AGRICULTURE: FARMERS’ SUICIDE - 2016 January to April - 2016

Compiled By Fr. Paul G Documentation Centre∗

1. Suicides Make 2015 Worst Year for Ryots (20)

BENGALURU: The year 2015 goes down in history as the deadliest ever for farmers in Karnataka,

with 978 of them ending their lives between April and December. This is the highest ever figure for

farmers’ suicides since the formation of the state in 1956, and second only to Maharashtra this year.

The government has accepted 323 deaths as suicides triggered by agrarian distress, and said 277

had no connection with farming. Surprisingly, the highest numbers were reported from districts such

as Mandya, Mysuru, Hassan and Belagavi, where farmers are perceived to be relatively well-off,

thanks to irrigation. Figures sourced from the Agriculture Department show Mandya topping the list

with 92 suicides, followed by Belagavi with 74. Other districts with high numbers are Haveri (73),

Mysuru (62), Hassan (58) and Raichur (56). Drought-prone districts like Vijayapura (36), Kolar (9),

Ballari (24) and Chitradurga (49) saw fewer farmer suicides. A majority of the farmers who committed

suicide in well-irrigated districts are said to be sugarcane growers, pushed to desperation over the last

couple of years. Over-production of sugar and the subsequent fall in sugar prices hit them hard, and

many sugar mills in Karnataka have not paid them their dues. In official circles, the rise in suicides is

being attributed to many factors, such as rising debt among farmers. Off the record, officials say some

farmers drive themselves over the edge by splurging on vehicles, marriages and drinks. Another

intriguing aspect of this year’s numbers is that 80 per cent of the deaths were reported between July

and October. The state government had initially argued that not all suicides were caused by the

agrarian crisis, but the surge in numbers soon prompted it to announce measures to help farmers.

The Siddaramaiah government has increased the compensation for bereaved families from Rs 2 lakh

to Rs 5 lakh. The cost of production is going up. In Mandya, most farmers grow sugarcane, and the

surplus production has led to a fall in prices. — Kishor Bhat, research scholar, St John’s Research

CentreThese figures are very low, since women are not being considered farmers. Women are the

worst hit during an agrarian crisis. Kavitha Srinivasan, has researched six districts in Karnataka (New

Indian Express 1/1/16)

2. Suicide by farmer: Forest dept. move condemned (20)

Kozhikode: Leading farmers’ organisations in the district have come together to launch a series of

protests against the Forest Department’s alleged move to attach the farmland of around 40 settler

farmers in the hilly regions of Kakkadampoyil. A joint meeting of major organisations will be convened

in two weeks with a mission to take up the issue with the State government in the wake of the suicide

of a farmer after the Forest Department initiated measures to attach his farmland. According to

farmers’ organisation leaders, Kaniyarathu Jose, the settler farmer from Kakkadampoyil, committed

suicide on New Year eve as the Forest Department did not consider his plea to withdraw the legal

action. “As per the Forest Department records, the area where the farmer started cultivation several

decades ago was part of forest area and it had to be restored,” they said. P.V. Chacko, leader of

Farmers’ Relief Forum, said the suicide by the elderly farmer had shocked the people in entire region

and it would remain a blot on our poor democratic system that had failed to tackle such farm crisis in

time. “It was the Forest Department’s decision to unlawfully attach the farmland that abetted the

suicide and it should be taken up seriously,” he said. Leaders of Indian Farmers’ Movement (Infam),

led by Antony Kozhuvanal and James Kottur, said all farmers’ organisations should fight united

against the attempt to evacuate poor farmers from their land. “To begin with, a meeting of all farmers’

∗ 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.

organisations would be held in Kozhikode on January 9,” they said. Meantime, C. Moyinkutty, MLA,

who visited the house of the deceased farmer, said the government should check whether there was

any hasty decision on the part of the Forest Department that had led to the suicide of the farmer. “As

per records, the farmer was holding the land with all the required ownership documents. Revenue and

Forest Department should be ready for a joint verification to settle the ownership disputes in the area,”

he demanded. (The Hindu 4/1/16)

3. 55 indebted farmer suicides in last 3 years: Punjab (20)

Bathinda: Number of suicides by farmers due to debt in Punjab in the last nearly three years recorded

by the state government has baffled the various peasant outfits and political parties. The state

government recorded only 55 suicides by farmers in Punjab from April 1, 2013 to November 30, 2015.

In December 2015, Punjab revenue, rehabilitation and disaster management department prepared

lists of farmers and farm workers whose cases were cleared for compensation to their next of kin. On

December 21, it sent a letter (a copy of which is with TOI) to deputy commissioners of all districts to

disburse financial assistance for the aggrieved families. A revenue department official confirmed 55

cases had been cleared for financial assistance. He said they had been cleared according to lists sent

by district-level committees. "Three universities of Punjab are also carrying out surveys to get details

about farm suicides and numbers for providing assistance can rise," he said. According to sources,

out of the 55 cases cleared by the state government, 25 are from Bathinda and 30 from the remaining

districts. Only four cases have been cleared for Mansa. Compensation of Rs 2 lakh each will be given

to families of farmers and labourers who ended their lives before July 22, 2015. Families of those who

committed suicides after that will be given compensation at Rs 3 lakh each. Peasant organizations

Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan), BKU (Dakaunda) and BKU (Krantikari) have termed the

government's step as a cruel joke with the farmers and labourers who committed suicide due to debt

or harsh economic conditions. They have decided to discuss the matter in its joint meeting to be held

on January 10 to chart out an action plan. "We have called a joint meeting where the matter will be

discussed seriously and an action plan will be prepared for making the state government consider all

cases where suicides have taken place due to debt and severe economic stress," said BKU (Ekta

Ugrahan) general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokri. He said that apart from farm suicides, the matter of

fair compensation to cotton growers, whose crop was damaged due to whitefly attack, would be

discussed as many of the suicides took place due to that in the past months. BKU (Dakaunda) vice-

president Manjit Dhaner said the government had cleared only 55 cases, but according to their

estimates nearly 3,000 farmers and labourers killed themselves in the last three years. Aam Aadmi

Party (AAP) state convener Sucha Singh Chhotepur said, "It is sheer injustice to the aggrieved

farmers. We will ask our national convener Arvind Kejriwal to raise the issue prominently at the Maghi

conference on January 14." Swaraj Abhiyan, which started preparing a list of farm suicides in the

cotton belt on December 27, 2015, too stated that the cases cleared by government were much lower

than the actual deaths. (Times of India 7/1/16)

4. 64 families to benefit from revised compensation guidelines (20)

Mysuru: As many as 64 farmers committed suicide in Mysuru district in the last six months. Of them,

cases of 49 farmers had been placed before the committees, headed by assistant commissioners.

