes up before apex court (20) NEW DELHI, MARCH 7: The UPA Government may have announced a loan waiver package for about 40 million farmers in the Union Budget to deal with the worst-ever agrarian crisis, but the tea industry — reeling under a similar crisis with thousands of workers committing suicides — still waits for a helping hand from the Government. On Friday, referring to a PIL filed in 2006 by the

International Union of Food, Agriculture, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco, Plantation and Allied Workers’ Association (IUF), senior advocate Colin Gonsalves informed the Supreme Court that the Centre and some tea-growing states had failed to respond to notices issued by it over alleged starvation deaths by workers of tea gardens illegally abandoned by companies. The court was told that only Assam, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, West Bengal and UPASI Tea Research Foundation and Tea Board had filed their reply to the notices issued in August 2006. A few other states have not yet responded to the notices. Highlighting the Government’s apathy towards 60,000 workers who were rendered jobless due to the closure of most of the tea gardens in several tea-growing states, Gonsalves informed the apex court that despite having announced a Rs 4,000-crore package for the revival of tea industry, including payment of dues and wages to the workers for the past eight years, the money had not reached any worker. Not interested in running the gardens anymore, the owners simply pretended and colluded with the state governments to take the benefit of the monetary package that was rolled out by the Centre, alleged the advocate. As a result of the non-payment of earned wages, provident fund and statutory dues such as gratuity, closure and retrenchment compensation, the situation of starvation, destitution and despair had spread in the tea gardens of the country, the petition has stated. On hearing the submissions, a Bench comprising Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan and Justice R V Raveendran suggested making tea companies parties in the petition. “If you want management to be taken over from them, then why not make tea companies as respondents,” the Bench suggested, asking the Centre and the states concerned to file their response by April when it agreed to take up the matter for further directions. (Indian Express 8/3/08)

Farmer commits suicide (20) BIDAR: A farmer reportedly committed suicide at Shivani village of Bhalki taluk on Saturday. The police gave his name as Kashinath Belure (60). Belure was reportedly unable to clear his debts. He was financially burdened after his daughter’s marriage last year. The Bhalki rural police have registered a case. — Staff Correspondent (The Hindu 9/3/08)

25 debt-trapped farmers commit suicide in Vidarbha after waiver (20) Mumbai : The ruling Congress and its alliance partner Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) may have gone to town taking credit for the Rs 60,000 crore farmers' loan waiver announced by Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram, but the debt relief decision has not helped in any way in arresting the recurring farmers' suicides in Maharashtra, particularly the backward Vidarbha region. For, as many as 28 debt-trapped farmers have committed suicide in different parts ever since March 1, with a majority of them having ended their lives in Vidarbha region. While the Vidarbha region accounted for 25 farmers' deaths, three deaths have been reported from Marathwada - two from Latur and one from the neighouring Osmanabad district. If one were to go by the statistics complied by the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS), an organisation crusading for the cause of debt-trapped farmers in the backward region, as many as 22 farmers have committed suicides in Vidarbha region since March 1. Similarly, an Akola-datelined news agency report - quoting the police - stated on Monday evening that three more farmers had committed suicide during the last 24 hours. Simultaneously, reports reaching the State headquarters from Marathwada region said in the evening that a debt-trapped farmer Vijay Panchal and his wife Meena had committed suicide in Latur district by consuming poison after not being able to put up with harassment at the hands of the district cooperative bank officials, following their failure to repay the loan, inclusive of accumulated interest. In the neighbouring Osmanbad district, one farmer committed suicide. In a related development, an agency report identified three farmers, who had ended their lives during the 24 hours in Vidarbha region, as Ramesh Vishwanath Ambhore of village Khanapur near Akola, Shrikrishna Gangaram Jawanjal (40) od Sukli village and Gowardhan Manik Solanke (40) of village Madhapuri. Long known for compiling statistics of farmers committing suicides in the Vidarbha region, VJAS convenor Kishore Tiwari said: "Given that as many as 22 debt-trapped farmers have committed suicide in Vidarbha region ever since the Union Finance Minister presented the Budget in Lok Sabha. This goes to prove that the farmers in this region have absolutely no faith in the announcements made by either the Centre or the State Government". According to Tiwari, the following farmers have committed suicide ever since the announcement of the debt-relief by the Centre: Vijay Gokuldas Javar Belkhede (Amaravati), Ramesh Bhagwan Hingankar - Nimkhed Bazar (Amaravati), Amar Singh Bhurasingh Solanke - Dona Wada (Akola), Kolu Phaiku Phunde - Bapewada (Bhandara), Durgadas Desa Pawar - Bori Hazara (Yavatmal), Narendra Thotaram Chavan - Khapthanda (Nagpur), Subash Kisan Taide - Gajipur Takli (Akola), Kashinath Dagdu Wagmare - Mondala (Buldana), Sanotsh

Ramchandra Umbale - Umrata (Nagpur, Vithal Namdeo Wankhede - Amala (Amaravati), Datuji Choudhary - Nara (Wardha), Vasudev Bhangare - Giroli Heti (Gondia), Bhagwant Phuljule- Weni (Wardha), Hanumant chavan - Jalgaon (Amaravati), Jagnath Latya -Kanhala (Gondia), Jyoti Tambke -Cheejgaon (Yavatmal), Sanjay Thakre - Sindurjapa (Amaravati), Naresh Ghorpade -Chitanwadi (Akola), Kisan Rahate - Pimpalkuti (yavatmal), Ramdas Maske - Pandardeo (Buldhana), Keshav Shelke -Arvi (Wardha) and Kisan Udke - Kadki (Nagpur). (Pioneer 11/3/08)

Almost 75% of small, marginal farmers may not benef it from loan waiver (20) NEW DELHI, MARCH 11: The Rs 60,000-crore bank loan waiver to relieve the debt distress of 4 crore small and marginal farmers may end up touching less than a quarter of them. That’s the finding of a recent survey which shows that barely 22.5% of such farmers have borrowed from the “institutional credit system” (banks) over the last two years. Of the 1 crore farmers who availed of credit between 2005 and 2007, an estimated 75% are likely to have resorted to “informal channels” for obtaining loans. For this major chunk, maximum borrowing came from sources like moneylenders, friends and relatives. The highest number, 36%, of small and marginal farmers approached moneylenders, while friends and relatives accounted for 32% of all loans. Farming households earning less than Rs 32,500 a year and those with land holdings less than five acres have been defined as small and marginal by the National Sample Survey. These findings are part of a sample survey analysis of 10 lakh households and 1 lakh in-depth interviews carried out last year by Dataworks, Invest India Market Solutions. This firm is providing research support to the Raghuram Rajan committee on financial sector reforms that is likely to submit its report in Parliament later this month. According to the survey, just over a fifth of small and marginal farmers are expected to have secured loans from formal institutional channels like commercial banks, regional rural banks (RRBs), cooperatives and micro-finance institutions. And that 21% of small and marginal farmers borrowing from informal sources have bank accounts. In doing so, over half of small farmers end up borrowing money at interest rates greater than 36%, while only 18% manage to get loans at rates less than 12%. “The small farmer is forced to approach the moneylender because institutional credit given by banks, especially cooperatives, takes too much time to be sanctioned. In crises or emergency situation, or when small amounts are to be borrowed, the moneylender is easily available,” says Vinay Hardikar, national secretary of the Swatantra Bharat Party. “Also, banks do not give loans unless earlier loans are repaid, and the farmer is often already a defaulter.” With recent Reserve Bank of India Trend and Progress data also suggesting that total overdues by small farmers to commercial banks, cooperatives and RRBs is not likely to exceed Rs 23,000 crore, experts have said that those unaddressed by the loan waiver should be a cause for worry. “Even though a loan waiver is the neatest means of providing income to the farmer, the government needs to worry about the 75 per cent that it has left out,” says Rajiv Kumar, director and chief executive, ICRIER. “The issue of small and marginal farmers having little access to credit is not going to be solved by such a measure. The basic problem of a largely unremunerative and unviable agricultural economy can only be addressed by fundamental policy changes.” (Indian Express 12/3/08)

Left out of waiver, farmer kills self (20) Solapur, March 12: The deadly cycle of suicides continues in Maharashtra notwithstanding Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s loan waiver in this year’s Union Budget. On Tuesday, Vilas Daulta Suryavanshi, 50, a farmer from Dhanuri village in the Lohara taluka of Osmanabad district in Marathwada, ended his life by consuming pesticide after realising that his loans will not be waived as he had half-an acre of land in excess to the stipulated five acres. According to fellow villagers, Vilas had mentioned in his suicide note that he had borrowed from the local banks to meet family demands and was under tremendous mental pressure. When he came to know that he had missed the waiver, he lost all hope and ended his life. Vilas was admitted to the Solapur civil hospital by other farmers, but could not be saved. He died, leaving behind an eight-member family. “He had been worried, always thinking about the Rs 12,000 loan that he had taken from two local banks as the loan amount had mounted to Rs 57,000 including the interest in these few years,” his wife Kaushalya, 45, said. The gram panchayat in Dhanuri village, which has a population of around 5,000, has started counseling farmers who have between five and six acres of land. The Indian Express 13/3/08)

Supplementary grants include Rs. 10,000 crore for w aiver (20) NEW DELHI: The government on Wednesday initiated the first step towards providing for the Rs. 60,000-crore farm loan waiver scheme, setting apart Rs.10,000 crore from the supplementary demands for grants for setting up a debt relief fund for farmers. The relief fund, based on a non-Plan allocation, was included as part of the third and final batch of supplementary demands for grants for 2007-08, tabled by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram in the Lok Sabha to seek authorisation of a gross additional expenditure of Rs.1,40,378.91 crore. Of this, the expenditure proposals under various heads involve a net cash outgo of Rs. 43,059.92 crore, while the gross additional expenditure, matched by savings of ministries and departments, add up to Rs, 97,318.16 crore. Even as the provisioning of Rs. 10,000 crore for the farmers’ debt relief fund is the first pointer to how the government proposes to find resources for the loan waiver scheme, the picture is expected to become clearer when Mr. Chidambaram replies to the debate on the budget for 2008-09. The government has already committed itself to implementing the loan waiver scheme by June-end. The debts of small and marginal farmers will be completely waived, while the loans of other farmers will be waived up to 25 per cent as a one-time settlement on repayment of 75 per cent of the debts. The supplementary demands for grants reveal that the Rs. 10,000-crore fund will be utilised for implementing the debt relief scheme to cover all agricultural loans disbursed by commercial banks, regional rural banks and cooperative credit institutions up to March 2007 and overdues as of the year-end and not paid till February 29, 2008. Alongside, Rs. 9,296.92 crore has been allocated for providing compensation for the issue of bonds to oil marketing companies as per the estimated under-recoveries on account of sale of subsidised petroleum products. Mr. Chidambaram also sought Parliament’s approval for spending an additional Rs. 5,823.90 crore by way of subsidy to the Food Corporation of India and Rs. 3,586.70 crore for the subsidy component on imported fertilizers. (The Hindu 14/3/08)

BJP continues to criticise loan waiver (20) NEW DELHI: The loan waiver scheme for small and marginal farmers continued to be the target of attack by the BJP leaders despite the clarifications by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram in his reply to the debate on the budget in the Lok Sabha on Friday. At a rally here on Saturday, BJP president Rajnath Singh held the Congress responsible for the economic plight of rural India while the party’s prime ministerial hopeful L.K. Advani expressed doubts about the United Progressive Alliance government’s claim that its Rs.60,000 crore relief package for farmers would solve the problems of India’s crisis-ridden agriculture. Mr. Advani said the government’s package would be of no use to farmers in Maharashtra’s Vidarbha region, from where a large number of suicides have been reported. Although the Minister has made it clear that the government can only do what is “doable” and it cannot take on the debt owed to private moneylenders, the BJP has continued to criticise the government on this point. However, Mr. Singh exercised some caution when he said that “if the Congress were to reach the needy farmers and free them from debt, the BJP would cooperate.” It would seem that Mr. Chidambaram’s promise of releasing Rs.25,000 crore in the next four months to institutions for debt write-off had made the party somewhat wary. The BJP leaders also tried to counter the Congress charge that the National Democratic Alliance government had followed wrong agriculture policies that led to a crisis in the sector. The party which ruled the country for 50 years should take the blame for the sorry state of agriculture, they said. (The Hindu (16/03/08)

Farmer kills self at Burdwan village (20) BANKURA/BURDWAN: At a time when prices are soaring in city markets, falling potato prices in villages drove broke farmers in Burdwan and Bankura to attempt suicide on Saturday. While one of them died, the other is still fighting for his life. Forget the price you pay to buy a kilo of potato in Lake Market, Gariahat or Manicktala. The on-field price of potato has hit the nadir — the crop is selling at Rs 1 to Rs 1.5 a kg in the villages. Lalan Mullick Seikh's body was found lying on his small plot of land in Memari village. According to wife Nasira Bibi and son Basir, the farmer had taken huge loans to cultivate potato that finally landed him in a debt trap. In another incident, 26-year-old Madhusudan Nandi of Bhatra village in Bankura consumed pesticide near his stationery shop to kill himself. Madhusudan is under treatment at Bishnupur Subdivisional Hospital. Unmarried Madhusudan has three bighas of land and a stationery shop. He too had taken a loan from the cooperative bank and invested in potato. The young man wanted to invest a part of the profit in the stationery shop. It was becoming difficult for him to run the shop since most of the villagers used to buy things on credit and failed to pay up in time. But the scene this time took a turn for the worse due to over-production. Cold-storages refused to accept the yield from farmers. And Lalan or Madhusudan did not have the monetary backup to wait till the potato prices

registered an upward curve. For instance, Madhusudan was left with 150 quintals of potato that he couldn't deposit at any cold-storage. Meanwhile, the over-production pulled down the prices, and farmers were left with a huge quantity of the crop rotting on fields. For the yield on each bigha, a potato farmer has to spend Rs 10,000 for which he has to take loan from a bank. Madhusudan chose to take the extreme step, because he was not in a position to pay back the Rs 30,000 loan he had taken to cultivate three bighas. "In Bankura district, farmers usually cultivate potato on 30 hectares of land. This year, the area was increased by four hectares because most farmers took to potato cultivation, leading to the crisis," said additional district magistrate (development) Tanmoy Mitra. The suicide bids have made the state government sit up and take steps to prevent the falling prices. "Benfed will buy 75,000 metric tons of potato from tomorrow," Mitra said. Agriculture marketing minister Mortaza Hossain, cooperation minister Rabin Ghosh and agriculture marketing board chairman Naren Ghosh met at Writers' Buildings on Friday to chalk out the steps needed to check the distress sale. With panchayat polls round the corner, the government cannot afford to allow the crisis to intensify and remain indifferent. (Times of India 23/3/08)

Not a happy Holi for farmers (20) MUMBAI: Holi, the festival of colour celebrated to hail the new harvesting season, has failed to halt suicide by farmers in Maharashtra. Four farmers took their lives in Vidarbha and three ended their lives in north Maharashtra. Vitthal Sakharam Daddmal, 22, of Goji village in Wardha district and Sukhdev Bapurao Surpadi, 30, of Kamthi in Nagpur district consumed poison. Manohar Mahadev Raut, 37, of Antargaon village in Yavatmal district jumped into a well. A farmer of Buldhana district of the Vidarbha region also took his life, according to Vidarbha Jan Andolan leader Kishor Tiwari. All of them were indebted and had families to support. In north Maharashtra, Gorakh Nikam of Nashik district and Atmaram Patil and Gokul Pawar of Dhule district also took their lives because of their inability to pay debts. Mr. Tiwari said that with seven more deaths, the total number of farmers committed suicide in 2008 reached 220. “One suicide is reported every eight hours despite the Union Government’s Rs.60,000-crore farm loan waiver,” he said, talking to The Hindu on the phone from Pandharkawada in Yavatmal district. The suicides underscore an expert view that the loan waiver alone is not of much help to the farmers because of landholding restriction on its availability. For, the agrarian crisis is much deeper, needing more measures for the revival of the agricultural economy of the region. (The Hindu 23/3/08)

Punjab sets land compensation record, farmers get R s 1.5 crore per acre (20) CHANDIGARH, MARCH 24: State compensation for land acquisition has reached a new high with Punjab offering Rs 1.5 crore per acre to farmers of Jhurheri village in return for land for the Chandigarh international airport. The Punjab government has also waived off registration fee and stamp duty if these farmers buy land in the state with the compensation money within two years. It has promised them electricity connections on priority. Calling it the highest compensation ever given by any state government to farmers, Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Badal said: “The government had promised to match market rates and it has done just that.” The state government hopes to acquire 306 acres for approximately Rs 460 crore by the end of this month. The farmers concerned are on cloud nine. “We are happy with the way the government negotiated with us directly and decided the compensation. We had asked for Rs 2 crore but the government agreed to give us Rs 1.5 crore,” said Prem Singh, sarpanch of Jhurheri village. The state government had not been so generous in its previous awards. Two years ago, it gave Rs 64 lakh per acre to farmers of Chilla for the development of Knowledge City in Mohali. The new compensation award has created ripples in neighbouring Haryana which just worked out a compensation policy for SEZs, fixing Rs 21 lakh per acre for land in Gurgaon where real estate prices have shot through the roof. (The Indian Express 25/3/08) Cop foils immolation attempt by farmer (20) Hyderabad, March 25: The police on Tuesday foiled a immolation attempt by a farmer near Andhra Pradesh Assembly complex and took him into custody.Bikshapathi, a farmer from Ibrahimpatnam in the neighbouring Ranga Reddy district, went to the Assembly, along with his wife and four daughters, with an intention to meet chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy and submit a petition. After the security staff refused entry, the farmer poured kerosene and tried to set himself ablaze, the police said. The policemen on duty overpowered him and took him into custody. He was later shifted to Nampally police station. (PTI) (Asian Age 26/3/08)