The committees (two committees in Mysuru district) had approved 27 cases and awarded

compensation to all the 27 families. However, they had rejected 18 cases on the basis that the

farmers who committed suicide had no land in their name or had not availed loans from nationalised

banks or societies. The committees were waiting for the FSL report in four other cases. As the

government has modified the guidelines to enable families of all farmers who committed suicide to get

compensation, most of the families are likely to get compensation. The compensation has been

enhanced from Rs. 2 lakh to Rs. 5 lakh each. The families that were rejected compensation on many

grounds may again submit a fresh application along with necessary documents and claim

compensation. It has also been decided that the remaining amount of Rs. 3 lakh will be due to

families that had received Rs. 2 lakh compensation earlier. (The Hindu 14/1/16)

5. Grim harvest: 3,228 farmer suicides in 2015 (20)

MUMBAI: Suicides by farmers touched a grim high in 2015. The year that had recorded 2,590

suicides until October -- the highest ever since 2001 -- went on to register 610 more deaths in just the

last two months. The number of deaths on December 31, 2015 stood at 3,228, indicating that the slew

of measures the government undertook through the year failed to arrest the disturbing trend.

Maharashtra has recorded 20,504 farmer suicides since 2001. Data obtained from the government

shows Vidarbha, the region Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis hails from, was the worst hit last year,

with around 1,541 farmers from Amaravati and Nagpur division committing suicides. As many as

1,130 farmers ended their lives in the Aurangabad division of Marathwada. Nashik in North

Maharashtra witnessed 459 cases of farmer suicides. Figures indicate that that Pune division, which

covers the state’s prosperous Western region, too recorded 96 suicides of which 27 were registered

in the last two months of the year. Of the 3,228 suicides, the state has found only 1,841 eligible for

government aid, while 903 were found ineligible. While 484 cases are pending for inquiries, ex-gratia

aid has been extended to 1,818. “Packages will no longer work for farmers and the government

seems to be missing this point completely. There is a need of farmer oriented policy and not

packages,” said Chandrakant Wankhede, an activist from Vidarbha working on issues of farmers’

suicides. He said when loan waivers were announced in 2008, there was a drop in suicides. But since

2011, no such steps have been forthcoming. “The number may only increase in the coming years.”

Maharashtra had recorded a 75% deficit in rainfall between June and September last year. While the

CM had announced a Rs 10,512 crore package of farmers in December 2015, he had refrained from

announcing any loan waivers. On Wednesday, Mr Fadnavis thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi

for launching the PM Crop Insurance Scheme, which assures covering over 50% of the farmers under

the insurance scheme in the coming three years. Under this scheme, 90% premium money will be

paid by the Centre and not just the fully grown crop but even the stem will be insured. (The Hindu

14/1/16)

6. 28L relief to 12 grieving families (20)

Bathinda: Compensation of Rs 28 lakh was distributed to 12 families of farmers who ended their lives

in the past three years in Bathinda district. The compensation was handed over to nine aggrieved

families of Rampura and three families of Maur assembly constituencies by Punjab ministers Sikander

Singh Maluka and Janmeja Singh Sekhon. Maluka distributed cheques of compensation worth Rs 19

lakh to nine families and Sekhon handed over Rs 9 lakh to families of three farmers who committed

suicides due to crop failures and mounting debts. Total 55 families have been identified across

Punjab where suicides were reported between April 1, 2013 to November 30, 2015. Out of there 25

incidents are from Bathinda. Compensation of Rs 2 lakh per family has been given to families of

farmers who committed suicides before July 22, 2015. Families of farmers who ended their lives after

July 22, 2015, are to be given relief of Rs 3 lakh. The Punjab government on Friday announced to

give compensation the same day to families of farmers ending their lives. Sekhon said state

government was serious in compensating the aggrieved farm families and committed to stand to

stand by them. (Times of India 17/1/16)

7. Stable tenancy law will curb farm suicides: Secretaries’ panel (20)

NEW DELHI: Identifying "informal tenancy" as one of the main reasons behind farmer suicides since

many don't get farm credit and crop insurance, a group of secretaries has suggested the government

come out with a model tenancy law. Such a law will protect the tenants as they will get access to

loans from banks and financing agencies and it will also end the fear of original owners of losing the

farmland to tenants. Sources said the panel of top bureaucrats set up by Prime Minister Narendra

Modi while pointing out how informal leasing is up to 40% in some states with around 10% land lying

unutilized, said there is an urgent need to legalize all such leases. Sources said the group dealing

with issues on "farmer-centric issues in agriculture and allied sectors" has also suggested the need to

excavate 5 lakh ponds and dug-wells annually under the rural jobs scheme and to create dedicated

fund by raising tax free bonds to irrigate farmland. Highlighting that only 42% small and marginal

farmers have access to credit, it has suggested providing fresh credit of Rs 50,000 crore.These are

among the suggestions that the panel has suggested to revive the rural economy ahead of the budget

next month. Mentioning that India needs to scale up the per hectare harvest of food grains and pulses

and fortify the farmlands from drought, the group has reportedly cited how only 45% of the agriculture

land is irrigated.Sources said the team has presented that NABARD would require Rs 29,000 crore

for about 46 projects relating to irrigation. Similarly, government needs to spend Rs 8,000 crore

annually to dig ponds and dug-wells under MNREGA. The panel has also suggested the need to

provide 2 lakh solar pumps for micro-irrigation, which will be enough to irrigate 6-8 lakh hectares of

farmland. It is expected that next month's budget is likely to focus more on rural economy and

agriculture. The group of secretaries has also mentioned how non-availability of credit for farmers has

been one of the major reason of farm distress. At present only 42% small and marginal farmers have

access to crop loans. It has proposed the need to make more credit available for such farmers.