2 Amravati farmers commit suicide (20)

AMRAVATI: Two young farmers, who had taken loans, have allegedly committed suicide at Amravati in Eastern Maharashtra, police and family sources said. Kote (30), a resident of Nandura Pinglai village, consumed poison on Friday. He owned two acres of farmland and had taken Rs 40,000 from a local co-operative society, sources said. Also on Friday, one Deshmukh who hailed from Bhatkuli village, ended his life by consuming poison. He had taken loans from Central Bank of India as well as from other sources. Both the deceased were members of the Shiv Sena. (Times of India 30/3/08)

Paswan gives UPA another 60,000-cr headache for Gov t (20) New Delhi, April 2: If you thought the Rs 60,000-crore farm loan waiver is the only spending that will dent Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s fiscal prudence, think again. The Union Fertiliser Ministry has demanded an extra Rs 60,000 crore for fertilizer subsidy and unlike the loan waiver that’s spread over three years, the subsidy has to be provided during the current fiscal. The Fertiliser Ministry has said that the Rs 30,986 crore provided in the 2008-09 Budget was inadequate considering the estimated consumption during Kharif 2008 and Rabi 2008-09 (see chart) and the spurt in international prices of fertilizers. Coupled with an estimated 10% rise in domestic demand during 2008-09, the continuing price increase would mean a subsidy requirement of Rs 89,947 crore based on February prices, it claimed. The issue is now being resolved by the Prime Minister’s Office under the chairmanship of Principal Secretary to PM. Last Friday, he asked the Fertiliser Ministry to verify its estimates considering the Finance Ministry’s objection that more emphasis was being placed on imports instead of maximizing domestic output, and projections — of demand and global prices — needed to be rechecked. If approved, the extra spending will raise the fiscal deficit by one percent over and above the Budget target of 2.5% of the Gross Domestic Product. In January, ahead of the Budget announcement, Fertiliser Minister Ram Vilas Paswan had requested for a “minimum budgetary allocation of Rs 50,000 crore” with Rs 10,650 crore more released through supplementary grants. He also wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking his intervention as the “absence of adequate budgetary provision will send a wrong signal to the fertilizer industry and might adversely affect production/import of fertilizers and consequently, the availability of fertilizers during 2008-09”. With the Budget not heeding to his demand, Paswan now wants the subsidy to be “substantially enhanced” with a “clear indication” to the industry that the balance monies would be met as per requirement, in cash, through supplementary budgets in July and December 2008 and March 2009. His Ministry claims that the budgetary provision will take care of only 34.45% of the subsidy. “The position is more acute in respect of potassium and phosphates where it would be less than 15%. The result would be that available funds, at least for P & K fertilizers, would be exhausted well before the first supplementary in July 2008,” it said. (Indian Express 3/4/08)

9 farmers commit suicide in Vidarbha (20) NAGPUR: Nine more farmers in Maharashtra's Vidarbha region have allegedly committed suicide in the first week of April, taking the total number of suicides to 255 this year, an NGO tracking such cases said on Sunday. The suicides took place in villages of Yavatmal, Washim, Buldhana and Akola districts of the cotton belt, Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti said in a press release here. The suicides have taken even after the announcement of Rs 60,000-crore farm loan waiver, the biggest in the country's history, in the Union Budget in February. In July 2006, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, during a visit to the region in eastern Maharashtra, had announced a relief package of Rs 3,750 crore for the distressed farmers. (times of India 6/4/08)

As farmers die in Kuttanad, parties slug it out (20 ) ALAPPUZHA, April 9: While farmers continue to kill themselves every other day in crisis-hit Kuttanad, a belated mediation effort that the local district collector chaired failed on Wednesday, after political participants nearly came to blows. Representatives of the ruling Left and Congress-led Opposition riled at each other over the question of allowing farmers to use harvesting machines, leaving angry farmers to walk out alleging both were trying to use their plight for political ends. In Thiruvananthapuram, meanwhile, Chief minister V S Achuthanandan announced that his Government would write off debts of all Kuttanad farmers who have killed themselves in desperation over the past two weeks, and give their kin Rs 50,000 each. That, however, may not bring much consolation to this area, once Kerala’s rice bowl. About Rs 40 crore worth of paddy is still under threat of destruction in Kuttanad fields, apart from some 30,000 hectares of paddy awaiting harvest that last fortnight’s summer showers laid to waste. The Opposition has been blaming the CPI(M)’s powerful farm union, the Kerala State Karshaka Thozhilali Union (KSKTU),

for refusing to allow local farmers to use harvesting machines in time to reap their crop before the rains leading to the enormous loss. In Kuttanad, no farmer would dare to use the far cheaper and more efficient farm machines instead of the unionised manual labour, without applying and procuring the KSKTU’s sanction to do so — paying it a ‘fee’ for each acre that the machines are allowed on. The CPI(M) and other Left parties, however, blame the unexpectedly heavy showers for the crisis. Achuthanandan also said on Wednesday the Government would procure even destroyed paddy unfit for human consumption that the Kuttanad farmers manage to save, to help them through the crisis. He, however, declined to announce the Government’s procurement price for the paddy that the Government cannot hope to process and sell through ration shops. (Indian Express 10/4/08)

Central team may visit Mizoram soon (20) IMPHAL: A high-level Central team is expected soon in Mizoram to assess the famine-like situation prevailing there following bamboo flowering and the consequent rodent menace. Expressing concern over acute shortage of food in all eight districts, Governor M.M. Lakhera said 90 per cent of the harvest was destroyed by rodents late last year. The Food Corporation of India, however, reduced food allocation to the State from 6,810 to 5,000 tonnes. Agriculture Minister H. Rammawi, confirming widespread destruction of crops and vegetables, said the government had requested the Centre to rush foodgrains. Meanwhile, two foreign NGOs — the Salvation Army and the Canada Noriyan Audio Vision Service — have agreed to provide food to the starving people. Reports said many of the affected people had migrated to Manipur, Assam and Tripura for food and temporary employment. Most of the migrants to Manipur are staying with relatives and friends in Churachandpur district. The poor in Mizoram are subsisting on boiled roots and leaves. In neighbouring Chittagong Hill Tracts, the people are eating rat meat for survival. (The Hindu 9/4/08)

12 lakh farmers to benefit from waiver (20) THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Around 12 lakh small and marginal farmers in the State are expected to be benefited by the agriculture loan waiver package announced by the Union government, but the inordinate delay in framing the guidelines has belied their hopes of getting an immediate solace. The regional office of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), which is the monitoring agency, still does not have a clear idea about the guidelines. Banking sector sources told The Hindu that the Union government’s claims to ease the debt burden of farmers by June is unlikely to materialise within the stipulated time as no preliminary work has been done so far. Since majority of the 36 lakh farmers in the State possess less than 2 hectares, if implemented, Kerala would be the major beneficiary of the package. The average per capita land holding has been pegged at 0.27 hectares. About one-third of the 36 lakh farmers depend on cooperative societies. The primary and the district cooperative banks as well as the apex Kerala State Cooperative Bank have an impeccable system of maintaining the records, and processing the details of the defaulters could be completed without any delay. The farmers are still in the dark about the package. They do not know whether the loans they have taken to meet their housing, education and marriage expenses of their children would be covered by the package. But for the overdue, the entire loan taken by a farmer is unlikely to be written off. It would be a relief package and not a total waiver, the sources said. Banks do not have a mechanism to verify whether the loans given to the Kisan Card holders have been used for farming purposes itself. Farmers in Idukki, Wayanad and other backward regions who have drawn money from the money-lenders to clear the bank dues and self-help groups involved in farming operations are unlikely to get any relief. Whether a blanket waiver of all loans would benefit the agriculture sector too would have to be considered, the sources said. For, it is feared that a total waiver would cast an impression that such schemes would come to the rescue of wilful defaulters in future and would affect the existence of primary cooperative societies which are gasping for survival. Though not explicitly, commercial banks would gradually stop disbursing loans to farmers on various pretexts and the cooperative sector would have to bear the brunt of the package, the sources said. (The Hindu 11/4/08)

Corruption drives farmer to commit sucide in UP (20 ) Lucknow: The death of a farmer who set himself ablaze in Bijnore district of Uttar Pradesh on Thursday was attributed to rampant corruption in the local land revenue and consolidation offices of the state. Ashok, 30, set himself on fire before the office of the Bijnore district magistrate after he was made to run from pillar to post for the past one year to ensure proper settlement of a small landholding he owned. He succumbed to his injuries at the Bijnore district hospital on

Friday. “We had given Rs 35,000 bribe to the consolidation officer and the lekhpal (stenographer). Still they were not satisfied and wanted more money,” Ashok’s wife said. Ashok gave up his efforts after he failed to get his grievances redressed even from the district magistrate. He was reported to be under a huge debt after borrowing money to pay the bribes to government officials. Meanwhile, the state government has taken serious note of the issue. “We are getting the matter probed by higher-ups and we will not allow the guilty to get away with this,” an official spokesman of the state Home Department said. (Deccan Herald 12/4/08)

More suicides in Vidarbha region (20) MUMBAI: Yet another debt-ridden Vidarbha farmer immolated himself, leaping into a pile of burning hay last Friday, according to Kishore Tiwari of the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS). Baban Jughale of Buldana had taken a loan of Rs. 1.75 lakh to cultivate 10 hectares of land, but he could not repay. Suicide by farmers continues in the region despite the Prime Minister’s Rs. 3,750-crore package and the Rs. 60,000-crore loan waiver announced in the Union budget. Mr. Tiwari said 116 farmers had committed suicide ever since the waiver was announced. On Sunday seven farm suicides were reported from Yavatmal, Chandrapur, Washim Amravati and Bhandara in the region, adding to the 15 reported in the four days before that. Over 282 farmers have reportedly committed suicide in Vidarbha since January 2008. The VJAS had requested Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar to visit farmers on Monday instead of attending the function in Nagpur to inaugurate the terminal at the new airport. The VJAS has demanded better prices for cotton, fresh credit to farmers, food crop promotion and social security. (The Hindu 15/4/08)

Three farmers commit suicide (20) Bijnore: Three farmers have committed suicides after being under the burden of debt, authorities said. The farmers ended their lives in the space of last seven days as they were not in a position to repay the loans they had taken from the banks and moneylenders, Superintendent of Police (Rural) Man Singh Chauhan, said. The latest among the casualties was a young farmer Deepak, (25), resident of Shadipur village near Nehtaur in the district, who allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself to a tree near his house two days back. Deepak was under huge debt of Uttar Pradesh Gramin Bank and the Kisan Sewa Cooperative Society and his financial condition had deteriorated, Mr. Chauhan said. Earlier, two farmers Ashok and Kamendra had ended their lives due to similar reasons. (The Hindu 19/4/08)

Farmers beaten up at Moinabad (20) Moinabad (Ranga Reddy dist.): APTransco officials picked up 18 farmers and labourers from different habitations in this mandal of Ranga Reddy district, adjoining the State capital, and beat them up after raids they conducted late on Friday night and Saturday for pilfering power and not paying electricity dues since 2005. Two among those picked up by the electricity officials sustained bleeding injuries. One of them, Yadi Reddy, lodged a complaint of assault against the Vigilance officials of Transco following which the Ramgopalpet police registered a case, according to DCP (Central Zone), Hyderabad, P. Hari Kumar. The raids led to tension in the mandal as farmers from Moinabad staged a dharna before the Vigilance wing of APTransco at Buddha Bhavan in Hyderabad, where the arrested were taken. What caused outrage among villagers was the Vigilance officials’ action in picking up family members of those farmers who were not present during the raids. “I have never seen the inside of a police station in all my 57 years. As I did not have money after performing my daughter’s marriage last month, I begged APTransco officials to give me some more time to pay the dues of Rs. 18,000,” said Potharaju Darshan of Yenkepalli village. His son P. Chandu was rudely woken up at 5 a.m. on Saturday and taken away by the raiding party. The officials stomped on bedsheets and mattresses with their shoes. “They did not even give him time to wash,” rued his sister Surekha. A woman (name not revealed), who has three children, said she was away from home the whole of Friday night literally shivering with fear. “My husband left me with three children, 10 years ago. They pulled out my power connection and yanked off the meter six months ago. As a cook, I hardly earn enough to feed my little ones,” she said. (The Hindu 20/4/08)

Farmer attempts suicide in Mumbai (20) Mumbai: The horror of farmer suicide reached Mumbai when Subash Patil, (52) a farmer from Hanuman Nagar in Jalgaon district, tried to commit suicide at the Azad Maidan by consuming rat poison on Thursday morning. Subash had lost all his farm land due to the construction of a dam near his village in 1991. He was a driver with the State Transport Corporation (ST). He tried to get

compensation, but the rampant corruption and red tapism prevented him getting his due. His absenteeism from work due to the running around cost him his job in the ST. (Asian Age 25/4/08)

Demand for CBI probe into farmers’ packages (20) MUMBAI: The Opposition parties in Maharashtra and activists have condemned the manner in which the government has implemented the farmers’ packages for the Vidarbha region. Their worst fears were confirmed by the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, which has exposed lacunae in the State and Central relief packages for farmers in the suicide-hit Vidarbha region. The report concludes that going by the manner in which the packages were implemented, farmers’ distress had not significantly been reduced. State Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari said that the CAG report only confirmed what the Opposition parties had been saying for a long time. Kishore Tiwari of the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS) demanded a CBI inquiry into the way the packages worth almost Rs.5,000 crores had not helped farmers. He alleged that malpractices in the implementation of the packages had resulted in more than 3,000 suicides by farmers. The aim of the State and Central packages was to reduce agrarian distress in six districts of Vidarbha. The VJAS said that due to the total apathy of the administration coupled with massive corruption, Vidarbha farmers were in a pathetic state and the relief package had not reached dying farmers even after two years. The need of the hour was to provide food security, health care and support to the 4.34-lakh farm families identified by the administration as farmers in deep distress, Mr. Tiwari added. (The Hindu 27/4/08)

Farmers’ rally today against GM crops (20) NEW DELHI: Several members of Parliament will address a farmers’ rally here on Tuesday against sale and distribution of genetically modified crops and seeds in general and Bt brinjal in particular. Bt brinjal is the first GM food crop which will be approved for a second and final season trial before commercialisation. The “Coalition for a GM-free India,” which will organise the rally, represents farmers’ unions, environmental organisations, organic farming groups and women’s organisations. It has one of the largest membership of practising ecological farmers. Farmers from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh will participate. Consumers from Delhi are also expected to join the farmers in the protest against the government and big agribusiness corporations. “In India, we are standing on the verge of the first GM food crop, Bt brinjal, being approved for the second [and probably last] year large-scale trials this kharif 2008. It is at this juncture that this protest, a symbol of the building resistance against GM crops, is being organised for an informed debate on genetically modified crops as food safety is an issue that concerns all of us,” said Kavitha Kuruganti, Coalition member-secretary. The Tamil Nadu-based Indian Farmers and Toilers Party said AIADMK MPs V. Maitreyan and K. Malaisamy would participate in the rally. (The Hindu 6/5/08)

As chilli farmer ‘kills self’, Naidu says CM behind fire (20) Guntur, May 5: As a small-time chilli farmer, whose entire stock of the spice was reduced to ashes in Saturday’s fire at the market yard here, allegedly committed suicide on Monday, TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu alleged that the market yard chairman and Youth Congress leader L Appi Reddy, in connivance with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, had engineeed the fire for selling the 50-acre site to realtors. Naidu visited the fire-ravaged site, which was Asia’s largest chilli market, on Monday. Addressing the farmers, whose produce was gutted, he described the Chief Minister as a gangster, and said the state is under rowdy rule. Market yard chairman Appi Reddy and his men protested against the sweeping allegatgions of Naidu. There were skirmishes between Congressmen and TDP supporters. As tension mounted, police intervened and separated the waring groups. There was more tension when news came of S Raghava Rao’s “suicide”. The farmer, who owned five acres, was a tenant on another five acres. He had borrowed Rs 2 lakh for cultivation expenses. According to the police, he was unable to bear the loss of around 200 quintal of chillies destroyed in the fire. He ended his life at his native village Ravipadu in the district. Andhra Pradesh Transport Minister K Lakshminarayana has announced ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh to Rao’s family. (Indian Express 6/5/08)

Farmers up in arms against new credit policy provis ions (20) New Delhi : The Government may have directed the commercial banks to set aside 18 per cent of the total lending for agriculture sector but the recent credit policy may defeat the objectives. Farmers' associations are up in arms against some provisions in the new credit policy. This allows the PSU banks to provide loans to rural sector banks and meet their own 18 per cent

targets of disbursement of agricultural loans. The rural banks, in turn, could use the same money to extend loan to farmers and again meet their own mandatory quota. With the same amount being shown by two different banks in the name of agricultural loans, the quantum of direct loans to the farmers is falling flat on its face. Flaying the move, P Chengal Reddy, secretary-general, Confederation of Indian Farmers' Associations (CIFA), in a letter to the Prime Minister has said the move "amounts to window dressing of lending to agriculture and this kind of double reckoning should not be allowed." According to Chengal Reddy, the apex bank should have found ways and means of increasing direct finance to agriculture and enforce achievement of 18 per cent target, which remains under achieved till date. Another glitch pointed out by farm leaders in the policy states that presently, the banks are required to lend at least 10 per cent to weaker sections. With the new policy, the banks can by-pass the poor farmers and conveniently transfer the required amount to Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) which will not directly benefit weaker sections by any stretch of imagination. The farm leaders said, this would leads to deliberate avoiding of lending to weaker sections as banks would opt for the easy facility of transfer to RIDF, leaving the farmers out of the financial inclusion. Farm leaders pointed out that regional rural banks were created expressly with the purpose of lending to agriculture and rural artisans. Earlier, the lending target was higher. Subsequently, it is reduced to 60 per cent, thus diluting the very purpose of creation of rural banks. Now, with the new credit policy allowing selling of such loans above 60 per cent to other banks is very convenient for other banks to purchase en block, thus avoiding purposive responsibility of direct lending to farmers, and also reducing simultaneously amount already lent by rural banks. The farmers are worried that all these permissions, allowances and concessions will reduce total agricultural finance and still facilitate showing that 18 per cent target of lending to agriculture is achieved. (Pioneer 7/5/08) Circular on farm loans puts SBI in a spot (20) NEW DELHI: A well-intentioned internal advisory circular on the issue of loans to farmers for the purchase of tractors and other farm equipment appears to have put the country’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) in a spot. A scrutiny of the e-circular issued on May 16 by the Mumbai-based corporate centre of the SBI to all its branch circles reveals that an apparent intention to bail out distressed farmers has boomeranged as not only farmer associations, tractor manufacturers and political parties but also its own staff association has flayed the bank’s move to stop financing farm equipment, saying it would have a negative impact on the agriculture sector. However, the tenor of the circular can be understood when it is read in full. Referring to the subject ‘Agri Business – Debt Waiver & OTS, NPA & overdue Tractor Accounts,’ the circular reads: “As you are aware, Hon’ble Union Finance Minister in his budget speech on 29 February, 2008 has announced the Debt Waiver & Debt Relief Schemes for distressed farmers. Our Bank has a large portfolio of tractor loan accounts with high overdues and such farmers in distress can avail benefit under these schemes. “In this regard, branches may get in touch with tractor dealers (the loan account of the tractor sold by them has become overdue in the Bank) with a view to exploring using their good offices in educating tractor borrower to take the benefit under the Debt Relief Scheme announced by GOI (One Time Settlement Scheme) to distressed farmers, operating guidelines of which are expected shortly. “Branches may take up the task, keeping in view Bank’s obligation in regard to maintaining the secrecy on customer account. “Incidentally, the Bank has put on hold financing New Tractor and Farm Mechanisation activities viz. Power Tiller, Combine Harvester etc., with immediate effect in view of the very high overdues in this sub-segment of agri advances. The decision will be reviewed based on the progress achieved in reduction of overdues in due course.” The contents of the circular makes it clear that the last paragraph was picked up out of context which evidently portrayed the SBI as “anti-farmer” whereas the motive appears to be to help the farmers while cleaning up its own NPAs. (The Hindu 21/5/08)

Debt waiver for farmers hiked to Rs 71,680 crore (2 0) NEW DELHI: The government on Friday hiked the provisions for debt waiver for farmers by a hefty about 20 per cent to Rs 71,680 crore, a move that would enlarge the scope for relief for peasants. The decision to increase the debt waiver amount from Rs 60,000 crore, announced in the Union Budget for 2008-09, was taken at the meeting of the Cabinet presided over by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. It is pertinent to mention that Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi has been suggesting enlargement of the scheme to include more farmers. (Times of India 23/5/08)

Now, it is Rs. 71,680-cr. loan waiver (20) NEW DELHI: The United Progressive Alliance government on Friday increased its loan waiver package by nearly 20 per cent to Rs. 71,680 crore to provide relief to ‘big’ farmers, bringing them

under the purview of the debt write-off scheme as proposed in the 2008-09 budget. As per the expanded and modified scheme approved by the Cabinet, in keeping with demands from various quarters including Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, all farmers — small, marginal and big — in 237 identified dry, unirrigated and drought-prone districts in various States will get a minimum one-time debt relief of 25 per cent of their outstanding loan amount or Rs. 20,000, whichever is higher. Briefing journalists, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram made it clear that the loans of small and marginal farmers would be completely waived, whether they were in the identified districts or other regions. In view of the inclusion of big farmers in dry land areas holding larger acreage, the scheme would benefit more than four crore small, marginal and other large farmers and cost the exchequer Rs. 71,680 crore as per fresh estimates (unaudited), up from the original estimate of Rs. 60,000 crore, Mr. Chidambaram said. “Small and marginal farmers will get full debt waiver, while 60-65 per cent of large farmers also get full debt waiver. This is why the cost of the scheme has increased.” The number of small and marginal farmers expected to benefit from the enlarged scheme stood revised to 3.69 crore against the earlier estimate of three crore, while the number of other farmers was scaled down to 59.75 lakh from one crore. The waiver scheme, Mr. Chidambaram said, would be implemented by the end of next month and instructions issued to all bank branches to prepare a list of beneficiary-farmers for display on their premises. All direct farm loans, including crop loans and investment credit for agriculture and allied activities given to farmers between the period March 31, 1997 and March 2007 — which remained unpaid till February 2008 — would be covered. (Hindu 24/5/08)

13 farmers in AP poll fray to fight against SEZs (2 0) Hyderabad : In Thursday's byelection to the four Lok Sabha and 18 Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh, Jadcharla in Mehubnagar is one constituency which has become the focus of attention for an unusual reason. The 19 candidates in the fray here include 13 farmers who have lost their farm land due to the land acquisition for a Pharma Special Economic Zone in Polepally village. This novel protest by the small farmers has caught everybody's attention even though they have neither the resources to fight the elections nor any chance of winning it against the powerful and moneyed candidates of big political parties. Aa Mogliamma, one of the landless-candidates, puts it thus, "our cause is different and our method is different. We wanted to create an awareness among the people, specially the farmers, about our pathetic condition and tell them that it could happen to them also." What is rattling the opponents and moving the people is the fact that the 13 candidates have resorted to begging for money to fight this election and despite being pitted against each other they move around together and fight for a united cause. The people across the constituency are coming forward to lend them a helping hand and contribute small amounts of money. Despite protests from small and marginal farmers of the area, the State Government had acquired their lands for the Special Economic Zone. The process over the last five years has hit hundreds of families badly and deprived them of their only source of livelihood, land. The most tragic aspect is that the snatching of their land has led many of the farmers to death. (Pioneer 28/5/08)

‘Extend farm loan waiver scheme to Dalits, Adivasis ’ (20) GULBARGA: The Central Kisan Council of the All India Kisan Sabha has demanded the Union Government to extend the farm loan waiver scheme to Dalits, Adivasis and minorities who were mainly agriculture workers. President of the Karnataka Pranta Raita Sangha Maruti Manpade, who is also a member of the council, told pressperson here on Tuesday that the two-day council meeting held in New Delhi on May 30 and 31 discussed in detail the condition of farmers in the country and pointed out several “shortcomings” in the loan waiver scheme and sought suitable redressal. Mr. Manpade, who is also the State secretariat member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), said that the council in one of its resolutions said that the limit of two hectares fixed for farmers in dry and rain-fed areas to claim the benefit of the loan waiver scheme was inadequate and it should be increased to at least five hectares. The council also demanded to the Government to extend the cut-off date of the scheme from March 31, 2007, to February 29, 2008, the date on which the scheme was announced. The council also noted that according to official figures as many as 1,66,304 farmers had committed suicide in the country between 1997 and 2006, and the highest number of suicides were reported from Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, he said. One of the main reasons for this was disparity between the cost of cultivation and profit margins, Mr. Manpade said. The Government has extended the loan waiver scheme to farmers in the 237 districts covered under the drought-prone area programme, the desert development programme and the Prime Minister’s Special Relief Programme. The council, in another resolution, asked the Government to extend the scheme to farmers in all the districts of the country, he said. The council also demanded the Government to

reduce the interest rate on farm loans from 7 per cent to 4 per cent, as recommended by the National Commission on Farmers To highlight the shortcomings in the loan waiver scheme and other problems faced by farmers, the sabha would be staging protests and rallies at all the district headquarters in the country from July 1 to 15, he said. (The Hindu 4/6/08)

SEZ: Andhra farmer attempts suicide (20) Hyderabad : The fight of the people of Polepally against the acquisition of their land for a special economic zone on Wednesday took a grim turn with one of the affected small farmer attempting suicide by consuming pesticide. Venkatamma, alleging that she was still not paid compensation for her land consumed pesticide in the early hours of Wednesday and collapsed near her home. She was immediately rushed to the hospital at Jadcharla where her condition was described by the doctors as critical.The incident has further angered the farmers in the area which has seen constant battle against the SEZ for the past five years. Recently Poelpally was in the news when 13 farmers had entered the fray in the by elections for Jadcharla assembly seat. The by election was eventually won by the Congress candidate Mallu Ravi. (Pioneer 12/6/08)

‘WTO U-turn to hit farmers’ (20) New Delhi: June 12: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s recent statement claiming India’s "commitment to an early positive conclusion of the Doha Development Round" has farmer lobbies worried. With WTO mini-ministerial meetings expected mid-July, farmer leaders warned that a U-turn in India’s stated agricultural policies would adversely impact 800 million farmers. The key discord issue for Indian farmers is that the US provides $360 billion subsidy for its farmers. Senior trade officials from the US, EU, Japan and Australia have extensively debated on how developing countries open up their markets to agricultural products, but no mention has been made on the removal of agricultural subsidy commitments by these nations. Cheap subsidised imports pose a serious food and livelihood security threat to Indian farmers who gathered in the city and urged the government not to negotiate on reducing tariffs on agricultural products and instead urged the imposition of quantitative restrictions to protect our farmer from unfair competition. "Suicides by cotton farmers in Vidarbha is linked to the massive subsidies that the American cotton farmers get and the drastic reduction in import duties by India," warned Vijay Jawandia of the Shetkar Sanghtana of Maharashtra. Malla Reddy, Andhra Pradesh Raitu Sangha president, pointed out: "Cheap import of edible oils at low duties has destroyed millions of livelihoods of oil seed farmers in the drylands of Andhra Pradesh." Similarly, Father Mathew Vadakemury of the Indian Farmers’ Movement, Kerala, said: "Isn’t it ironical that Vasco da Gama came to look for spices in Kerala, and today Kerala is importing pepper from Vietnam and Sri Lanka?" Kerala is currently swamped by cheap imports of spices, coconut, tea and coffee, which has destroyed its indigenous agriculture. Basavaraj Ingin from Gulbarga, representing the Karnataka Red Gram Growers’ Association, and K. Puttannaiah, president of the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha, shared the serious impacts of the removal of quantitative restrictions on pulses, coffee and the silk industry of Karnataka. Similarly, Yudhvir Singh, president, Bharatiya Kisan Union, Delhi unit, wanted the Indian government to remember that each state in India was larger than many of the countries in the European Union. The country cannot negotiate issues like special products without taking the concerns of these states into account," Mr Singh pointed out. The current draft that is under negotiation has drastically reduced the number of special products for developing countries to eight — 20 per cent of the total tariff lines in agriculture. India will not be able to protect its agriculture and food security by accepting the WTO norms on special products. Devinder Sharma of the Forum for Biotechnology said WTO is being projected as the answer for the global food crisis. "But after WTO came into effect in January, 1985, more than 54 food self-sufficient countries have become net food importers." Another livelihood source facing destruction if fish imports from Japan and Korea were permitted was the fish industry. (Asian Age 13/6/08)

New agriculture policy soon (20) Bijapur: Horticulture Minister and district in-charge S.K. Bellubbi has said the State Government has decided to come out with a new agriculture policy aimed at preventing farmers from committing suicide. Speaking after inaugurating a vermicompost unit set up by the district unit of the Indian Small and Village Industries Association at Burnapur village on Monday, Mr. Bellubbi said that the new policy would ensure more yield by encouraging the use of traditional farming practices. It would also help preserve soil fertility. He said that the indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides had resulted in soil degradation in several parts of the State. Using vermicompost would add value to traditional fertilizers. Mr. Bellubbi said that good quality vermicompost could be prepared easily in a short span of time at a low cost. In normal weather conditions, vermicompost could be prepared within two months, he said. Mr. Bellubbi said that

priority would be given for implementing the irrigation project in which 108 tanks in Bijapur district and 52 tanks in Bagalkot district would be filled. Steps would also be taken to implement the Mulwad liftirrigation project. Earlier, the Minister inaugurated the classrooms at Kosmoniketan Composite Pre-University College in the village and lauded the efforts of the association. Association president H.G. Kumar felicitated Mr. Bellubbi on the occasion. (The Hindu 17/6/08) Fertiliser furore: Farmer ends life (20) Davangere: : Upset over the non-availability of fertilisers, a farmer allegedly committed suicide by consuming poison in Malebennur town of Davangere district on Wednesday. The deceased has been identified as Hirebidari Ajjappa (41). He is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.The farmer took the extreme step in his house at 11:30 am even as a protest demanding adequate supply of fertilisers was going on near a petrol bunk in the town. He was shifted to the district general hospital at Davangere but died at 3 pm, failing to respond to the treatment. The incident comes barely days after a farmer was killed in police firing in Haveri. As soon as the news spread, farmer leaders thronged the hospital premises, prevailed upon the bereaved family members to postpone the last rites and demanded proper compensation.The farmer leaders also demanded that the chief minister visit the bereaved family. Janamma, wife of the deceased, said that her husband had taken the extreme step as he was unable to get the fertilisers to commence sowing operations. Deputy Commissioner M B Dyaberi said Ajjappa had taken Rs 80,000 loan from a moneylender for his daughter’s marriage. “Ajjappa committed suicide as he was unable to repay the loan,” he claimed and announced a compensation of Rs 1 lakh and an Ashraya house to the next of kin of the deceased farmer. Meanwhile, Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa has directed the Davangere district administration to extend compensation to the family of Ajjappa.(Deccan Herald 19/6/08)

“Furnish list of debt relief beneficiaries by June 25” (20) NEW DELHI: Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Thursday directed public sector banks (PSBs) to furnish by June 25 the list of farmer beneficiaries pertaining to the farm debt relief scheme so as to ensure that the loan waiver programme, as outlined in the Budget, is completed by the month-end deadline. In a video conference with the chiefs of various PSBs, Mr. Chidambaram said: “On June 25, we hope to get the list [of farmers].” Setting a timetable for completion of the loan waiver scheme, he said that by June 23, the banks should get themselves satisfied that the process of “inspection and superchecks” in this regard had been completed and a final list of farmers prepared. To ensure that this is done as scheduled, Financial Services Secretary Arun Ramanathan is slated to get in touch with the chairmen of various PSBs the following day. Clarifying some of the provisions of the revised farm loan waiver programme, Mr. Chidambaram pointed out that in the case of investment loans, the interest payable, but not serviced as on December 31, 2007, will also be included for extending debt relief to farmers. In the case of loans provided directly to self-help groups of individual farmers, the Minister said the disaggregated data of the loan extended to each farmer could be maintained in the books of these groups, provided the banks were satisfied with that data. He also asked the PSBs to ensure that the certificates and undertakings pertaining to the debt waiver were provided to farmers in their languages. While announcing the Rs. 60,000-crore farm loan waiver programme as a Budget package for the current fiscal, Mr. Chidambaram fixed June 30 as the deadline for providing debt relief to about 4 crore small and marginal farmers. Subsequently, to ensure that farmers in dryland areas could also avail themselves of the relief package benefits, the size of the loan waiver was raised to Rs. 71,680 crore.(The Hindu 20/6/08)

Farmers’ organisation demands probe (20) Raichur: The Raitha Krishikarmiakra Sanghatane (RKS) has demanded that the State Government order an inquiry into the recent cases of suicide by farmers, and release compensation to the families of the deceased. The RKS has also demanded action against the officials who failed to check hoarding of fertilizers in the State. In a statement issued here on Thursday, secretary of the RKS H.V. Diwakar charged that the State Government had failed to protect the interests of farmers. Apart from its “failure” in addressing the shortage of seeds and fertilizers, the Government had also failed to check hoarding of fertilizers, he said. The police opened fire on the farmers agitating against shortage of fertilizers, at Haveri, he said. He said that lack of seeds and fertilizers had affected sowing operations in the State. Suicide by Ajjappa of Davangere on Wednesday and Rangappa of Honalli in the district on Thursday indicate that farmers had no faith in the Government, he added. (The Hindu 20/6/08)

Debt-ridden farmer commits suicide (20)

CUTTACK: Abani Kumar Palei, a 31-year-old farmer who was undergoing treatment at SCB Medical College hospital here died on Wednesday night. The local Mangalabag police have registered an unnatural death (UD) case on Thursday and are enquiring into the matter. The farmer from Balianta block of Khurda district was admitted into the hospital on Tuesday in critical condition after he allegedly consumed poison in a bid to commit suicide, police said. “We are waiting for the post mortem report to confirm the exact cause of death”, said an official of the medical outpost. According to family sources, Palei was upset for the past few days after his summer paddy was destroyed. He was preparing to harvest the crop to repay the loans when his paddy sprouted due to incessant rains, sources said. He had allegedly consumed pesticides to take the extreme step. Sources said, the victim was rushed to a local hospital and later was shifted to the Cuttack hospital after his condition deteriorated. Palei is survived by his wife and a two-year-old son. (The Hindu 20/6/08)