According to officials, the group has gone into details of how to make PM's pet project "soil health

card" more farmer friendly. It has suggested setting up of 3,000 model retail outlets by fertilizer

companies having facilities for testing soil, seed and fertilizer. The panel has also mentioned the need

for development of innovative hand-held devices for such tests through start-ups, which can provide

job opportunities to 30,000 skilled samplers and another 10,000 skilled technical and laboratory

assistants. (Times of India 23/1/16)

8. 38 children of deceased farmers to get free education (20)

Yavatmal: The Bharatiya Jain Sanghatana (BJS) has adopted 38 children of farmers, who committed

suicide in Yavatmal district, to impart them education free of cost at its Centre for Educational

Rehabilitation Project at Wagholi near Pune. The centre was founded by philanthropists Shantilal

Mutha and Prafulla Parakh. The children, including girls and boys were chosen through a survey of

668 homes in the villages in the farmer suicide-prone district. The children were first brought to

Yavatmal and later sent to Pune recently. Apart from giving free education from Std V to XII, the

Sanghatana would also bear the expenditure for the kids' boarding and lodging. A teacher AG Pawar

said that 3,366 students have been given free education at the centre so far. Currently, 237 students

from Aurangabad district are studying at the centre. (Times of India 25/1/16)

9. Need to increase export of agri products to curb farmer suicides, says Swamy (20)

Kolhapur: There is a dire need to increase export of agriculture products so as to curb farmer

suicides, said Subramanian Swamy, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader at the Shivaji

University, Kolhapur (SUK) on Monday. Swamy was in the city to address SUK students on the Make

in India initiative. He added that allowing an international retail giant like Wal-Mart to set up shop in

India will result in destruction of crores of lives of Indian people due to subsequent rise in the labour

rates. "The milk and the vegetable rates abroad are way higher than what we have in our country. If

we can get a share of that market we can curb farmer suicides. There is only one solution to achieve

this, which is to increase export of agri-products," Swamy said. He added, "Make in India is a dynamic

concept which helps set up manufacturing units in the country, as well as allowing export of products

made in India. The initiative will produce better results for the country," he said. Swamy said that the

Wal-Mart has capital with low interest rate through which it can set up its unit in the country, which

might end up hurting the Indian traders. "We have cheap labour in the country. However, if Wal-Mart

enters India, it is likely that labour might become expensive, hurting jobs and employment

opportunities for many Indians," he said. He added that when the United States (US) delegation

asked him why he opposes Wal-Mart, he had replied asking them whether they would allow Indian

labour to construct roads and start farming in their country. "If they have capital, we have cheap

labour," he said. On the empowerment of India, Swamy said, "The only problem our country has with

setting up businesses is corruption and lack of infrastructure. Many east Asian countries are selling

their products via China. They prepare basic products in their country and expensive ones in China,

because of China's cheap labour, eventually helping China." "If we can improve our infrastructure and

curb corruption, then China will diminish as a superpower," he said. Swamy added that the

population's youngsters are an important asset for the country. With over 50% of population below 20

years, the country has a lot of potential, he said. Mere capital and cheap labour cannot take a country

to highest possible economic growth, but innovative ideas are needed for more success," he

said.Criticising the Indian mindset which aims for a secure job, Swamy said, "We want secured

poverty if not the opposite. This needs to be changed immediately. We need to change it as risk

takers rather than remaining with a secure life".Devanand Shinde, SUK's vice-chancellor, agreeing

with Swamy on his 'secured poverty' comment, said that it would be the biggest hurdle to be

overcome. On one of the questions on possible threats to the Make in India campaign, he replied,

"The growing menace of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), especially in the country, the income

tax and the ever-increased interest rates in banking are some of the top concerns which might prove

a threat to the campaign." (Times of India 26/1/16)

10. Sugarcane growers seek clearance of dues (20)

BELAGAVI: Sugarcane growers are planning to hold a rally outside the Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru

seeking clearance of sugarcane dues worth Rs. 4,500 crore. Kurubur Shanthkumar, president of the

Karnataka State Sugarcane Growers Association, said that they would organise a ‘Vidhana Soudha

Chalo’ agitation if the government did not clear the dues within 20 days. He told presspersons here on

Thursday that Rs. 3,500 crore was due for the crushing season 2015-16 and Rs. 1,000 crore was due

for the 2014-15 season. The mill owners had not paid it despite agitations by growers and promises

by the government. It had prompted farmers to commit suicide, Mr. Shanthkumar alleged. He

criticised Minister for Cooperation H.S. Mahadev Prasad for delaying the fixing of sugarcane price,

even though the Centre had announced the Fair and Remunerative Price. “The Tamil Nadu and Uttar

Pradesh governments have announced Rs. 2,800 a tonne for sugarcane. Karnataka is not taking a

decision only to protect the interests of sugar mills controlled by politicians belonging to the Congress

and the BJP,” Mr. Shanthkumar said. He said that if the government did not have funds, it should

seize 20,000 tonnes of gold lying idle in temples across the country, which would fetch Rs. 50 billion

crore. That could be invested for boosting agriculture and farmers’ income, Mr. Shanthkumar said.

Earlier, he handed over a cheque for Rs. 2.53 lakh through Deputy Commissioner N. Jayaram to the

bereaved family of Vitthal Arabhavi of Kankanwadi of Raibag taluk, a sugarcane grower who

committed suicide at a protest site in front of the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha when the winter session of

the legislature was being held in Belagavi on November 26, 2013. The amount, contributed by the

farmers of Shivamogga district, was handed over to the widow and two sons of the deceased farmer.