Two farmers commit suicide (20) GULBARGA/SHIMOGA: Two farmers — one from Gulbarga district and another from Davangere district — allegedly committed suicide after they failed to get fertilizers. Veershetty Basavannappa Kanna (41), who could not get DAP fertilizer for use in his four-acre land at Polakpalli in Chincholi taluk of Gulbarga district, allegedly ended his life by consuming pesticide on Wednesday. According to the complaint filed by his wife, Veershetty was upset that he could not get the fertilizers in the market. Moreover, he lost Rs. 500 in the market at Chincholi. The complaint said the farmer consumed pesticide before going to bed, and on Thursday morning, the family members were shocked to find him dead. The wife in her complaint said that her husband had also taken loans for preparing the land for cultivation and for purchase of fertilizers and seeds. After post-mortem, the body was handed over to the family. According to reports, there was no stock of DAP fertilizer in the district and the officials were expecting the situation to ease after the arrival of fresh stocks soon. Rangappa (45), a farmer of Pallavanahalli in Honnali taluk of Davangere district, who reportedly consumed poison in a bid to commit suicide died at the McGann Hospital here on Thursday. It was stated that Rangappa ended his life after he failed to get fertilizers. He was found lying in his field on Thursday morning by his son Shivraj. He was immediately shifted to McGann Hospital in Shimoga, where he died at 1.30 p.m. Rangappa was scheduled to get his quota of chemical fertilizers from the Chatnahalli Agricultural Service Cooperative Society. The society which received one lorry load of fertilizers distributed it in the five villages under its jurisdiction. However, Rangappa failed to get it.(The Hindu 20/6/08)

5 debt-ridden farmers commit suicide in Vidarbha (2 0) Nagpur, June 29: Five debt-ridden farmers committed suicide in the last two days in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, activists said. According to Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS), a voluntary organisation working among farmers in the region, the farmers who took the extreme step included two from Yavatmal district and one each from Buldhana, Amravati and Akola districts. With these suicides, the number of farmers who ended their lives in Vidarbha in the two years since Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced a special relief package for the region has touched 2,287, a VJAS release here said. The Prime Minister's Rs 3,750-crore package, announced on July 1, 2006, had failed to provide succour to cultivators because of its flawed implementation, the release claimed. The government had failed to provide relief to 30 lakh distressed farmers, especially in western Vidarbha, it added. (New Kerala.com 29.6.08)

Farmer commits suicide in Gulbarga district (20) GULBARGA: Poverty and loan burden forced yet another farmer to commit suicide at Bhognahalli in Afzalpur taluk. According to reports reaching here, Malleshappa Malkanna Poojary (59) was found hanging in his field on Sunday morning. Relatives of Poojary told the police that the farmer had taken a loan of about Rs. 2 lakh from moneylenders and also borrowed Rs. 8,000 from Vivasahi Sahakari Society. According to the complaint filed at the Revoor police station, the moneylenders had started pressurising Poojary to repay the loan. (The Hindu 30/6/08)

Farmer ends life (20) Somwarpet: Owing to debt, a farmer committed suicide by consuming pesticide at Karkahalli near here on Sunday evening. The debt victim has been identified as K M Subbaiah (52). He had 3-acre land where he had grown ginger. The crop had been spoiled as he did not get fertiliser in time. Besides, he was reportedly apprehensive over the repayment of his crop loan. Subbaiah’s wife died last year due to ill health, and he had spent much for her treatment. Depressed under all these issues, Subbaiah attempted suicide by consuming pesticide. Thou he was rushed to the

local government hospital, he passed away. Two children have now become orphans. Somwarpet police have registered a case. (Deccan Herald 1/7/08)

As loan waiver gets official, little cheer in suici de zone (20) Yavatmal, July 1: In the heart of Vidharbha’s suicide country, Sumitra Pandurang Surpam and Asha Lakde have similar stories to tell. Their husbands committed suicide early this year after crops failed and debts mounted. Sumitra is not eligible for the loan waiver while Asha is but it is not making much of a difference to either. Sumitra, 40, has little idea about the buzz of karjamafi (loan-waiver) that is all around her. The day after the government’s deadline to banks to waive off nearly Rs 71,000 crore loans to small and marginal farmers across India ended, she knows it does not benefit her but she is not bothered. Luck has hardly been on her side ever since her husband Pandurang consumed poison on April 1, 2008. Sumitra, a Kolam tribal, had no courage to do farming after having seen her husband’s disastrous experience. So, she left her Kochi village to shift to stay in her parents’ house in Wagda village, about 13 km away. “I did not want to stay on in that village any longer, neither did my children. So rather than till my own land, I chose to be a labourer,” she says. From the three non-irrigated acres they have at Kochi village in Ghatanji tehsil, Pandurang could reap just four quintal of cotton and 50 kg of pulses last year. With an institutional loan of Rs 25,000, taken after the eligibility deadline of March 31, 2007, and a private loan worth about 30,000, he had lost the will and the courage to live. Pandurang’s death was adjudged a farm-related suicide by a government panel but Sumitra and her two sons haven’t got the government aid of Rs 1 lakh. Sumitra decided to give the land on rent (makta) to a fellow villager for Rs 1,000 per year and has preferred to work as farm labourer. Her daughter Renuka is married and her sons Prakash (18) and Pravin (16), too, work as farm hands. Over 50 km away in Dahegaon, life has not changed much for Asha Lakde, another farm widow, despite the loan waiver. Her husband Ankush, 45, committed suicide by consuming insecticide on February 19, 2008. Her bank loans of about Rs 45,000 have been waived but she will have to square off the Rs 30,000 private loan her husband had taken. Or, she will have to use the Rs 30,000 cash-in-hand, part of the government aid for agrarian suicides, she is due to receive in a few days to the Krishi Kendra from where she has borrowed seeds and fertilizers worth Rs 25,000. Asha has eight acres, and unlike Sumitra, she has decided to till it herself. She has no other option—she has three daughters and a son to look after. Jaishree and Jyoti, have cleared their Class X exams while Bhagyashri has done her HSC. Son Jitesh, the eldest, is uncertain if he can go to college. “Who will do it (farming) then? I will have to,” she says. She has no excitement about the loan-waiver she is eligible for. “All of it will go in squaring off the other dues,” she says. …. (Indian Express 2/7/08)

NREG wages not paid, farmer sets himself on fire (2 0) Ranchi, July 2: Living below the poverty line and unable to feed his family,Tapra Soren, a 32-year-old Adivasi farmer from Jharkhand, attempted self immolation on Wednesday. Employed under the National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREG) scheme, Soren had not been paid his wages for over a month. As per NREG guidelines,every worker engaged by the State should be paid on a monthly basis. Although he was hired to dig a well at a cost of Rs 80,000 early this year, he has been paid only Rs 72,500. “The rest of the money has not been paid to me till now,” alleged Soren before setting himself afire in broad daylight at the Churchu block, Hazaribagh district. Due to timely intervention by onlookers, the fire was extinguished. He was rushed to the state-run RIMS hospital by Churchu Block Development Officer Manmohan Prasad. “His hair,face and a part of the stomach are burnt. We are trying to save him,” said a doctor. (Indian Express 3/7/08)

Loan waiver: suicide spurs plea to extend cut-off d ate (20) GULBARGA: A 26-year-old farmer Siddalinga Reddy Munnalli committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree in his land at Halchera in Chincholi taluk of Gulbarga district on Monday after his name did not find a place in the list of those whose loans were waived off by nationalised banks. According to reports reaching here, workers of the Karnataka Pranta Raita Sangha (KPRS) and relatives of the farmer have not allowed the police and the revenue authorities to conduct post- mortem. They are demanding the presence of the Deputy Commissioner on the spot to give an assurance that the loan taken by the farmer from the State Bank of Hyderabad branch in Chincholi will be waived and his family paid compensation. Siddalinga Reddy Munnalli had taken a loan of Rs 50,000 from the bank. KPRS district president Virupakshappa Tadkal said here on Tuesday that the cut-off date for the loan waiver scheme, which had been fixed by the Centre as March 2007, should be extended to March 2008. Loans taken by farmers were usually renewed by banks in June. The deceased farmer’s loan was also renewed in June 2007, and had

become ineligible for loan waiver. The Union and State Governments should also initiate measures to write off the loans taken by farmers from private money-lenders, he said. Mr. Tadkal said that private money-lenders had played a major role in providing loans to he farmers in districts like Gulbarga where cooperative societies and nationalised banks had failed toprovide crop loans to all the farmers. Not even 25 per cent of the farmers had got institutional loans, he said. The State Government should adopt the Kerala model in which the loans taken by farmers from money- lenders too are being waived. Mr. Tadakal said that the KPRS would hold a protest in Gulbarga city on July 14. (The Hindu 11/7/08)

Vidarbha forum writes to PM on farm crisis (20) MUMBAI: With the first and second sowing of cotton failing in the five districts of Vidarbha, the agrarian crisis in the region has further deepened, making Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti demand in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, free distribution of coarse grains seeds such as bajra and jowar and assistance of Rs. 2000 an acre to save the debt-hit three million farmers. As the rain plays truant, five districts in the region have not received even one hour of continuous rain, leading to dry conditions. “Soyabean, the alternative cash crop of cotton, germinates early but dries out fast if the land has no moisture; so now the food crop is the only way left,” Samiti leader Kishor Tiwari told The Hindu. (The Hindu 14/7/08)

Two farmers commit suicide (20) DAVANGERE/Raichur: Two farmers committed suicide by consuming poison in the State on Friday. According to sources, Hanumanthappa (55) at Uchangidurga in Davangere district reportedly committed suicide as he was unable to repay the loan owing to crop failure. He had taken loan of Rs. 2 lakh from his relatives and friends against the four acres of land. Honnappa (48) of at Sugaral village of Deodurga taluk in Raichur district allegedly committed suicide in his field. He had purchased seeds and fertilizers for kharif season on credit. However, he could not take up sowing owing to failure of rains which overburdened his debts. — Staff Correspondent (The Hindu 19/7/08)

Farmer in Orissa commits suicide (20) BHUBANESWAR: July 23: Yet another distressed farmer in Orissa has ended his life after he failed to repay his loans following crop failure. Six more farmers have committed suicide in the state in the past one year. In the latest case, one Anant Charan Rout (56), a small farmer of Hagaribagija village in Kendrapara district took the extreme step on Monday. "He committed suicide by hanging himself in the house," said his widow Bidyutlata Rout. According to her, Anant, the only bread earner in his family of five, had taken loans of Rs 40,000 from two money lenders in the village. "He killed himself after he lost of the hope of repaying the loans," she said. The farmer had raised paddy crops in his two-acre plot with the loan. But the recent floods in the state damaged the crops, shattering his hopes of settling the dues. "He tried to get loan from the cooperative societies to repay the high interest loans but without any success. He was under spells of depression for the last few weeks," she said. The district administration has ordered a probe and the local police has lodged a case of "unnatural death".Majority of small and marginal farmers in Orissa usually borrow money from the private money lenders in their localities at an abnormal interest rate of 20 to 25 per cent. They mortgage their lands for the loans. They lose their lands, their only source of living, when they fail to repay the loans. The recent announcement by the Centre to waive the loans of small farmers has hardly helped them because they raised loans from the private people. (Asian Age 24/7/08)

WTO talks fail as India and China stand up to US to ‘protect’ farmers (20) Geneva, July 29: The ministerial level talks here that attempted to clinch a global trade deal failed to achieve a breakthrough after nine long and tense days of discussions mainly due to differences between the US and India on measures to protect the livelihood concerns of poor farmers in the developing world. The talks, that form part of the seven-year-old Doha Development Round negotiations of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), also saw differences between the developed and the developing world in several market-opening commitments regarding agriculture and industrial goods. Though a formal announcement is expected only later in the night, official sources said WTO director general Pascal Lamy clearly indicated that there was no progress in the meeting of the group of seven countries that included representatives from India, Brazil, China, the European Union, US, Japan and Australia. They said, therefore, it was highly unlikely to have any resolution of outstanding issues in a larger group of countries. India had earlier refused to give in to attempts to weaken a measure called the Special Safeguard Mechanism (SSM) meant to protect poor farmers, despite enormous pressure from developed

countries, especially the US. The SSM enables developing countries like India to hike agricultural tariff by imposing additional duties to protect the livelihood of its poor farmers from import surges and price declines of sensitive agricultural products like wheat and rice. But it is a contingency measure and, therefore, used only when imports are substantive. Meanwhile, developing countries on Tuesday blamed the US for what they called its stubborn attitude in maintaining the prosperity of its subsidized farmers and said this was the main stumbling block in clinching a global trade deal. Despite efforts between Monday and Tuesday to resolve the SSM issue using different formulations — including a proposal by Lamy and another one by the European Union — the US rejected these saying SSM would disrupt normal trade rather than protect poor farmers. Some agricultural exporting countries like Uruguay and Paraguay, too, said SSM would hurt their interests. Meanwhile, India was backed by China and around 100 other countries at a crucial juncture in the talks when India suffered a setback as Brazil broke ranks with other developing country allies in this aspect due to its interests in the farm-export business. China had said it would not offer any concessions on special products (SPs farm products that are subjected to minimum or no duty cuts) and SSMs as these directly affect the livelihood of its poor farmers. It wanted to demarcate rice, cotton and sugar as SPs. On SSM, India turned down a WTO proposal under which developing countries could impose additional safeguard duties only if the import surge is 40% more than the average of previous three years. India had told the WTO that if developing countries were forced to wait till a 40% rise in imports, it would wreak havoc on the livelihood of the most vulnerable farmers due to cheap farm imports from the rich world. India also demanded that the additional safeguard duties that it should be allowed to impose on such imports should be above the Uruguay Round-bound levels (tariffs that were committed to at the Uruguay Round) as the present proposal of 15% additional duty would not be enough to curb such import surges and price declines. …….. (Indian Express 30/7/08)

Get a 30% discount on Calls to India. (20) KARIMNAGAR/SANGAREDDY: S Boopathi (40), a farmer of Gunkulkondapur village of Bejjenki mandal, committed suicide at his house on wednesday night distressed over his failure to get fertilisers for his crops. Boopathi returned home empty-handed on Wednesday evening after failing to purchase fertilisers. He consumed pesticide soon after and died midway to a hospital. His wife Nagavva has lodged a complaint with the police in Karimnagar district. Meanwhile, agitated farmers continued their protests by staging rasta rokos on the highways. Some even tried to immolate themselves in Karimnagar and Medak districts as officials failed to deliver on their promises of supplying fertilisers. Sarpanch of Sheelapur village in Bejjanki mandal M Rajesham climbed a cell tower and threatened to commit suicide if fertilisers were not supplied to the farmers of his village. He also demanded an explanation from District Collector S K Sultania and agriculture officials for the delay in the supply. According to eye-witness accounts, Rajesham scaled the tower around 10 a.m. and refused to come down until his demand was met. However, he relented after two hours after Revenue Divisional Officer Dayanand and Indurthi MLA Chada Venkat Reddy assured that the fertilisers would be supplied within 24 hours. Expressing solidarity with their sarpanch, four farmers too threatened suicide. In Medak district, nearly 1,000 farmers blocked the national highway for nearly three hours. District officials expressed helplessness over the issue saying, only two lorry loads of fertilisers were available.(New Indian Express 1/8/08)

Village shuns suicides, responds to crop failures w ith dairy farming (20) Girata (Washim), Aug. 3: Seated on a charpai near his house, Shravan Rathod smirks at the swing in Vidarbha’s fortunes — the spiralling suicides followed by the loan waiver largesse. “We survived on whatever the jungle offered us during the 1972 drought. If we didn’t die then, what would make us commit suicide now?” the 59-year-old former sarpanch said. Rathod is a village elder from the hard-working Banjara tribe, the dominant community in Girata hamlet in Manrool-Peer tehsil of Washim, about 250km from Nagpur, who have beaten agricultural vagaries with a virtual milk revolution on the lines of the Amul story. Like Rathod, the proud Banjara village snubbed death, and then the government sops that followed as quick-fix solutions for the agrarian crisis that gripped Vidarbha in the last two years. A year later, Girata is not only on the verge of a milk revolution, it even plans to thumb its nose at the government by donating a day’s wages to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund this Independence Day to show what a proud, resilient village can do without government crutches. Back in July 2006 when the Prime Minister visited Vidarbha, Rathod was the only farmer in the village with two buffaloes. With cotton stuck in an impasse triggered by errant rainfall, repeated crop failures, low market prices for the produce, and high interest debts from moneylenders, the village farmers got together and collectively turned towards setting up a dairy industry for survival. Today, the village has more than 250 buffaloes, a daily

production of 350 litres of milk, and earns more profits than cotton farming would fetch. Girata’s story of transformation started when Prakash Rathod, a college lecturer at Washim, 40km away, visited western Maharashtra and studied how farmers’ collectives had paved the way for tackling agrarian uncertainties. “We decided we should jointly do something for ourselves than wait for the government to pull us out of the quagmire. We decided to form the first self help group of 20 farmers to start milk production,” says Prakash, the first graduate from the village who recently won a Nabard award for promoting animal husbandry. In May 2007, the Sevalal Maharaj Farmers’ SHG collected Rs 100 each from 20 farmers for six months, and approached the local State Bank of India branch for a loan to buy buffaloes. The bank’s branch manager, Shekhar Natarajan, encouraged the farmers, and sanctioned a loan of Rs 1 lakh. Each farmer bought two buffaloes, which started giving milk in the next 15 days. The village started generating an income on the investment immediately, and began regular repayments of Rs 1,100 per month from each farmer. “Six months later, we approached the bank again for a Rs 50,000 loan to buy more buffaloes and build cattle sheds. Each farmer bought two more buffaloes, and we had 80 buffaloes in a short span. Today, the village has more than 250 animals, and we intend to increase it to 3,000 in the next one year by forming a larger collective,” says Shravan Rathod, whose efforts to improve the village economy received support from bank officials, and the collector.