(The Hindu 29/1/16)

11. How many farmer suicides in Gujarat? (2)

AHMEDABAD: When it comes of farmers suicides in Gujarat, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO),

Union agriculture ministry and state government do not seem to be on the same page. To an RTI

query, the PMO stated that only one farmer ended his life due to crop failure in the state in one

decade — between 2003 and 2012. In contrast to this, the state home department said the figure was

413, between 2005 and 2014. And to in complete contradiction of these figures, the minister of state

(MoS) for agriculture, in the Rajya Sabha, said that more than 600 farmers committed suicide in

Gujarat in 2013-14. Mohan Kundaria, the MoS for agriculture, stated in the upper house of Parliament

that 582 farmers committed suicide in 2013. While, 45 farmers and 555 farm labourers ended their

lives in 2014. Kundaria, the parliamentarian from Rajkot, gave figures of farmers' suicides in Prime

Minister Narendra Modi's home state in response to a question by Rajya Sabha Congress MP Pravin

Rashtrapal.Last year, RTI activist Bharatsinh Jhala demanded details on farmer suicides in Gujarat

from the PMO. The PMO had replied that only one farmer committed suicide due to crop failure in a

decade. Zala believes the figure is wrong as he has himself compiled data on farmer suicides, which

suggested the number is around one thousand. He asked for data on small and marginal farmers

along with farm labourersAnother city-based rights activist Sagar Rabari filed an RTI with the state

police on the same issue. The police was considerably more generous than the PMO, as it stated that

413 farmers ended their lives from 2005 to 2014. Rabari said the authorities do provide proper replies

to RTI applications. "With each RTI application, one can get a new figure. So there is a question over

which number is correct," Rabari said. (Times of India 4/2/16)

12. Free education to kin of deceased farmers (20)

MYSURU: The Academic Council of the University of Mysore has resolved to offer free education to

children of farmers who allegedly committed suicide during last year. Children can avail themselves of

undergraduate and postgraduate education for free during the 2016–17 academic year on the

university campus or in colleges coming under its jurisdiction. Besides, the council also resolved to

provide hostel accommodation to the needy children. The meeting, presided over by Vice-Chancellor

K.S. Rangappa, took a unanimous stand in backing the State government’s move on free education

to the children of the deceased farmers and resolved to support the farmers’ families. Prof. Rangappa

said children of the deceased farmers would get admissions to courses in government, private and

autonomous colleges. They can opt for either undergraduate or postgraduate courses, or other

courses. The fee will be borne by the university. (The Hindu 5/2/16)

13. Modi govt to set up National Institute for Organic Farming (20)

Varanasi: Union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh announced that that a National Institute for

Organic Farming will be started in the country very soon.He asked people to wait for three years to

see results of corrective measures initiated by Modi government. Terming Congress vice president

Rahul Gandhi as `Nautanki karne waley' (drama artist) he questioned relevance of Krishi Bima Yojana

during Congress led UPA government. He also attacked Akhilesh Yadav government in UP on the

issues of distributing compensations among farmers. While addressing the inaugural session of the

Swadeshi Mela of Swadeshi Jagran Manch at cultural complex here on Saturday the minister said

that the country has over 100 agriculture universities and institutes working in specialized fields. He

said, keeping the deteriorated quality of soil due to imbalanced used of chemical fertilizers the Modi

government is focusing on reviving the fertility of soil since its formation. The decision of starting a

new national institute for organic farming is the part of same action plan, he said adding, all other

agriculture universities and institutes would also be roped in to encourage organic farming. Singh

called upon the farmers to increase pressure on the state governments concerned to get their soil

tested and get the soil health card. He said, "As per the announcement of Modi government to test the

soil of 14 crore farmers and provide their soil health cards about five crore farmers will get their cards

by March end. As this programme is being run through state governments the farmers of UP should

ask Akhilesh government in case they are not getting their soil health cards." Targeting Congress led

UPA government he claimed, "Between 2011 and 2014 during UPA regime the states got only Rs

1200 crores to meet the challenges occurred due to natural disaster while only in 2014-15 financial

year Modi government released Rs 900 crores to the states in this head. During 2009-10 drought in

UP the UPA government had given Rs 575 crores to the state while this state got Rs 2800 crores in

2014-15. And to distribute compensation among farmers against agricultural losses due to natural

calamity in the beginning of 2015-16 center gave Rs 1600 crores to UP." He asked farmers of UP to

seek reply from Akhilesh government why such money had not been distributed among them so far.

He also taunted Congress vice president to see how the works for the benefits of farmers are being

done by Modi government. Highlighting features of Krishi Bima Yojana announced by Modi

government Singh said that the agriculture insurance scheme of UPA government was not more than

a cruel joke for the farmers. To check the menace of brokers and food grain stockiest in order to

ensure that farmers are getting proper value of their produce he said, the process of linking 585 food

grain depots of country with e-connectivity will complete by March 2018. (Times of India 6/2/16)

14. Cane farmers seek payment of arrears (20)

Mysuru: The Karnataka State Sugarcane Growers’ Association has urged Chief Minister

Siddaramaiah to prevail upon sugar factories to pay arrears of over Rs. 6,020 crore to cane growers

in the State. It asked Mr. Siddaramaiah to initiate action on the lines of the Maharashtra government,

which seized the sugar stock and withdrew licences of factories which failed to settle arrears.

Association president Kurubur Shanthkumar said that of the 1,026 farmers, who committed suicide in

the State last year, 196 were sugarcane growers. He alleged that sugar factories were directly

responsible for cane growers ending their lives across the State and that the association was

seriously contemplating filing cases against the factories. He urged the factories to pay farmers within

14 days of receipt of cane, or else pay 15 per cent interest on the amount. The association warned

the government that it would not allow the zilla and taluk panchayat polls arrears were not released.

(The Hindu 6/2/16)

15. Farmer commits suicide (20)

Tumakuru: A 27-year-old farmer allegedly committed suicide by consuming sleeping tablets due to

loan burden in Somalapura in Gubbi taluk of Tumakuru district on Thursday night. The police said

Shivakumara had two-and-a-half acres of land and had sunk three borewells in his land but all the

three had failed. He had taken a loan of Rs.3.65 lakh, including Rs.1.65 lakh from banks and Rs.2

lakh from private money lenders. Unable to repay the loans, he had taken the extreme step. He is

survived by his wife. (The Hindu 12/2/16)

16. Rs 69,355 crores of debt that's killing Punjab farmers (20)

PATIALA: The figure of Rs 70,000 crore cropped up frequently in 2015. This was the total amount that

mutual fund firms invested in equity markets. This was also the amount that India offered to pay

Russia to acquire anti-ballistic missile systems in what is considered the biggest defence deal

between the two countries. Also, the Union finance minister proposed an increase in investment in

infrastructure by Rs 70,000 crore in 2015-16. Now, consider the fact that the overall burden of debt on

farmers of Punjab today is almost as big as what the entire country invested in mutual funds last year

or the size of India's biggest defence deal with Russia! A survey by Punjabi University, Patiala, has

put the outstanding debt on farmers of the state at a staggering Rs 69,355 crore. Of this, Rs 56,481

crore is owed to the institutional sector and Rs 12,874 crore is to be payable to private lenders. This

may also explain why there has been a string of suicides by farmers in the state in the past couple of

years.The survey covered 1,007 farm households in Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana and Mansa districts in the

financial year 2014-15. It was sponsored by the Indian Council for Social Sciences and Research

(ICSSR), Chandigarh. Project director Professor Gian Singh, along with four researchers Anupma,

Gurinder Kaur, Rupinder Kaur and Sukhvir Kaur, visited the respondent farmers in their villages. "The

survey revealed that large farmers had a debt of Rs 2.30 lakh per household. Marginal farmers have a

debt burden of 1.35 lakh. The increased loans indicate that the farm sector was surviving on bigger

loans," said Prof Singh. The survey has found that an average farmer in what is the country's food

bowl has a debt of Rs 50,211 per acre. Combine this with natural calamities like unseasonal rains and

pest attacks like that of the whitefly last year, and you have a perfect recipe for disaster. The

researchers visited 301 households of farm labourers and discovered that 241 or 80.07% were under

debt. They did not have the capacity to repay the amount or the interest. "In the first place, poor

farmers with small landholdings and farm labourers did not get loans easily. But, once they received

it, they were unable to payback," said Singh on why such a large number of farmers may have

committed suicide in the state. "Crops were damaged in natural calamities and the compensation was

too less and too late which played heavy on the minds of the beneficiaries leading to suicides." …

(Times of India 12/2/16)

17. Furnish Details of Farmers' Suicides to Govt Pleader: HC (20)

HYDERABAD: A division bench of the Hyderabad High Court on Monday directed the petitioners who

filed PIL cases against farmers’ suicides, to furnish the details of suicides that took place in the last

two months i.e. Dec 2015 and Jan 2016 to the special government pleader for Telangana state to

facilitate the latter to verify and order proper enquiry into it. The bench also directed the Telangana

government to submit a comprehensive status report in this regard. The bench comprising Acting

Chief Justice Dilip B Bhosale and Justice P Naveen Rao was dealing with the PILs filed separately by

Vyavasaya Jana Chaitanya Samithi, Pakala Srihari Rao and others challenging the inaction of both

Telangana and Andhra Pradesh governments in preventing suicides by farmers in their respective

states. Telangana Vidyavanthula Vedika, represented by its honorary president Prof M Kodandaram

and Telangana Rythu Joint Action Committee, represented by Prof L Jalapathi Rao, were also made

as a party to the case. When the bench sought to know whether there was any decline in the number

of farmers’ suicides in both the states, special counsel of Telangana S Sharat Kumar claimed that

there was a considerable decrease in the number of incidents in Telangana and that he would place

necessary proofs in this regard. Disputing with the government’s claim, the counsels appearing for the

petitioners pointed out that several farmers had committed suicides due to pressure from private

moneylenders. In fact, the farmers took loans from private lenders as the nationalised banks have

refused to re-schedule their crop loans, they added. The bench sought to know the steps taken by the

Telangana government to create awareness among farmers in taking loans from private lenders. In

reply, Sharat submitted that the government has appointed special officers to inform the farmers not

to take loan from private lenders. The bench wanted to know whether the farmers were committing

suicides for the loans raised for agriculture activities only. In reply, advocate B Rachna, appearing for

Telangana Vidyavanthula Vedika and Telangana Rythu JAC, said though they are obtaining loans for

education and marriages of their children, the repayment has to be made through the revenue

generated from agriculture activity. The bench asked the counsel to file an affidavit with regard to

cases of farmers who have committed suicides due to harassment by private lenders. Meanwhile, the

counsel for AP state submitted that the government has appointed a committee in 2014 to study the

cases of farmers’ suicides in the state and to suggest measures to curb the suicides. He sought time

to file details of the steps taken for constituting farmers commission at the state level. The bench

posted the matter after three weeks for further hearing. (New Indian Express 16/2/16)

18. Farmer suicide comment distorted: Gopal Shetty (20)

Mumbai: Following the outrage over his alleged comments that it had become a fashionable for

farmers to commit suicide, BJP MP Gopal Shetty expressed his regret for the incorrect use of the

word “fashionable”. He said that his comments were distorted by a Hindi newspaper. Condemning the

alleged comments, Congress said the remarks by Shetty reflected the BJP’s “insensitivity” towards

farmers’ plight. “Mr Shetty’s remarks show how insensitive he and his party is towards thousands of

farmers who have committed suicide due to debt and crop failure. Private institutes and persons have

to take the initiative to help farmers because the government has failed to do so. If the BJP cannot

provide relief to distressed farmers, they should at least not rub salt in the farmers’ wounds,”

Congress leader and leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil said.