Girata’s remarkable story is significant as no non-government organisation visited the village, and the innovations by the farmers were entirely their own. Initially, the Girata farmers sold the milk to hotels and at the Washim market, but could not fetch a price higher than for Rs 8 per litre. “We then decided to go for direct retail and set up our own milk centre at Washim market with help from the district collector. We transport the milk in 25-litre cans in an auto twice a day. The milk now fetches a price of Rs 18 per litre,” says Rathod, who now wants to go for a refrigerated milk mobile van. Prakash Rathod, a lecturer at Savitribai Phule College at Washim, met top agricultural development officials who suggested that Girata should initiate a cluster of 13 villages to pool in the milk production and supply the produce across Washim district under a human resource development ministry scheme. This offers a 75 per cent grant, with beneficiaries contributing the remaining 25 per cent of the capital. “Each of the villages will have a self help group of 20 farmers, and the work will be supervised by village committees. The only condition is that no one should sell the buffaloes. Veterinary doctors would visit every month to check the health of buffaloes,” says the teacher. The next step the village wants to take is to create a milk surplus, and then go for manufacturing by-products like paneer, khoya used in sweets. They also want to replicate the milk model with foodgrain, and go for direct retail of farm produce at Washim market. Like most of Vidarbha, the village produces cotton, soyabean, tur, jowar among other crops. With milk generating an assured cash income, the farmers are not unduly alarmed about the deficient rainfall this year. Inspired by the success, the village now has 12 other self-help groups, including Tuljabhavani of below poverty line villagers. “We have 14 members, and annual savings of Rs 60,000. We will soon get a bank loan to buy two buffaloes each,” says Kishore Sitaram Rathod, a member of the group. (Telegraph 4/8/08)

10 debt-ridden farmers commit suicide in Vidarbha: VJAS (20) Nagpur, Aug 7 : As many as ten debt-ridden farmers have committed suicide in the last five days in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, according to an NGO. Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS), a voluntary organisation working among farmers in the region, in a release here said, those who took the extreme step included three farmers from Akola district, two each from Bhandara, Washim and Yavatmal districts, and one from Wardha district. This indicated the resumption of the spate of suicides by the distressed farmers of Vidarbha after a two-month lull, the release said. Asserting that the 'flawed' policies of the government were responsible for the suicides, VJAS said that the year 2008 could turn out to be worse than 2006, if corrective measures were not initiated immediately. The disbursement of loans by nationalised and cooperative banks was not even 10 per cent of the target in the region, thereby forcing the farmers to approach private money lenders, it added. (New Kerala.Com 7/8/08)

Farmer packages failed to lower suicides: panel (20 ) Pune: : The one-member committee of Narendra Jadhav, Vice-Chancellor, Pune University, formed to analyse the implementation of packages for farmers in Maharashtra, has pointed out that the schemes have not been effective in bringing down the rate of farmers’ suicide. At a press conference on Wednesday, Jadhav pointed out that while in 2006, 1,448 farmers committed suicide, in 2007 the number came down to 1,241. “Suicides decreased by merely 200 which is

not a drastic change. It is a failure of the Government agency,” he said. The Jadhav Committee was set up on November 13, 2007, by the Maharashtra Government to analyse the implementation of its Rs 1,075-crore package announced in December 2005 and Rs 3,750-crore package declared by the Prime Minister. (Indian Express 8/8/08)

Farmer, two daughters die in suicide pact (20) KADAPA: A debt-ridden farmer and his two young daughters ended their lives in a suicide pact in Patharamapuram village in Kalasapadu mandal in Kadapa district on Wednesday evening. A farmer Gangi Reddy Jayarami Reddy consumed pesticide and gave it to his daughters Sireesha, 7, and Sai, 5, police said. The farmer who owned an acre of land, purchased a tractor on loan for farming and was saddled with debt to the tune of Rs. 4 lakh. Unable to repay the debts and feeling peeved to work as a farm labour, he ended his life along with two children, when his wife Venkatalakshmamma went to the fields to cut grass. When Venkatalakshmamma returned home, Sireesha told her mother that her father gave something to drink and collapsed. The father and daughters were rushed to the government hospital at Porumamilla, where Sireesha died. Gangi Reddy and Sai died on way to Nellore Government Hospital. Kalasapadu sub-inspector Jayaram registered a case. (Indian Express 8/8/08)

Vidarbha gets raw deal in loan waiver: VC’s report (20) Mumbai: The Vidarbha region accounts for the maximum number of suicides, yet it gets a poor share of loan waiver compared to western Maharashtra, according to a report by Narendra Jadhav, Vice-Chancellor of Pune University. Six districts in western Vidarbha — Amravati, Akola, Yavatmal, Buldhana, Washim and Wardha — recorded the highest number of suicides between 1997 and 2005. And Yavatmal has seen the most number of suicides. The report says the Rs. 71,680-crore waiver announced in the Union budget 2008-09 allots an equitable share to Maharashtra, as per its population percentage in the country. However, within the State, the distribution is skewed and fraught with regional imbalances. Maharashtra’s share in the waiver is Rs. 9,896 crore (13 per cent). Out of this, the western region gets 53 per cent for 19.48 lakh account holders, whereas Vidarbha gets 20.1 per cent for 12.31 lakh account holders. Yavatmal gets the rawest deal with only Rs. 14,431 per head on average compared to Rs. 27,310 in western Maharashtra. The report points out the dichotomy between Vidarbha and western Maharashtra in the size of landholding and irrigation facilities. The former has large landholdings but poor irrigation, while the latter fares better in irrigation despite small landholdings. There are around 15 lakh farmers owning up to five acres in western Maharashtra. In Vidarbha, the number is only around 9.5 lakh. Therefore, as far as complete waiver goes, Vidarbha farmers benefit less. The only positive difference is that farmers owning more than five acres will have their loan waived if it is within Rs. 20,000, which is not applicable in western Maharashtra. This will help many big farmers in Vidarbha as well. To correct the imbalance, the report suggests various recovery structures instead of straightforward waivers for new loans. However, it should be done keeping in mind the areas hit by famine or scarcity. It suggests increasing the scope of one-time settlement (OTS) and improvements in the rebate scheme. While the waiver is “historic” considering the volume of outlay involved, the measure is only a temporary relief necessary, but not sufficient. The bottom line is — agriculture is not viable any more, and more serious and diverse measures are needed to break the vicious cycle of indebtedness and waivers. Apart from the Centre’s waiver, the report outlines various reasons for the continuing suicides in the State despite two packages for the six districts in western Vidharba — the Maharashtra government’s relief package and the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund.. Both packages focussed on long-term schemes such as irrigation as opposed to provision of “immediate relief.” They were thus “backloaded” aiming at long-term support — instead of being “frontloaded” aiming at immediate relief. For instance, 58 per cent of the PM’s relief fund was allocated for irrigation and 19 per cent went to banks as interest waiver. In effect, only 23 per cent went directly to the farmers in distress. The package, therefore, could not assure the farmers. Other factors hindered smooth implementation. For instance, the implementing authority was transferred five times in two years and 30-40 per cent posts in the Agricultural department were vacant for four years. The farmers could not reap full benefits of the packages as many were rendered ineligible for one reason or the other. Furthermore, full compensation was not given to them directly, and a large part of it went to postal savings. The farmers were given cattle, but with no means of rearing, many simply sold their livestock. Traders and contractors disbursing the relief extracted commissions. (The Hindu 11/8/08)

Four farmers, cop killed in Greater Noida clashes ( 20)

Noida/Greater Noida : Four farmers and a UP Police constable were killed on Wednesday afternoon when police opened fire during a farmers' protest while the latter were demanding adequate compensation for their acquired land. Around 50 persons, including 20 policemen, were injured. According to the police, the farmers were armed with countrymade pistols, lathis and stones. Inspector General of Police (Meerut) Gian Singh and DIG PV Ramashastri rushed to the spot to control the situation and were camping in Greater Noida till late on Wednesday. Police sources said that three farmers and a constable of Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC), Ravidutt, were killed in the clashes but SSP (Gautam Budh Nagar) RK Chaturvedi denied any casualty from his side. "Three farmers were killed in police firing but no constable was killed," said Chaturvedi. According to hospital sources, Manoj (24), Bhola (35), Sunil (19) and an unidentified person (aged around 30 years), all from Ghodi Bachheda village, were killed. The toll may go up as five persons were reportedly critical in different hospitals of Noida and Greater Noida. "We resorted to all means to control the mob but at last the police had to open fire," said Chaturvedi. In the morning, around 500 farmers came on their tractors to gherao the office of Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA). Heavy police force and PAC had been deployed in the area and the premises barricaded. The farmers allegedly rammed their tractors into the barricades, injuring around 12 policemen and officers. Then they started pelting stones, forcing the police to withdraw, and managed to reach GNIDA's main gate with their tractors. The policemen were reportedly ordered to lathi charge. Chaturvedi himself received injuries in the clashes. "The policemen were brutal...even the elderly and women were not spared. We were staging a peaceful demonstration outside GNIDA office when we suddenly heard a gunshot which led the protesters to turn violent," said Mankad Chaudhary, one of the protesters. The injured were rushed to Kailash Hospital and Sharda Hospital. A police jeep and three private motorcycles were burnt to cinders and about a dozen vehicles damaged. The farmers of village Ghodia Bachheda have been protesting for the last two years for higher compensation, but the protest gained momentum only in June when GNIDA declared that only those framers whose land was acquired after February 2007 would get the increased rate of compensation (Rs 850 per sq m). The land of this village, as also of eight nearby villages, was acquired in September 2006. "We got a compensation of Rs 322 per sq m, but GNIDA had promised to give us a higher rate in future," said Sulla Sharma, a villager. A total of 1,400 hectare was acquired in 2006, of which 582 hectare was in Ghodia Bachheda. "Since they have received the compensation, their demand is not legal. But to settle the issue amicably, we formed a committee which recommended an additional settlement amount of Rs 150-200 per sqm," said GNIDA chairman Lalit Srivastava. The rates were declared last Monday. But the farmers refused the new rate and demanded Rs 850 per sq m. "We are very flexible and want to sort out the problem through dialogues," added Srivastava. The acquired land has been used mainly for individual residential plots, he confirmed. In another development, Lok Janshakti Party leader and MP Ramchandra Paswan, along with about 100 supporters, was detained at the Uttar Pradesh Gate near the Ghazipur checkpost while trying to go to village Baldalpur to lend their support to the farmers. The Noida police released them later in the day. (Pioneer 14/8/08)

Farmer commits suicide (20) Kalasa: A farmer committed suicide by consuming poison, having unable to repay the loan, at Kanchinakere in Kalasa on Sunday. The deceased has been identified as Surendra (30). He had borrowed Rs 9 lakh from KCA Bank in Kalasa. He owns 15 acres coffee estate, arecanut estate and paddy fields. KCA bank had sent a notice to him to repay the loan. He had married one and half year ago and has a four months child. Deputy Tahsildar Vajrakumar visited the spot and collected information. (Deccan Herald 18/8/08)

President advises farmers to find alternative sourc es of income Achalpur (Amravati) (PTI): Voicing concern over farmers' suicide rate in the country, President Pratibha Patil on Saturday called upon farmers to look for alternative sources of income as such extreme steps do not solve the problem. "Farmers' suicide in the country is a matter of serious concern and it is not a solution to the problem, therefore they should opt for alternative sources of income," Patil said after laying the foundation stone of the Rs 240 crore Finlay Mills here. She also requested Union Textile Minister Shankar Singh Vaghela to absorb at least one eligible member from the families of suicide victims in the region in Finlay Mills run by National Textile Corporation. Kerala Governor R S Gavai, Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Dehsmukh, Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil, State Textile Minister Satish Chaturvedi and Amravati District Guardian Minister Sunil Deshmukh and President's husband Devi Singh Shekhawat were also present on the occasion. PTI JOE PMI to look for alternative sources of income as such extreme steps do not solve the problem. "Farmers' suicide in the country is a matter of serious concern and it is not

a solution to the problem, therefore, they should opt for alternative sources of income," Patil said after laying the foundation stone of the Rs 240 crore Finlay Mills here. She also requested Union Textile Minister Shankar Singh Vaghela to absorb at least one eligible member from the families of suicide victims in the region in Finlay Mills run by National Textile Corporation. Kerala Governor R S Gavai, Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Dehsmukh, Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil, State Textile Minister Satish Chaturvedi and Amravati District Guardian Minister Sunil Deshmukh and President's husband Devi Singh Shekhawat were also present. (The Hindu 7/9/08)

Where have all the farmers gone? (20) Thanks to the acceleration in the pace of urbanisation — the shift of population from villages to the towns and cities of India — there has been a steady decline of the rural countryside. Although the share of population living off agriculture has for long remained stuck at 70 per cent, the decline has gathered pace of late and this number has come down to 52 per cent. With the countryside emptying, connection with it is receding with every succeeding generation of urban Indians. Deep Fish recently visited the countryside in southern Andhra Pradesh, close to the Karnataka border, on his biannual peregrinations. Although the rain gods have not been munificent, even the most drought-prone parts wear a canopy of green. The peasantry is busy with various tasks of the season, from dawn to dusk. The fields are ripe with tomatoes, broad beans and other commercial crops. Less rainfall has affected the sowing of sugarcane and groundnut. Rice has been planted in farms with assured irrigation. Such pastoral sights might suggest that all is well on the farm front. The irrigation tanks, however, are practically empty. After back-to-back years of scanty rains, higher kharif (summer) grain production is highly unlikely this year in this backward agrarian region. In sync with such tidings is the latest forecast that India’s overall agricultural growth, too, will be only around 2 per cent this year, after having grown by 4.5 per cent last year, according to the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council. Behind the tapestry of green fields and crop-laden farms in southern Andhra Pradesh, the small and medium peasants are facing their own travails. The cost of cultivation is rising relentlessly. The local newspapers are full of reports of shortages of crucial inputs like fertilisers in neighbouring districts like Kurnool. Contrary to the claims of the state government, which denies there is any problem, desperate farmers have staged rasta roko agitations and even looted fertilisers from a truck in that region. Reflecting the agrarian distress are suicides by farmers. Although this phenomenon is not a statewide problem, the lot of smaller farmers in the region is misery personified. Recently, three debt-ridden farmers in the Kadapa district committed suicide by consuming pesticide, following the failure of their cotton crop. Mounting debt resulting from the loss of the crop in five acres of leased land were the proximate causes that led to them taking the extreme step. Farm loan waivers obviously don’t benefit such cultivators. A common problem, especially for those with lands close to town, is the difficulty in hiring agricultural labour despite higher wages. The bigger farmers, for their part, have invested in digging deep borewells and use tractors to break up the tough soil. As drought stalks the land, such investments are imperative for survival. The lower dependence on the rains gives them the freedom to grow commercial crops to respond to the requirements of nearby markets, like supplying tomatoes to Bengaluru. Unfortunately, such options are not open to small and marginal farmers. A fact not adequately appreciated is that they are dependent on the market for half their requirement of food. And that is getting dearer by the day. Millers in the state are using loopholes in the law to hoard huge quantities of paddy without converting it to rice. Smuggling is also rampant to the neighbouring states where paddy production is low. This is creating an artificial scarcity, resulting in higher rice prices. The fine variety is available at Rs 28 a kg, up from Rs 16 last year in the open market. Given the sharp swings in their fortune, thanks to rising costs of cultivation, many of the farmers are selling their land, especially if it is close to urban settlements. This process of differentiation among the peasantry is under way, with many erstwhile small farmers joining the ranks of casual wage labour in the towns. A common sight is vast stretches of land being left fallow or being divided into plots for sale. Prices of such real estate are booming and some farmers are making good money. (Hindustan Times 8/9/08)

Seven debt-ridden farmers commit suicide (20) Nagpur, Sep 14 : As many as seven debt-ridden farmers committed suicide in the last three days in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, farm activists said today. According to Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS), a voluntary organisation working among farmers in Vidarbha, the seven farmers who took the extreme step are Vilas Akulwar, a resident of Sawli, Chandrapur, Madhukar Wakode of Bhendwal, Buldhana, Janrao Thakre of Javla Sahapur, Amravati; Shrikrishna

Muyande of Vatali, Akola, Nepal Shahare of Chandrar, Bhandara, Shamrao Gedam of Chinchewada, Gondia, and Baban Nagrale of Khapri, Wardha. The farmers ended their lives during the Ganesh Fesival as they were denied bank loans, a VJAS release said. With these deaths, the number of farmers commiting suicide in Vidarbha this year has reached 562. (New Kerala 15/9/08)

Cow scam blamed for suicides of farmers (20) Nagpur: Farmer leader Kishor Tiwari has demanded that criminal cases should be filed against politicians who have taken subsidized cows under government schemes. He held these leaders indirectly responsible for suicides of seven farmers during Ganeshotsav. Tiwari said on Sunday that in the last three days seven farmers committed suicide in Vidarbha as they were denied help by the government and loan by banks. The deceased farmers are (village and district names in bracket): Vilas Akulwar (Saoli, Chandrapur), Madhukar Wakode (Bhendwal, Buldhana), Janrao Thakre (Jawla Shahpur, Amravati), Shrikrushna Muyande (Watali, Akola), Nepal Shahare (Chandrad, Bhandara), Shamrao Gedam (Chinchewada, Gondia) and Baban Nagrale (Khapri, Wardha). With these, the number of suicides in 2008 has reached 562, he said. He claimed that the deaths did not stop even after implementation of Rs 1,075 crore Chief Minister’s package and Rs 3,750 crore Prime Minister’s package because the benefits did not reach the needy farmers. “They were appropriated by politicians as the cow distribution scam has shown.” The farmer leader alleged that former Yavatmal collector Harshadeep Kamble had committed large scale irregularities in implementation of the government schemes and to prevent any outcry he made the local politicians beneficiaries of these schemes. (Times of India 15/9/08)