However, Mr Shetty said that his statement was “distorted”. “My statement was completely distorted

and I never intended to say that farmers are committing suicide to get money from the government. I

was asked by a reporter whether the fact that 124 farmers had committed suicide was a failure of the

BJP government. To this I said that the Fadnavis government was doing a great job through schemes

like the Jalyukta Shivar Yojana, but it would take time for it to reach the farmers. I also said that

suicides wouldn’t stop overnight because the last government had done nothing to stop suicides in

the last fifteen years,” he said. Mr Shetty further said, “I went on to say that nowadays it has become

fashionable for state governments to give money to families of deceased farmers. One state

government gives Rs 5 lakh, another gives Rs 8 lakh, while a third gives Rs 9 lakh. So I intended to

say that it’s almost become a competition among state governments to offer monetary help to farmers

— almost like a fashion statement. My statement was distorted to me saying that it has become

fashionable for farmers to commit suicide.” (Asian Age 19/2/16)

19. Farmers associations in 7 districts not to settle loan arrears (20)

Erode: Ninety two farmers Associations in seven districts in the western region have decided not to

settle loan arrears to co-operatives and nationalised banks due to increasing costs, making it

unfeasible to sell produce. A decision to this effect was taken at a 'loan waiver conference' here last

night, in which associations in Erode, Coimbatore, Namakkal, Tirupur, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri and

Salem districts participated. DMK Treasurer M K Stalin (DMK), TNCC Chief E V K S Elangovan, G

KVasan (TMC), PMK leader Dr S Ramadoss and Vaiko (MDMK), among others participated in the

conference. Both Stalin and Vaiko alleged that the number of suicides by farmers was increasing in

Tamil Nadu and demanded that agricultural loans be waived to relieve them of their stress. The

conference also demanded linking of rivers in India and feasible price for all their commodities. (Times

of India 20/2/16)

20. Farm suicides due to high inputs: Badal (20)

Muktsar: Expressing concern over rising number of farm suicides, Punjab chief minister Parkash

Singh Badal has urged the Union government to initiate steps to check the grave problem. Speaking

at Chhapianwali village in Muktsar on Monday during a 'sangat darshan' (community audience)

programme, Badal said that suicides were taking place due to less income and higher agricultural

input costs. "Low agriculture production due to shrinking landholdings is another reason due to which

farmers are forced to take such extreme steps," said Badal. He said the SAD-BJP government was

aware of the problem and every possible effort was being taken to supplement the income of farmers

by encouraging them towards allied farming sector and encouraging youth towards skill training.

Meanwhile, chief minister Parkash Singh Badal asked Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder

Singh to get ready for third consecutive defeat at the hands of SAD-BJP alliance in the state

assembly elections in 2017. He said that Amarinder's illusions about forming government in the state

would be shattered in 2017 and the alliance would provide a crushing defeat to him and his party in

the ensuing state assembly polls. "Amarinder must stop daydreaming because people of the state will

send him to political oblivion by ensuring his defeat," said Badal. (Times of India 23/2/16)

21. Indian farmers deep in debt, seek subsidies, help with insurance (20)

Mumbai: Indian government’s action to increase spending on irrigation and crop insurance is not

enough to end a cycle of indebtedness that has led to thousands of farmer suicides, and a complete

overhaul of credit and subsidies to farmers is needed, activists said. Drought in many parts of the

country has hit rice, cotton and other crops, and lower world commodity prices have added to the

farmers' plight. More than half India's farming households are in debt, owing banks and moneylenders

hundreds of millions of rupees, despite numerous loan write-offs by successive governments.Tens of

thousands of farmers across the country have killed themselves over the past decade, several

farmers' lobbying groups said. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who presents the federal budget for

fiscal 2016-17 on February 29, has to balance stimulating economic growth with aiding farmers and

poorer sections of society. Farmers' groups have been demanding better monsoon forecasts, bigger

fertiliser subsidies and a state-funded insurance scheme for all crops, to help farmers improve yields

and help prevent crop failures. “The need of the hour is a focus on the dying farmer community," said

activist Kishor Tiwari, who heads a task force set up to recommend action to tackle farmer suicides in

Maharashtra, which accounted for more than half of all suicides among Indian farmers in 2014. "Debt

is a core issue, and it needs a long-term plan to resolve it," he said. While inter-generational bonded

labour in the farming community is no longer as common as before, the number of poor and landless

workers who are in debt bondage is rising, particularly in agriculture, brick kilns and stone quarries,

activists say. Indian farmers seldom own the land they cultivate, and often take loans to buy seeds

and fertilisers. Only about one tenth of India's 263 million cultivators take out crop insurance because

of the high premiums. Unpredictable weather and low crop yields have made farming unviable for

many. Financial assistance provided by the government usually doesn't cover the losses, and some

farmers have migrated to urban areas for low-paid jobs, even selling their blood to make ends meet.

Tiwari, in a plan submitted to the Maharashtra government, has recommended direct cash subsidies

for farmers instead of the current indirect agriculture credit. He also suggested the central and state

governments help underwrite full crop insurance cover and promote the adoption of organic farming

methods in drought-prone districts, to help restore soil quality and benefit from the higher price of

organic produce, even though yields are lower. A total of 5,650 farmer suicides were recorded in India

in 2014, more than half of them in Maharashtra, according to the National Crime Records Bureau.

The states of Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Chattisgarh and Karnataka also had large numbers of

farmer suicides. The Cabinet last month cleared a proposal for the country's first major crop-damage

insurance scheme. The government has said it will reduce premiums to be paid by farmers, and

ensure faster settlements. Delays in estimating crop damage and paying claims are a big challenge,

said Sunita Narain, director of non-profit Centre for Science and Environment in New Delhi. The

government must encourage the use of new technologies, including remote sensing and mobile-

based image capturing systems to improve yield data and claims processing, she said. "Insurance

coverage has to be universal and payouts enough to cover losses," she wrote in a blog. Farm output

contributes about 15% to India's $2 trillion economy, and farmers and rural communities are a large

and powerful vote bank. Politicians have often promised to waive farmers' loan repayments, but have

not addressed the underlying reasons for their chronic indebtedness, Tiwari said. "Loan waivers are

not the solution; it is like a simple dressing for a cancer tumour. You need to excise the tumour and

address the cause of the disease," he said. (Business Standard 25/2/16)

22. Govt gives Rs. 36,000 cr to farm sector; agri-credit at Rs. 9 lakh crore (20)

New Delhi: Aiming to double farmers income by 2022, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today announced

an allocation of nearly ₹36,000 crore for the farm sector while raising the agri-credit target to ₹9 lakh

crore for the next fiscal. He also allocated ₹15,000 crore for interest subvention on the farm credit,

₹5,500 crore for the new crop insurance scheme and ₹500 crore to boost pulses output. Jaitley also

said that a unified agricultural market will be launched on April 14 and soil health cards will be

provided to all 14 crore farmers by March 2017. “We are grateful to our farmers for being the

backbone of the country’s food security. We need to think beyond food security and give back to our

farmers a sense of income security,” Jaitley said while unveiling Budget 2016-17 in Lok Sabha today.