Govt failed to check suicides by farmers: KCR (20) KARIMNAGAR: Telangana Rastra Samithi (TRS) president K Chandrasekhar Rao on monday called on the families of two debt-ridden farmers—V Srinivas and R Gangaiah— who committed suicide recently in Choppadandi mandal. He demanded the government to conduct a study to know the reasons behind the spate of suicides by farmers and also create a special fund for the benefit of farmers. He alleged that the Congress Government had failed to check suicides by farmers. Chandrasekhar Rao called on the family members of Srinivas in Katnapally village and promised to give Rs 50,000 for the education of his children— Gautham (Inter first year) and Ganesh (Ninth Class). Srinivas, a progressive farmer who owned two acres ended his life recently due to crop failure. Chandrashekar Rao also assured the family to get Rs 1.5 lakh ex gratia sanctioned. Later, he visited Ragampet village where he called on the kin of Gangaiah, farmer and vice-chairman of Primary Agriculture Cooperative Society (PACS) of Arnakonda,who ended his life. The TRS chief promised to give Rs 40,000 for the EAMCET long-term coaching fee for Gangaiah’s son Venugopal and another Rs 50,000 for the family. Chandrasekhar Rao also said that he would try to get ex gratia sanctioned to the family.Later speaking to mediapersons, Chandrasekhar Rao said that the TRS was contemplating to constitute a special fund for the benefit of the families of farmers who committed suicide on the lines of the fund for weavers families. Kamalapur MLA Etela Rajender, TRS leaders N Narsimha Reddy and N Laxman were among those who accompanied Chandrasekhar Rao. (Express Buzz 24/9/08)

Weavers' deaths, farmers' ire leave AP Govt worried (20) Hyderabad : The Congress Government in Andhra Pradesh finds itself stifled as unrest among farmers over forcible acquisition of land and the administration's failure to supply fertilisers this season is mounting. Now, the weavers' deaths have left the Government totally beleaguered. Seizing the opportunity, Opposition parties in the State are adding salt to the injury by upping their ante against the YS Rajasekhara Reddy administration, espousing the cause of the distressed farmers and weavers.At least six weavers in Sircilla region of Karimnagar district died in the last one week. Three of the six had committed suicide on Saturday, while others were reportedly starvation deaths. At a time when it is battling hard to pacify the restive farmers, the growing deaths of weavers have come as a rude shock to the State Government. All claims of Rajasekhara Reddy and his Cabinet colleagues over the series of measures being implemented for the welfare of weavers proved hollow. Only last week, the Government claimed to have extended a relief package of Rs 1.5 lakh each to families of weavers who either committed suicide or died of starvation over the past few years. "We have provided housing and also set up a textile park in the region to improve their working conditions and ensure better livelihood," the Government claimed as a reaction to Praja Rajyam Party chief Chiranjeevi's visit to Sircilla. Besides, a loan waiver scheme for weavers was also under consideration, it said.What is the Government's answer to the suicide of the farmers, Chiranjeevi questioned on Sunday even as

three State Ministers rushed to Sircilla to console the victims' families.The State Government announced an ex-gratia of Rs 25,000 each to the kin of deceased besides promising Rs one lakh per family towards the education of children.The Chiranjeevi Charitable Trust too paid Rs 25,000 to each family. (Pioneer 29/9/08)

Two farmers commit suicide in Vidarbha (20) Akola (PTI): Two farmers, one each in Akola and Buldana districts of Vidarbha, have allegedly committed suicide, police said on Thursday. The two took the extreme step due to constant failure of crops and increasing loan burden, they said. The suicides in the cotton belt were reported in the last 48 hours. Ashok Yashwant Khandare (37) consumed poison on the night of September 30 and died during treatment in the General Hospital here. He was a resident of village Bharatpur near here, they said. Dnyaneshwar Rangnath Bibe (30), of village Gunjala in neighbouring Buldana, hanged himself, police said. Vidarbha in Eastern Maharashtra has seen a number of farmer suicides despite a Rs 3,760-crore relief package announced by the Prime Minister during a visit in the region in July 2006. The UPA Government's Rs 71,000-crore loan waiver for farmers has also failed to stem the suicides. (The Hindu 3/10/08)

Farmer attempts suicide in Kolar (20) Bangalore: A 45-year-old vegetable farmer from Malur taluk of Kolar district tried to commit suicide a few days ago as he was frustrated over the prospect of losing his crop due to erratic power supply. Tomato and beans grower Kittappa tried to set himself afire by dousing himself with kerosene when farmers were protesting in front of the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (Bescom) office in Malur against the erratic power supply. He was rescued by the other farmers. This incident is testimony to the serious impact of erratic power supply on dry-land farmers. For the farmers in dry-land areas like Kolar, Tumkur, Chitradurga and Bangalore Rural districts, power is the lifeline, especially during the agricultural season as they depend on it to pump up water from borewells which are as deep as 1,000 ft. An erratic supply even for a few weeks during the crucial period may spell doom for them. (The Hindu 3/10/08)

The economics of bad politics (20) The row over the Tata Motors plant in Singur, West Bengal, has sent ripples across the business fraternity. When Tata Motors suspended work on its plant to manufacture the Rs 1 lakh Nano, other big companies such as Infosys, which is also looking to invest in West Bengal, are now having second thoughts. “When Tata is unsure about its plans in West Bengal, we too do not want to risk a similar situation,” says T V Mohandas Pai, Infosys HR director. Pai says he was shocked at a report about a farmer committing suicide when Tata suspended work. After selling a few acres of land for Rs 3 lakh, Susen Santra had built a house and also ran up some debts. But as his three sons had received job offers from the Nano factory, he wasn’t too worried about the future. Then Tata stopped work in Singur, saying it was impossible to continue in a state of siege. A despondent Susen consumed poison. Around 11,000 farmers who willingly gave their land for the project are worried. They gave up their lands for what they thought was a good deal, and now all their hopes are in peril. If Tata Motors moves out there will be no factory jobs, no business opportunities of any kind for them. And Susen’s suicide has brought their worst fears to the fore. “The situation with the Tatas is extremely unfortunate but worse is the signal it might send to other potential investors,” said economist Abhirup Sarkar at the Indian Statistical Institute. US Consul General Beth Payne wonders if West Bengal can offer a congenial atmosphere to American investors. “There is concern among investors that their workforce will not feel secure in view of the Singur imbroglio,” she said at an interactive session organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries in Kolkata. State industries minister Nirupam Sen says the government has already tied up investment of about Rs 2,000-Rs 5,000 crore for 2007-08, which is about Rs 3,000 crore more than last year. Also, a number of new ventures are in the pipeline, worth more than Rs 50,000 crore. “This is in addition to the Rs 50,000 crore spread across various industries that have started production.” Other states are desperately courting investors, so why should anyone come to West Bengal, especially against the backdrop of Singur? “We have approximately 1.13 billion people. No government can generate employment for all and create a peaceful society. And incidents like Singur shake the confidence of investors as well as customers who actually give the business to the manufacturer.” The Nano project was key to the communists’ strategy to rejuvenate industrialisation in West Bengal. A total of 997.11 acres in Singur were acquired for the project, of which 691.66 acres belonged to farmers willing to sell. “Thousand of acres have been acquired since Independence by the Congress and other non-Left governments without a proper policy on compensation to the losers,” says Saugata Dasgupta, a software engineer, based in Kolkata. “The West Bengal government offered one of the best

compensation packages, but the Tatas committed a blunder when they let the government deal with farmers. Such deals should be direct — between the owner and the buyer.” Madan Mitra, a spokesman of the Trinamool Congress, agrees that there is no alternative to industrialisation in West Bengal as agriculture is not profitable. But he has criticised the government for its failure to develop infrastructure in rural areas. He emphasised the need for a sound compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement policy. He says the state government has only agreed to give back 70 acres inside the factory site. “Our people have already identified about 300 acres inside the premises and the remaining 100 acres adjacent to the Nano project area. But the government doesn’t pay any heed to that,” Mitra says. He says car plants are being built in other parts of India without any problems. “Maruti has only 300 acres in Gurgaon. It produces five lakh cars every year. Our former chief minister, Dr B C Roy, gave 750 acres near Konnagar to Hindustan Motors. They could not use more than 350 acres for the factory in 50 years. The government allowed them to build houses on the remaining land and sell them. The point is, why do the Tatas need 1,000 acres to produce one lakh cars?” The question is what if the Tatas pull out of Singur? How will it affect West Bengal? Even if the farmers get back their lands, Tata’s withdrawal is still the worst-case scenario — empty land with no new jobs or business opportunities. Good economics make bad politics, but in Singur, bad politics is all set to trigger a tragedy for Bengal. (Express Buzz 5/10/08)

Two farmers commit suicide in Kadapa (20) KADAPA: Two farmers - Lakshminarsa Reddy, 42, of Kuppalapalle in Vempalle mandal and K. Kondaiah Raju of Siddhiraju Kandriga in Railway Kodur mandal committed suicide by consuming pesticide on Thursday night. Mounting debts are said to be reason behind their suicides. -Special Correspondent (The Hindu 5/10/08)

'4 farmers committed suicide in Vidarbha' (20) NAGPUR: Four farmers from different parts of Vidarbha region have committed suicide during last 48 hours, an NGO claimed. Raju Timaji Kore(Pimpalgaon, Gondia), Suresh Jago Parise (Nagthana, Yavatmal), Damodhar Maroti Dhumne (Babapur, Yavatmal) and Vasanta Dharma Aade (Rampur, Yavatmal) committed suicide, a release from Samiti President Kishore Tiwari said on Tuesday. Farmers in the region are resorting to extreme steps following heavy damages to the Soyabean crop that was under attack from the pests, the NGO said. (DNA 14/10/08)

Doha Round crucified: what about farmers? (20) The collapse of the Mini-Ministerial WTO meeting in Geneva on Doha Development Round after nine days of intense negotiations, confirms that the spirit of development among the developed and the developing countries is far from its legitimate objectives – of level-playing field and accommodation. Barring a salvage bid by WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy, this could well mean the end of the round – the first since World War II to have failed to produce a trade-enhancing package of measures. The reason for failure is probably quite simple: none of the major negotiating countries saw enough benefit coming their way, and the concessions that they were asked to shed would hurt their people economically in the midst of a global slowdown. The negotiations broke down as the United States rejected the demand made by India and China that developing countries should be allowed to make effective use of special safeguard measures (SSM) in order to insulate their farmers from the sudden decline in international prices or surge in import volumes of agricultural commodities. One of the core issues that the developing countries have flogged in the Doha Round is that there should be adequate instruments available with them to protect vulnerable sections of farming, communities from the uncertainties of global agricultural markets. Besides the SSM, these countries argued that products that are vital for realising the objectives of food security, rural livelihoods and rural developments, i.e. special products, should be allowed an additional dose of protection. At the same time, these countries also demanded reining in of the large volumes of agricultural subsidies given by the developed countries to their farming sector. Commerce Minister Kamal Nath summed up the substance of the deliberations succinctly when he said that while such countries as the US were trying to get the best commercial deal, economies like India and China were fighting to protect the livelihood of their farmers. Squarely blaming the US for collapse of the WTO talks in Geneva, India said it can return to negotiations but will not compromise on protection to farmers in an open market. Describing the failure of the marathon talks between 30 trade ministers as a “serious setback to the developing countries,” Nath said the US created the deadlock on an issue which was not trade but related to livelihood of farmers. The mini-Ministerial Meeting was ‘crucified’ on July 29

when the US refused to agree to proposals from India and China that they should be allowed to impose extra 25 per cent duties, if imports are up 15 per cent on farm products. However, the US said, the trigger for extra duty should be given only after imports surge by 40 per cent over the average of the preceding three years. “By the time we have 40 per cent surge in imports our farmers would have committed suicides,” said Nath. Interestingly, at least on the face of it, there was a convergence of views on the subjects of farm subsidies and non-agriculture market access (NAMA) issues, differences over which had plagued the Doha Round negotiations over the past eight years. Indeed, the “breakthrough” in these areas was considered so important that an overall agreement at the end of the meeting seemed very much oil the cards. …… (Assam Tribune 15/10/08)

185 farmers committed suicide in Karnataka in first half of 2008-09 (20) BANGALORE: The number of reported cases of farmer suicides in Karnataka touched 185 in the first half of this financial year (2008-09). The State’s agricultural sector has been facing a plethora of problems. Apart from the erratic monsoon this year, the shortage of fertilizers disrupted kharif sowing, leading to a delay in sowing operations in several districts. The global economic slowdown is likely to depress the prices of cotton, while sugarcane growers are threatening an agitation seeking higher support price for their produce. Sugarcane growers are unhappy with the procurement price (Rs. 811 a tonne) offered by the government. The State has not been able meet the sowing target set for the kharif season (2008). Sowing took place on 65.36 lakh hectares of land against the target of 74.4 lakh hectares, achieving 87 per cent of the target. As on September 30, the highest number of suicide cases was reported from Hassan district (23). A large tract of potato crop was destroyed in Hassan district owing to incessant rain during the kharif season. The loss has been estimated at over Rs. 300 crore. Hassan topped the list in the number of suicides by farmers in 2003-04 (69) and 2004-05 (37). In Bidar district, 20 farmers committed suicide followed by 15 in Belgaum, 13 in Chikmagalur, 12 in Mandya, and 10 each in Bijapur and Chitradurga. The number of cases reported from other districts are: Haveri — 2; Uttara Kannada — 6; Dharwad — 8; Koppal, Ramanagaram and Raichur — 3 each; Tumkur, Gulbarga, Gadag and Mysore — 7 each; Shimoga — 8; Kodagu — 4; Davangere — 6; and Dakshina Kannada — 1, according to government sources. Not a single case of suicide by farmers has been reported from six districts. The two drought-prone districts of Kolar and Chikkaballapur, and Bangalore Rural, Bangalore Urban, Chamarajnagar and Udupi districts reported no suicide cases between April and September 2008. The number of farmers committing suicide has seen a decline from 2000-01, when 2,360 farmers ended their lives. As many as 708 suicide cases were reported in 2003-04, 271 in 2004-05, 163 in 2005-06, 343 cases in 2006-07, and 340 in 2007-08. (The Hindu 1/11/08)

Maharashtra tops list of farmer suicides (20) New Delhi (PTI): Maharashtra tops the list of farmer suicides with over 5,000 peasants under duress from crop failure and indebtedness ending their lives in the last four years, a study by the Agriculture Ministry said. About 5,045 farmers have taken their lives in Maharashtra, while in Andhra Pradesh about 1,313 have killed themselves between 2005 and 2007, the study said. The Ministry, which has taken data provided by state governments, said a total of 1,003 farmers in Karnataka took their lives since 2005-06 till August 2008. There were about 905 cases of suicide by farmer registered in Kerala , 387 in Gujarat, Punjab 75 and Tamil Nadu 26 in the same period, the study said, adding, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala reported comparatively higher number of suicides by farmers. The study noted -- crop failure, indebtedness, drought and social and economic insecurity -- as primary reasons for farmers suicide. Pointed out the measures taken by the government to stop farmers from committing suicide, the study said the Centre has approved a rehabilitation package of Rs 16,978.69 crore for 31 districts in four states where maximum suicide cases were reported. The package aims to provide debt relief to farmers by establishing a sustainable and viable farming. It would also support their livelihood by providing institutional credit, assured irrigation and subsidiary income opportunities through horticulture and dairying, it said. To address indebtedness of farmers, the government has also waived off agriculture debt of over Rs 70,000 crore in the Budget 2008-09, it added. (The Hindu 2/11/08)

Protest staged to highlight crisis in farm sector ( 20) MYSORE: Farmers under the aegis of the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh staged a demonstration in the city on Monday to highlight the “growing crisis in the agricultural sector and the exploitation of the

farming community”. The farmers lamented that rich people and multinational companies were buying up agricultural land facilitated by the Government’s liberal economic policies. Underlining the growing crisis in the agricultural sector, sangha activists quoted statistics from the National Crime Bureau that over 1.5 lakh farmers had committed suicide in the country between 1997 and 2005. Pointing out the disparity in prices and wages in the agricultural sector compared to the non-agricultural sector, the sangha criticised the Government for its “lopsided economic policies that are creating a wedge between the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors”. Drawing attention to the subsidy earmarked in the Union Budget for fertilizer units during the current financial year, the sangha members pointed out that instead the Government could have promoted organic and natural farming. The farmers made light of the Government’s loan waiver scheme amounting to Rs. 60,000 crore and said the budgetary allocation to the agricultural sector had declined over the years. From a budgetary allocation of 27 per cent of the GDP, the allocation for agriculture has shrunk to less than 6 per cent of the GDP, according to the sangha members. Other demands included fixing procurement price of sugarcane at Rs. 1,750 a tonne, compulsory crop insurance scheme to cover all farmers and repair of irrigation canals. The farmers urged the Government to remove silt from tanks and other water bodies and release water to fill tanks in the tail-end region of the Cauvery basin areas. They also called for regulation of financial institutions, which were reluctant to extend loans to farmers but were keen to offer tractor loans through tie-ups with companies. This had pushed many farmers into debt and, hence, the Government should crack down on this menace, said the sangha. The farmers also demanded market price for land acquired for conversion to industrial and non-agricultural purposes and sought action against Revenue Department officials for their alleged complicity in harassing farmers. The sangha also urged the Government to establish a network of marts so that farmers could directly sell their produce to the public. (The Hindu 4/11/08)