The government would reorient its intervention in the farm and non-farm sector to double the income

of farmers by 2022, he added. “Our total allocation on agriculture and farmers welfare is ₹35,984

crore,” Jaitley said. Asserting that a special focus has been given to ensure adequate and timely flow

of credit to farmers, the minister said: “Against the target of ₹8.5 lakh crore in 2015-16, the target of

agricultural credit in 2016-17 will be all-time high of ₹9 lakh crore.”To reduce the burden of loan

repayment on farmers, he said a provision of ₹15,000 crore has been made in the budgetary estimate

of 2016-17 towards interest subvention. Jaitley said the government has provided a path breaking

crop insurance scheme called the Prime Minister Fasal Bima Yojana, for which ₹5,500 crore has been

allocated for effective implementation in 2016-17. Stating that irrigation is critical for increasing the

agricultural production and productivity, he said, “the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sichai Yojana has been

strengthened and implemented in mission mode.” He said 28.5 lakh hectare will be brought under

irrigation under this scheme. A dedicated long-term irrigation fund will be created in NABARD with an

initial corpus of ₹20,000 crore to build irrigation facilities, Jaitley said. “Implementation of 89 irrigation

projects under Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (AIBP), which have been languishing, will

be fast—tracked,” he said, adding that this would help to irrigate 80.6 lakh hectare. (Business Line

29/2/16)

23. Farmers consider Budget a letdown (20)

ERODE: The Union Budget’s purported farmer friendliness is far from being in sync with perception of

the agricultural community in the district, according to farmers in the district. The government had

failed to understand that un-remunerative prices were the cause for the scores of suicides by farmers.

It needed to realise that it could not convince the farmers, who had been battered all these years due

to faulty economic policies, through mere vocal assurances, K.V. Ponnaiyan, president of Tamil Nadu

Swadeshi Farmers’ Movement, said, questioning: “What is going to be the strategy?” Absence of any

relief for farmers burdened by agricultural loans, and the scope created for Foreign Direct Investment

in value-addition for agriculture were indications that the Budget had been prepared in consultation

with the World Trade Organisation, he said, expressing apprehensions that the Centre was preparing

the ground for withdrawing existing subsidies. KMDK secretary E.R. Eashwaram said the Union

Budget was a letdown in the absence of plan of action for linking rivers. The BJP Government

seemed to have forgotten that it had come to power seeking votes on the plank of linking rivers. There

was no concrete information on how the Centre would go about doubling the income of farmers in the

next five years. The Budget was lacklustre; while there was an indication that the country as a whole

had not been affected economically, the Budget had nothing that would improve economic condition

of individuals, Mr. Eashwaran said. The Central Government had disappointed the student community

by not specifying any measures to provide relief to those who had been provided with educational

loans, said C.S. Gowthaman, member, Divisional Railway Users’ Consultative Committee.

Announcements were not going to take the economy forward without any follow up. For instance, the

progress envisaged last year through introduction of Mudra Bank concept had been elusive, since the

banks were reluctant to forward loans to educated youths for self employment under the scheme, Mr.

Gowthaman said. Representatives of trade and industry also say there is nothing significant in the

Budget. The silence on Goods and Service Tax in the Budget was intriguing, said N. Sivanesan,

president of Federation of All Trade and Industries’ Association. While the step taken for providing a

thrust to value addition of agricultural products was a welcome measure, the reason for permitting FDI

in marketing of agricultural produce without factoring in the internal market defied logic, Mr. Sivanesan

said. (The Hindu 1/3/16)

24. Maharashtra: 3,228 farmer suicides in 2015, highest in 14 years (20)

As many as 3,228 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra last year, highest in the last 14 years,

Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said on Friday. Both the Centre and state

governments are implementing various schemes to make farming viable and prevent farmers'

suicides due to agrarian reasons, he added. "As reported by the Maharashtra government, 3,228

farmers have committed suicide and it is the highest since 2001," Singh said in a written reply to the

Rajya Sabha. Maximum suicide cases were reported from Aurangabad at 1,130, followed by Amravati

(1,179), Nashik (4,59l), Nagpur (362), Pune (96) and Konkan (2), he said. "Out of these 3,228 cases,

1,841 cases are eligible for ex-grtia payment, while 903 cases are ineligible. 484 cases are pending

enquiry. About Rs 1 lakh has been given to the hiers in respect of 1,818 suicide cases," Singh said.

The centre has sanctioned Rs 3,049.36 crore relief funds for tackling drought in the state for this year,

he added. In order to prevent farmers' suicide, Singh said the state government is implementing

various schemes and both short and long term measures for tackling drought situation. Under the

'Baliraj Chetna Abhiyan Scheme', the district committee headed by the collector has Rs 10 crore per

year at its disposal to take up awareness campaign, de-addiction, health counselling, revival of social

support system and such activities to reduce the distress level of farmer families. The village level

committees, headed by sarpanch, has Rs 1 lakh per year at its disposal to help farmers families in

situation like meeting health and education expenses, loan installments which cause acute financial

distress. Under the Vasantrao Naik Sheti Swawlamban Mission, the state government is restructuring

various schemes to prevent farmers' suicides in the state. Even at the centre, Singh said various

programmes like soil health card, organic farming, irrigation and crop insurance are being

implemented. "The strategy of Government of India (GoI) is to focus on farmers' welfare by making

farming viable. Farm viability is possible, when cost of cultivation is reduced, yields per unit of farm

are increased and farmers get remunerative prices on their price," he added. Maharashtra is facing

drought for the second straight year due to poor monsoon. (DNA 4/3/16)

25. For farmers, Saturday night rain brings back memories of mass suicides (20)

MEERUT/BIJNOR: As heavy rains lashed several parts of western UP, including Meerut, on late

Saturday night, the downpour brought back memories of last year's wheat crisis for farmers in the

region. Recalling unseasonal rainfall and hailstorms in March last year, which triggered a spate of

suicides across the state, farmers demanded that all farmers in the region be covered under the

Central government's Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY). Experts, however, assured that

unless there is a massive hailstorm, farmers will not suffer losses. In Bijnor, however, there are

reports of damage as officials told TOI that 15% of the wheat crop may have been badly damaged.