Crop loss: farmers in depressed state (20) SANGAREDDY: Gouda Yellaiah is a 50-year-old farmer from Devunikuchinapalli in Medak mandal. Having about four acres of land he invested about Rs. 40,000 for sowing paddy. When the crop was ready for harvesting it was found that the crop was infested by pests and the entire crop was damaged. Yellaiah went into depression and wanted to commit suicide. “I took money from others on interest to invest in the field and now I am unable to repay even a single penny to them. What to do now except committing suicide,” laments Yellaiah. Same is the case with Yerukala Galaiah and Venkamma, a farmer couple from the same village who invested Rs. 70,000 on the field. “Within ten days every thing was over. How to face the lenders is the question hunting us,” weeps Galaiah and Venkamma. These three are representing the case of more than hundred farmers whose crop was infested with pests and diseases. The picture was no different in two other villages- Serikuchanapalli and Muttarikota. Last week the same farmers met Medak RDO Nageswara Rao representing their case. He sent a mandal development officer to look into the matter. Now the case came to the attention of District Collector. The farmers here on Monday met Collector Peeyush Kumar and made a representation. He has directed agriculture and revenue officials to assess the facts and submit the report. However, it is a known fact that these farmers cannot claim compensation for the crop loss as attack by pests is not covered under any norm unless the government decides otherwise. “Crop in about 25,000 acres was lost during last year with the same reason and no compensation was paid to any farmer as norms did not permit,” said an official of agriculture department. Farmers are in dilemma as to the next course of action. “We can do nothing but commit suicide as facing those who gave loans to us will be much more humiliating,” the farmers say. “Officials were asked to present details such as the number of farmers whose crop was damaged, extent of crop loss and number of small and marginal farmers. Once the report is submitted we will refer the matter to higher officials at our head office in Hyderabad,” said district revenue officer BSVVS Moorthy. The revenue official said that they would pursue the matter to logical conclusion by extending help to farmers. (The Hindu 4//11/08)

Scientists to blame for farmers suicides (20) Bangalore, DHNS: Minister for Small Industries Venkataramanappa on Sunday took a dig at the agriculture scientists of the State for failing to contain diseases in various crops. He was addressing people at the valedictory of the Krishi Mela on Sunday. The Minister said the farmers are the troubled lot. “When there are good rates, the farmers don’t have enough crop and when they have good harvest they do not get good rates. The diseases pose greater problems to them. You (scientists) have grossly failed in containing the diseases,” the minister said. The minister pointed out that the farmers are not growing pomegranate due to fear that their crops will get

infected with diseases. He said a similar state is with the grape and ground nut growers. “Your scientists have to identify the reason why the pests and diseases are occurring. On that count, you have failed. Your failures are leading farmers to commit suicide. It’s a crisis,” he said. Venkataramanappa urged the scientists, who were sitting on the dais, to turn to villages. “Instead of organising Krishi Mela here and showing them demonstrations, you should turn to fields and tell the farmers how to grow crops. Just holding a fair is not sufficient. Associate yourself with the grassroots,” was his message. APMC Minister Shivaraj S Thangadagi said there is need to develop a proper market for farmers. He said that due to his initiative, APMCs have started displaying the rates of crops available in various parts of Karnataka. “This way they are getting good rates for their products,” he explained. Various government departments, cooperative agencies, private companies and individuals were awarded for being the best in their fields -farming, nursery, farm machinery and equipment, animal husbandry, organic farming and self-help groups. The most interesting part of the concluding ceremony was the display of cattle. The gigantic but attractive pair of Hallikar, the local breed of oxes, was sold at Rs 2 lakh on the concluding day at the Krishi Mela. An emu was also on display. (Deccan Herald 17/11/08)

Farmer suicide on the rise in Chhattisgarh (20) Six months ago, Bahur Singh's son, Santosh, took poison after his watermelon crop failed. A small farmer in Ghoradi village in Mahasamund district, he was steeped in debt. Paralysed and unable to move, an angry Bahur Singh said the government refused to acknowledge Santosh's suicide, let alone help. (Watch) "My son died because he drank something; no one has done anything," he said. Santosh's daughter dropped out of school to help at home and his wife works on the farm of the moneylender. An hour away, Ganesh's family is still trying to cope with his death. A year ago, he killed himself when the second borewell failed to yield water that could have help him pay back his debt. With no earning member, his wife says the only option is to sell their land to repay the loans. Visit any home of a small farmer in Chhattisgarh and you'll find the family deep in debt. But Chief Minister Raman Singh says there are no farmer suicides in Chhattisgarh. Last year, 83 farmers in Mahasamund district committed suicide. Police attribute it to mental disturbance. But after probing a bit, the truth comes out -- all those who killed themselves were struggling to pay their loans. "The costs have risen, be it seed or fertilizers. Besides, there is no water. There is hardly any investment in the land and there is a dearth of new technology. No one wants to farm anymore," said a villager. This year too, the crop has failed. And in the election year, the BJP has offered interest free farm loans and free electricity. The Opposition Congress failed to make farmer suicides an election issue, leaving people angry. Offering sops may get some votes but unless it the problems of small farmers is urgently addressed the spectre of Vidarbha may come to haunt it. (NDTV National 18/11/08)

‘Successive governments have neglected farmers’ (20 ) HASSAN: General secretary of the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) J.M. Veerasangaiah has said that all successive governments have failed to prevent farmers from committing suicide. In Hassan district alone, 38 farmers committed suicide in the past five months while 36,252 farmers committed suicide in the State in the past five years. Farmers made up 75 per cent of the State’s population and yet no Government has worked for their empowerment, he charged. Mr. Veerasangaiah was speaking at the “Swabhimani Raithara Bruhat Samavesha” organised jointly by the taluk unit of the KRRS and Hasiru Sene at Bayalu Ranga Mandira at Holenarsipur on Monday. Mr. Veerasangaiah said that governments were never farmer-friendly. There are 80 lakh landholders in the State and yet they do not get remunerative prices for their produce. He said that of the Rs. 56,000 crore collected as tax in the State, Rs. 40,000 crore was paid by farmers and common people and yet the budgetary allocation for the farming community was a meagre 4 per cent. Mr. Veerasangaiah said that the petty quarrel between Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa and KMF Chairman H.D. Revanna over milk prices had been blown out of proportion by the media, but the problems of farmers did not get publicity. Hence, most of their problems did not come to the knowledge of the Government. Another general secretary of the KRRS, Basavarajappa, said that earlier liquor barons were controlling the Government, but now mine lords and the land mafia were not only controlling the Government but they were in the Government. Mr. Basavarajappa said that unless there was security for the farming community, one could not prevent farmers’ suicides. He lauded the organisers for arranging the meet after 28 years. (The Hindu 19/11/08)

Small farmers face eviction threat as Forest Depart ment claims land (20)

Magadi: Sixty-two-year-old Ganga Boriah feels as if the ground beneath his feet has slipped away. And literally so. Mr. Boriah has been growing ragi in his two-acre patch of land in Chakrabhavi village in Magadi taluk for 35 years. He has documents issued to him by the Revenue Department that declare him the cultivator of the land. But he now faces threat of eviction from the only piece of land he owns because the Forest Department claims that it lies within the forest area. Mr. Boriah’s is not an isolated case. It is the common fate of hundreds of small and marginal farmers in 25 villages lying in Kasaba, Solur, Kudur, Tippasandra and Madabal hoblis in Magadi taluk today. After cultivating their small patches of land (ranging from 40 guntas to two acres) for two to three generations in many cases, they have now been asked to leave after being branded as “encroachers”. “Why did they give me these records if the land belonged to the Forest Department? I have no other land and know no other work except farming. Where will I go now?” asked Doddiah of Kalarikaval village, whose earliest records on the land date back to 1965. At the root of the problem is a lack of clarity between two government departments as to the jurisdiction under which these plots of land fall. “These are gomala lands according to our revenue records, and they were granted to the farmers. The Forest Department, however, says it is forest land according to the gazette notification of 1935,” said Magadi Tahsildhar B.S. Manjunath Swamy. “The Forest Department has not updated the records since the 30s.” Following a Supreme Court order in 2000, which said that no forest land could be used for any non-forest purpose without the Centre’s approval, the Forest Department is identifying “encroachments”. In some villages in the taluk, the department has already marked the areas by digging trenches, in many cases right in the middle of standing crops. Shantappa S., Deputy Conservator of Forests, Ramanagaram district, is firm in his claim that the documents the farmers hold are “invalid” since they were not issued by the Forest Department, while the plots of land in question lie within their limits. “If we do not vacate them as per the Supreme Court direction, we will be punished,” he said. Mr. Manjunath Swamy pleaded helplessness and said that the issue was “beyond the taluk administration” because it involves a Supreme Court order. “We have held five meetings in this regard. The farmers will have to approach the courts if they want relief,” he said. The expenses involved in a court case intimidate Narasimhiah of Chakrabhavi. “I had to struggle to raise the money to come to Magadi. How will I will raise money to fight a case?” he asked. (The Hindu 21/11/08)

Debt relief for 140 farmers in Palakkad district (2 0) PALAKKAD: In all, 140 farmers from the district were given debt relief of Rs.10 lakh at a three-day sitting by the Kerala State Farmers Debt Relief Commission. The Commission’s intervention resulted in financial institutions writing off 55 per cent of agricultural loans given to farmers. The Commission, after getting applications for debt relief, held discussions with representatives of the financial institutions concerned where it was decided to give loan waiver on a good portion of the amount. In cases of farmer-suicides, the entire amount was written off. The amount decided by the Commission for waiver will be reimbursed to the financial institutions. Commission member K.G. Ravi told The Hindu here on Thursday that the banks had written off Rs.15,200 of Bijumon, a farmer of Kumaramputhur who committed suicide in 2006. . The sitting was attended by members Sathyan Mokeri, Chandrasekhar, M.J. Jacob, M.K. Bhaskaran and Varghese George. (The Hindu 21/11/08)

Cabinet okays Rs 765 cr package for farmer welfare schemes (20) New Delhi: The Government on Thursday came out with a financial package of Rs 765 crore to implement farmer welfare schemes in suicide-prone districts as suggested by top agricultural scientist MS Swaminathan. The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, also decided to offer financial support of Rs 361.55 crore for promoting research on rubber, coffee, cardamom, pepper and tea, Minister of State in the PMO Prithviraj Chavan told reporters here.The MS Swaminathan Research Foundation's recommendations on providing support for countervailing high price of copper fungicides and banana crop insurance were also approved for financial grants, he said. Following high levels of distress among farmers and a spate of suicides, the Government had in 2006 identified 36 districts in States like Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra, and had decided to put in place a special plan of action for them. It had also decided to pay special focus on the tribal plantation farmers of Idukki district in Kerala. The Chennai-based foundation was then assigned to study the problem and recommend measures to mitigate the agrarian distress among the Idukki farmers. The Cabinet also gave in-principle nod for need-based additional allocations to the ministries and departments concerned to implement measures included in the package, subject to norms and approval of authorities, he

said. The Cabinet is also understood to have approved the distribution of imported pulses through ration shops at a subsidy of Rs 10 per kg. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs' note on the pulses subsidiary was listed for consideration of the Cabinet, but there was no formal announcement on the outcome. Minister of State in the PMO Prithviraj Chavan, while replying to queries on the proposal, said, "The Government had approached the Election Commission before announcing Cabinet approval for various decisions... It approved the announcements which were just made but on some we were advised not to make any announcement." The Minister said this while referring to the announcement on wage revision for Central PSU staff made earlier in the day despite the election code of conduct being in place for polls in five States. (Pioneer 21/11/08)

4.5 pc farm growth sustainable this year: Pawar (20 ) Mumbai (PTI): Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Sunday said 4.5 per cent growth in agriculture is sustainable this year. "The report of rabi crop indicates that we will be able to maintain the agriculture growth rate at 4.5 per cent this year despite delay in monsoon in some of the states," Pawar told reporters on the sidelines of the seventh annual conference of commodity exchanges organised by Forward Markets Commission (FMC) here on Sunday. Agriculture sector has given very good results in the last three years. Last year the country has achieved growth rate of 4.5 per cent as against target of 4 per cent, Pawar said. Denying reports of a slight fall in the wheat sowing acreage, the minister said production is seen higher in 2009. "The feedback I am getting from the farmers and the agricultural commissioners is that they expect a better crop than last year," he said. The country's sugar output is, however, expected to be lower this year due to delayed monsoon in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. "As per the curshing figures, the sugar output of the country is expected to be lower this year. Delay in monsoon in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka affected sugar cane crop production and recovery," Pawar said, adding that there will no shortage of sugar due to last year's carry forward stocks. (The Hindu 23/11/08)

Pollution takes heavy toll of farmland (20) Digwal (Medak Dt.): On November 3, two farmers - Varaprasad and Mohd Ali - belonging to this village climbed a cell-phone tower and threatened to commit suicide. The reason was the loss of their crop due to groundwater pollution in their farmland. The situation was so pathetic that the lands had become irreparable. In the past too, Ali tried to commit suicide but was prevented by family members. “How long can we prevent is the question as losing heavily in the field has become part of our life now. The problem is that year after year our crop yield is declining,” says Kasim Ali, father of Mohd. Ali, showing the polluted water gushing out of the borewell. “An extent of about 3,000 acres of the existing 4,000 acres of agricultural land in the village has become polluted. We are getting crop yield of just 30 per cent of what actually can be harvested due to the pollutants released by a healthcare company,” village sarpanch P. Ramalinga Reddy alleged. He also alleged that polluted material was being flushed by the company into the ground by using borewells. All the 14 borewells that were dug in the village have become polluted and the villagers are forced to fetch water from a distance of five kilometres. It is believed that potato crop, after a certain height, would lose life and fall aside, while ginger would hardly be of any use as it would give a foul smell. However, it is only the sugarcane that is still able to resist the pollution, but no one knows for how long, as the severity of pollution is progressively increasing by the day. “The pollution has started after four years of the establishment of the industry and one of our staff members also complained about the burning sensation in his hands when he collected samples of water in the village,” a senior official in the district administration, who did not want to be quoted, observed. “We are fighting this issue since eight years by complaining to the MRO, RDO and Collector but nothing has happened. Farmers are asking for an annual compensation for the fields as they cannot continue farming," said Mr Ramalinga Reddy. (The Hindu 24/11/08)

Farmer commits suicide in Koppa (20) Koppa: Unable to pay the loan amount, a farmer committed suicide, at Khadya hobli consuming pesticide. The deceased is Suresh (35) from Karagane Udimane of Huyigere village.Suresh who was depressed and uncertain about his future on Monday consumed pesticide and resorted to suicide. Though Suresh was rushed to Balehonnur Primary Health Centre and later took him to Koppa Public Hospital, the he failed to respond to the treatment. Before taking the extreme step, Suresh had written down all his feelings. In the suicide note Suresh had informed that he had bought 2 acre land on contract basis adjacent to is own 2 acre land. He took a sum of Rs 20,000 from local money lender (Kaisaala) apart from Rs 28,000 from Chikmagalur Bhoo Bank. On the

entire area of land, Suresh had cultivated paddy and was sure that he can repay the loan this year if crops were good. When the paddy crops, this year started to break open due to lack of rainfall, he lost his confidence to repay the loan. He had told his wife and brothers that since he has physical infirmities, he did not want to be a burden on the family. A case has been filed at Aldooru police station. (Deccan Herald 26/11/08)

Powerloom weaver commits suicide (20) KARIMNAGAR: Unable to clear debts due to crisis in powerloom industry, a weaver committed suicide on the outskirts of Sircilla textile town on Thursday morning. Reports reaching here said that powerloom weaver K Satyanarayana (50) of Baddam Yellareddynagar procured four powerlooms on rent a year ago. Due to slump in the powerloom industry, he incurred about Rs 2 lakh debts and additional Rs. 1 lakh debts for the performance of his daughter’s marriage. He is survived by his wife, three daughters and a son. -Staff Reporter (The Hindu 28/11/08)

CPM hoping to cash in on farmers' stir (20) Gadsanam Nov 27: Two years after the violent agitation by cotton farmers over sharing of Indira Gandhi Canal waters, emotions still run high on the issue here and the CPI(M), which is yet to find its feet in the state, is hoping to cash in on it in the December 4 Assembly election. The Left party, which had just one MLA in the outgoing Rajasthan Assembly, is leading its poll campaign on "broken promises" of Congress and the BJP. "Promises of compensation for the police atrocity that led to the death of farmers here are still awaited. We were asked to pull back our agitation on the assurance that the state government will compensate for the death of farmer Chanduram during the stir," says CPI(M)'s state secretary of the agricultural labour union B M Swamy. "Minutes after we had cremated Chanduram, the state government declared that they had made no promise to anyone about paying any compensation," he claims. A former Congress worker and now a CPI(M) candidate from Anupgarh constituency Pawan Duggal says he is ecstatic with the support he is receiving. "We have no money to campaign, it is the farmers here who are providing their vehicles and money for me to go to villages and campaign," says Duggal. Anupgarh is a new constituency and was earlier part of Surat-Anupgarh seat which was won by BJP in the last election. BJP has this time fielded a new face, Harmik Singh Kaler. Congress candidate from the constituency Kuldeep Indora claims that the CPI(M), which had spread its influence during the stir, is losing ground as the people want the issue to be settled in a peaceful manner. "I am giving people the faith that such emergencies could be handled in a better and bloodless manner. Nobody needs violence but everyone needs prosperity and peace," says Indora, a businessman. A three-doctor committee of the state government that conducted the post-mortem of farmer Chanduram's body concluded that he died of a heart attack. Eyewitnesses, however, claim otherwise. "He had fallen after he was hit with lathi on his head and his right leg had broken. We attempted to lift him and take him to a safe place when police attacked us and thrashed him again. He ended up with a broken skull and his leg was fractured in six places," recalls Chanduram's cousin Kesraram. "A BJP MP offered to give me Rs 5 lakh in cash, but said there will be no state compensation. I told him that we are not here to trade over dead bodies," he claims. Duggal says requests to meet villagers and campaign in their villages keep pouring in. The CPI(M) is now pressing for complete implementation of the Ajmer agreement arrived with the state government for allotting 5.23 cusec per hectare water in the region. "Currently it is less than that but at least more than the 3.53 cusec water per hectare that the Ashok Gehlot government had ordered and was implemented by the Raje regime," said Duggal. However, the trading community that had supported the CPI(M) led water agitation, is not very enthusiastic about supporting the party in the polls. "We need business and not agitations for which the mandi remains shut for days. The water is now here may be not as much as expected but the fields are green again," says Diakar Pandit a cotton trader at the Revla mandi. With 1.79 lakh-strong electorate, farmers and farm labourers, however, outnumber the traders in the constituency. "But the Congress already has an edge in over 15,000 families who got land here during the Indira Gandhi regime and still worship her," said local journalist and a political observer Sandip Sharma. (Central Chronicle 28/11/08)

Farmers’ plight, opium for politicians (20) Ram Narayan has always grown opium or afeem. Just by the smell of the small opium plant, he can predict how good the crop would be. His weather beaten palms reveal how labour-intensive a good opium crop can be. But today, this farmer from Gulkhedi village in Chhipa Barod on Rajasthan-Madhya Pradesh border is very angry with the Government. He says his licence for

growing opium has been wrongfully cancelled. Like Ram Narayan, opium growers of the entire Chabra-Chhipa Barod region feel wronged. The Central Government gives licences to Rajasthan farmers to grow opium, which is used in medicines. The opium plant does very well in the dry and extreme climate of this desert State. It is sown after the rains and the crop is harvested in May or June. Under the licence conditions, the farmers are supposed to yield 56 kilogram from one hectare of land. The Government keeps a close watch to prevent illegal drug trafficking. The Government after testing in laboratories acquires the opium produced. Like 2006, this year also farmers of this belt reported crop damage on a large scale due to frost and hail storms. Narayan says: "But the local officials did not inform the head quarters in Kota. So they thought that we have illegally sold our crop to drug traffickers. The Government cancelled our licences. It wasn't our fault that the crop went bad and we could not give our required 56 kilograms per hectare." Gulkhedi village had 52 licences or pattas, as they are called in local parlance, till three years ago. Now, there is not even a single opium grower. Narayan says all the pattas have been cancelled. Shyam Lal has been growing opium in Dholam village where for the last 50 years. Though his village has seen several cancellations, his licence has never been cancelled. Standing in his fields, Shyam Lal says: "The farmers don't play fair. They want to get a better rate for opium. The Government buys their crop for Rs 2,000 a kilo but the drug traffickers take it for Rs 70,000 a kilo in black. It is better profit. So what they do is mix milk powder with opium and sell part to the Government and pure in black. When the Government finds out it obviously cancels licences." Whatever the reason might be but the cancellation has become a major election issue in Chabra constituency. What makes it even interesting is that Vasundhara Raje's Forest and Environment Minister Pratap Singh Singhvi is the sitting MLA from here. He is pitted against Congress' Karan Singh. Both the leaders have tried to make this as their issue. As the farmers took their battle to Kota and even Delhi, the leaders joined in. Singhvi has blamed the Congress-led UPA Government as the licences are granted and cancelled by the Centre and not the State Government. Karan Singh, on the other hand, says the State Government delayed its memorandum reporting the loss of crop and seeking compensation for farmers. Krishan Murari, a farmer from Dholam who lost his licence this year, says: "No party is doing anything for us. This is a problem for all panchayats around here. The local officials want bribes and if you don't bribe them they don't send the real report to headquarters and licences are cancelled. We don't know who to vote for? They haven't done anything for us." This resentment is making Singhvi slightly comfortable in this BJP stronghold. Now, the Congress is trying to cash in on this local resentment against the State police. Local villagers openly accuse the police of harassing them to make a quick buck. So far, about 4,000 opium farmers have lost their licences in the last two decades. As a farmer loses his licence to grow opium he is also forced to grow some other crop. Manohar Dhakkad, another opium farmer, who hasn't got a licence for next year, says: "We have to start growing some other crop. I have started growing garlic. That does not yield me anything. I have just sold my garlic for Rs 1.25 a kilogram. How do I fend for my family?" Though the farmers are absolutely tight-lipped about whom they would vote for but anger is evident. (Pioneer 1/12/08)

22 farmer suicide cases reported in Bidar this year (20) BIDAR: As many as 22 farmers committed suicide in the district this year and 10 such cases have been considered by the district-level committee for payment of ex-gratia to the bereaved families. A total of 18 farmers’ suicide cases had come before the committee. Sources told The Hindu here on Monday that of the 10 cases considered by the district-level committee, ex gratia had been paid in two cases so far. The sources said of the 10 cases, two were from Bidar taluk, three from Basavakalayan taluk, one from Bhalki taluk and four cases were from Humnabad taluk. They said under the new scheme of the State Government to provide financial assistance of Rs. 1,000 to the families of all small and marginal farmers, it had released Rs. 1 crore for Bidar district that has 1,81,402 such families. A letter had been written to the Commissioner, Agriculture Department, Bangalore, urging him to release Rs. 17.14 crore for the district to cover the families of all the small and marginal farmers, they said. The sources said that in the floods in the district, nine persons lost their lives, 41 animals died, and one person was injured. One human death each was reported from Aurad and Bidar taluks, four from Bhalki, and three from Humnabad. An amount of Rs. one lakh each as ex-gratia had been sanctioned for families of the dead. For animal deaths, Rs. 1.58 lakh had been paid as compensation and a financial assistance of Rs. 7,500 had been released for the injured person, the sources said. An amount of Rs. 37.23 lakh had been given as compensation to 2,382 affected farmers. Standing crop on 12,985 hectares of land had suffered damage in the floods. During heavy rainfall in the district, 4,610 houses were damaged, and for 2931such houses, a compensation of Rs. 39.62 lakh had been released, the

sources said. (The Hindu 10/12/08)

16,632 farmer suicides in 2007 (20) MUMBAI: Suicides by farmers of Maharashtra crossed the 4,000-mark in 2007, for the third time in four years, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). As many as 4,238 farmers of the State took their lives that year, the latest for which data are available, accounting for a fourth of 16,632 farmer suicides in the country. The national total represents a slight fall, from 17,060 in 2006, but the broad trends of the past decade seem unshaken. Farmer suicides in the country since 1997 is now 1,82,936. Yet again, the five worst-affected States — Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh — account for two-thirds of all such suicides in the country. Together, they saw 11,026 in 2007. Of these, Maharashtra alone accounted for over 38 per cent. Of the “Big five,” Andhra Pradesh saw a decline of 810 suicides against its 2006 total. Karnataka saw a rise of 415 over the same period. Madhya Pradesh (1,375) posted a decline of 112. But Chhattisgarh’s 1593 means an increase of 110 over 2006. Maharashtra registered a fall of 215. But Karnataka (2,135) and Andhra Pradesh (1,797) — the next two worst-hit States — together account for less than Maharashtra’s 4000-plus. A one-year dip of 221 occurred in 2005 in the western State only to be followed by an all-time high of 4,453 suicides in 2006. This trend shows no turn-around and remains dismal. Maharashtra’s 2007 figure of 4,238 follows one-and-half years of farm ‘relief packages’ worth around Rs. 5,000 crore and a prime ministerial visit in mid-2006 to the distressed Vidharbha region. Between 2005 and 2007, the State also saw a plethora of official reports, studies, and commissions of inquiry aimed at tackling the problem. However, the 12,617 farmer suicides of these years are the worst-ever for any three-year period since the State began recording such data in 1995. Indeed, farmer suicides in Maharashtra since that year crossed the 40,000-mark. The structural causes of that crisis seem untouched. Nationally, farmer suicides during 2002-2007 were worse than for the years 1997-2001. NCRB data are available for the whole country for 1997-2007. In the five years till 2001, there were 15,747 farmer suicides a year on average. For the six years from 2002, that annual average has risen to 17,366. The increase is distressingly higher in the main crisis States. (The Hindu 12/12/08)

Maharashtra tops the list of farmers' suicides (20) New Delhi (PTI): Fourty-six farmers commit suicide every day in this country even as packages were rolled out in a bid to bailout the debt-ridden community from crisis. A whopping 16,632 cases of suicides by farmers, including 2,369 women were reported across the country last year with Maharashtra retaining the dubious distinction of having the largest number of such incidents despite a slump in figures. Farmers' suicide constituted 14.4 per cent of the total 1,22,637 suicides in the country in 2007, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) said in its latest report, Accidental Deaths and Suicide Report -- 2007'. In 2006, the figures were 17,060 and since 1997 there were 1,82,936 cases of farmers' suicide in the country. In a grim reminder of the appalling conditions of the farmers in this agriculture dominated country, the NCRB said besides Maharashtra, six other states have recorded over 1,000 cases of farmers' suicides each in 2007. Maharashtra, where the Central Government pitched in with a special package, reported 4,238 suicides last year, a decline of 215 from 2006, it said. Karnataka (2,135), Andhra Pradesh (1,797), Chhattisgarh (1,593), Madhya Pradesh (1,263), Kerala (1,263) and West Bengal (1,102) followed Maharashtra in the list. These states were in the top-seven list in 2006 too. While Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh showed a decline in the number of farmers' suicide last year compared to 2006, such cases witnessed an increase in Karnataka, Kerala and West Bengal. (The Hindu 14/12/08)

46 farmers commit suicide every day in India; (20) Delhi, December 14, 2008: Fourty-six farmers commit suicide every day in this country even as packages were rolled out in a bid to bailout the debt-ridden community from crisis. A whopping 16,632 cases of suicides by farmers, including 2,369 women were reported across the country last year with Maharashtra retaining the dubious distinction of having the largest number of such incidents despite a slump in figures. Farmers' suicide constituted 14.4 per cent of the total 1,22,637 suicides in the country in 2007, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) said in its latest report the Accidental Deaths and Suicide Report -- 2007'. In 2006, the figures were 17,060 and since 1997 there were 1,82,936 cases of farmers' suicide in the country. In a grim reminder of the appalling conditions of the farmers in this agriculture dominated country, the NCRB said besides Maharashtra, six other states have recorded over 1,000 cases of farmers' suicides each

in 2007. Maharashtra, where the Central Government pitched in with a special package, reported 4,238 suicides last year, a decline of 215 from 2006, it said. Karnataka (2,135), Andhra Pradesh (1,797), Chhattisgarh (1,593), Madhya Pradesh (1,263), Kerala (1,263) and West Bengal (1,102) followed Maharashtra in the list. These states were in the top-seven list in 2006 too. While Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh showed a decline in the number of farmers' suicide last year compared to 2006, such cases witnessed an increase in Karnataka, Kerala and West Bengal. (Hindustan Times 15/12/08)

1,232 farmers committed suicide in MP (20) Bhopal, Dec 16: Though Maharashtra has once against toped the list of suicides by farmers in the country with the state recording 4,238 such cases last year, the situation in Madhya Pradesh on this front is also turning out to be grim with the state recording 1,232 cases of suicides by farmers last year, as per the latest report of the National Crimes Record Bureau. In terms of suicides by farmers in the country, Madhya Pradesh ranks fifth. The states which are ahead of Madhya Pradesh in this regard include Maharashtra (4,238), Karnataka (2,135), Andhra Pradesh (1,797) and Chhattisgarh with 1,593 cases of suicides by farmers. However, if the figures of Madhya Pradesh and Chhatisgarh are clubbed together, the total number of suicide cases by farmers in both these states will only be next to Maharashtra.A study by the Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS), as quoted in The Hindu last year, also puts the number of farmer suicides in the two states at well over 2,000 a year from 1997 onwards when the Institute began documenting suicide figures. According to its data, 2,390 farmers committed suicide in the two states in 1997; 2,278 in 1998; 2,654 in 1999; 2,660 in 2000; 2,824 in 2001; 2,578 in 2002; 2,511 in 2003; 3,033 in 2004; and 2,660 in 2005 respectively. On the other hand, the state has ranked third in terms of statistics of family members committing suicides jointly under a common suicide pact. As per the National Crimes Records Bureau report, out of 264 deaths (which included 118 males and 146 females) reported under this category last year, Madhya Pradesh ranked third with a total of 12 persons committing suicides under a common pact. In this category, Kerala attained top position with 39 such cases followed by Andhra Pradesh (34). Among 35 Indian cities, Bhopal has turned out to be family suicide capital of the country from where the highest number family suicides (8) were reported. It was followed by Surat (6) and Rajkot with 5 family suicide cases respectively. The suicide rate in cities (13.3) was higher as compared to All-India suicide rate (10.8). As per the NCRB report, while Bangalore and Chennai recorded the highest suicide rates of 42.7 and 36 respectively, the same was found to be the lowest in Indore (the commercial capital of Madhya Pradesh) and Kolkata with the suicide rates of 2.0 and 1.5 respectively. As far as reasons of suicides in Indian cities are concerned, Allahabad has taken the lead with almost 50% of the people committing suicide due to family reasons. It was followed by Indore and Amritsar with 43.8% and 42.3% of the people committing suicides for the same reasons. `Dowry dispute' took lives of 37.5% of suicide victims in Indore. Of total suicides in Indore, 56.3% suicides were committed by house wives, while 68.8% of the victims committed suicides by consuming insecticides. In Bhopal, `death of a dear person' drove 8.3% victims towards suicide, while 11.4% suicide victims were engaged in farming/agriculture activity. (Central Chronicle 17/12/08)

Farmers’ suicides go on despite aid package (20) New Delhi: Despite the government’s best efforts to address the issue of farmers’ suicides, the problems of crop failure, indebtedness, drought and socio-economic insecurity continue to persist. According to official figures, as many 858 farmers have ended their life during the year, including in those districts where the Rs 16,979-crore rehabilitation package announced by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is being implemented. Maharashtra still tops the list of states with the highest number of farmers’ suicides in 2008. As many as 573 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra till September 2008. One hundred and twelve farmers have committed suicide in Andhra Pradesh, 152 in Karnataka and 21 in Gujarat during 2008.. Although minister of state for agriculture Kantilal Bhuria said in a written reply to Parliament on Friday that no report of suicide was received from the states on the number of farmers who have taken their lives after implementation of the Centre's Rs 72,000- crore farm-loan waiver and debt relief package, experts believe that the suicides still remain to be a pertinent issue. In Andhra Pradesh, out of the 112 cases of farmers’ suicides reported till October 2008, 110 have been in districts where the Rs 16,979-crore Prime Minister’s rehabilitation package has been implemented. In Karnataka, 59 deaths out the total of 152 were reported from districts where the package was being implemented. In Maharashtra, 573 deaths have been reported from districts where PM’s package

is in operation, while no such figure is available for Kerala, where the total cases of farmers suicides this year stood at 64. Meanwhile, Bhuria said that the Centre's farm loan waiver scheme had benefited over 30 million small and marginal farmers and 6.7 million other farmers. The final figures, he added, would be available after the completion of the statutory audit of lending institutions. He said that the government had already released Rs 25,000 crore to the RBI for distribution by banks for farm loans and debt waivers, of which Rs 17,500 crore has been given to the cooperative banks and regional rural banks, while the remaining has been released for scheduled commercial banks, urban cooperative banks and local area banks. Finance minister P Chidambaram, while presenting the Budget 2008-09, had announced a whopping Rs 66,000-crore package for the farming community by waiving loans of small and marginal farmers, which was later scaled up to around 72,000 crore after including more beneficiaries. (Financial Express 20/12/08)

Increased indebtedness leads to farmer suicides: NC EUS (20) New Delhi: The consumption expenditure of marginal and small farmers exceeds their estimated income by a substantial margin and presumably the deficits have to be plugged by borrowing or other means. Increased indebtedness is a major cause for the spurt in farmers’ suicides during recent times across a number of states, according a recent report of the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS). A marginal farmer is defined as one having landholding less than 2.5 acre and a small farmer is defined as one having less than 5 acre. In India, a majority of the farmers are marginal and small. The NCEUS headed by noted economist, Arjun Sengupta has recommended a Rs 5,000 crore special programme for marginal and small farmers with a view to insulate them from the adverse impact of the global financial crisis. The average monthly income of all farmers is estimated at Rs 2,115. This monthly income ranges from Rs 1,659 for marginal farmers to Rs 9,667 for large farmers. Poverty and social identity are co-related as the case of scheduled castes and tribes, backward castes and Muslims. The NCEUS reported noted that many states including Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Kerala have recorded a spurt in distress driven suicides among farmers. In most, if not all such cases, the economic status of the suicide victim was very poor, being small and marginal farmers. After the green revolution, agricultural activities have become cash-based individual enterprises requiring highinvestment in modern inputs and wage labour as is evident from the list of states withhigh incidence of farmers’suicides, which are not necessarily backward or predominantly agrarian or with low income, according to the NCEUS report. “Increased liberalisation and globalisation have in fact led to a shift in the cropping pattern from staple crop to cash crops like oilseeds and cotton, requiring high investment in modern inputs and wage labour. This increases credit needs. But when the prices declined farmers have no means to supplement their incomes,” the NCEUS report noted. Another problem is that unlike industrialists, farmers do not have access to debt relief under any law. Being indebted to the private moneylenders, they cannot go to public authorities to declare themselves insolvent or to get any kind of debt relief. According the Situation Assessment Survey of Farmers-2003 about 48% farmer households had loans outstanding in 2002-03. Incidence of indebtedness among farmer households was highest in Andhra Pradesh (82%), followed by Tamil Nadu (75%) and Punjab (65%). … (Financial Express 22/12/08)