"Last year, the destruction caused by the hailstorm had taken many lives. Some farmers had died of

shock, some had lost their mental balance and many others had been forced to take their own lives.

After heavy rain on Saturday night, we were reminded of the horrors of last year. We lost many good

brothers due to the rains. What makes our blood boil even more is the fact that the state government

and the central government just stood by and did nothing. While they have not provided any debt

relief to farmers, they should ensure that they are bailed out if this happens again. More and more

farmers need to be brought under the Central government's crop insurance scheme," said Kuldeep

Tyagi, national president of the Bhartiya Kisan Andolan (BKA). Pramod Sirohi, Bijnor district

agriculture officer, said, "A survey is being conducted to get an accurate idea of how much crop was

lost in Saturday's rain. The wheat crop may have fallen in many parts of the district due to heavy rain

and strong gusts of wind. Around 15% of the crop may have been affected by the rain." Experts,

however, believe that farmers do not have much to worry about. Ashok Kumar, professor at Sardar

Vallabhai Patel University of Agriculture's department of soil science, said, "Rain itself will not cause

the damage that was caused last year. Most of the devastation that took place last year was due to

hailstorms, which caused massive crop loss. Unless there are hailstorms, the damage is not

comparable to last year at all." Hukam Singh, a wheat farmer in Bijnor district's Gher Rambaag

village, said, "We are terrified after last year's experience. So far, we had been enjoying dry weather

after January. Now, just as the crop is close to ripening, there was such heavy rain and a storm. If

things continue like this for a few more days, we will lose our entire crop." (Times of India 6/3/16)

26. Another Farmer Kills Self Over Crop Loss in Odisha (20)

BERHAMPUR: After a young farmer of Nistupur village in Sanakhemundi block committed suicide for

crop loss recently, a sharecropper of Kanchana village in Kodala block killed himself by consuming

pesticide on Tuesday. The farmer has been identified as Kalia Bhunya. His wife, Sabitri, said they had

borrowed `50,000 from a villager to cultivate vegetables in one acre of land. The crops were damaged

due to lack of irrigation facilities. Due to crop loss, he could not repay the loans. On Saturday, when

the moneylender asked Kalia to repay the money, he consumed pesticide. He was admitted to Kodala

hospital and later shifted to MKCG where he died on Tuesday. After his death, MKCG officials sent

the body to Kanchana village for cremation. But hundreds of irate farmers staged a road blockade on

Kodala-Khallikote road demanding compensation and release of water in the canal. Following the

demonstration, traffic was disrupted for over five hours. Sabitri said they depend on Salia irrigation

project for cultivation purpose. But despite several requests, water was not released to the canal

during the month. As a result, the vegetable plants wilted and they suffered loss, she added. Kodala

IIC Kalpana Kaunri rushed to the spot and pacified the agitators. Tehsildar Sarat Chandra Mohapatra

released `10,000 to deceased family and ordered an inquiry into the matter. Meanwhile, Salia Project

Executive Engineer Anirudha Sahu ordered release of water to the canal. (New Indian Express

9.3.16)

27. 310 farmers committed suicide in Chhattisgarh in three years (20)

Raipur: As many as 310 farmers committed suicide in Chhattisgarh in the last three years, Revenue

Minister Premprakash Pandey informed the state Assembly on Wednesday. In a written reply to a

question by Congress's Amarjeet Bhagat, he gave district-wise break-up of farmers' suicides between

January 1, 2013 and January 31, 2016. The maximum number of suicides were reported in Surguja

district (102), followed by Bemetara (65), Kabirdham (42), Janjgir-Champa (33), Raigarh (24),

Rajnandgaon (16), Balod (9), Raipur (6), Balodabazar (4), Dhamtari (3), Mahasamund (2) and one

each in Bastar, Kondagaon, Korba and Durg. (Times of India 10/3/16)

28. 58 Farmer Suicides in AP, 342 in Telangana (20)

NEW DELHI: An Agriculture Ministry report has suggested that 58 farmers committed suicide in

Andhra Pradesh last year, while 342 ended their lives in newly formed Telangana. Karnataka, where

business tycoon Vijay Mallya’s business empire is mainly based, witnessed an average suicide of

eight farmer per month in 2015. In the ministry’s latest figure for 2016, 57 farmers have committed

suicide till February 18, which means one life per day. The ministry has noted that several new

initiatives have been taken to focus on farmer’s welfare by making farming viable. There are,

however, no details on whether the government is considering loan waiver or restructuring of the

loans. At present, loan is available to farmers at an interest rate of 7% per annum, which only gets

reduced to 4% if there is prompt repayment. But government banks had no such condition in

restructuring Mallya’s debt to the tune of `7,000 crore in 2011. State-owned United Bank of India had,

in fact, given up hope to recover hundreds of crores from Mallya. A letter written by the government-

constituted task force, Vasantrao Naik Sheti Swavalamban Mission (VNSSM), to Prime Minister

Narendra Modi also shows fraudulent practices by nationalised and cooperative banks, adding to the

woes of the farmers. It said Joint Liabilities Groups (JLG) of farmers have been formed in collusion

with some agro process corporate/ industries by preparing fraudulent and forged documents in the

name of farmers to receive loans from the banks.“Amount of such disbursement has been pocketed

directly by such so-called agro process corporate/ industries, which are direct beneficiaries of

amounts to the tune of several crore of rupees,” VNSSM’s letter to Modi said. Field inspection by the

government task force shows that most of the banks are able to meet the target through this modus

operandi but such lending amounts have been siphoned off by the corrupt persons involved therein

and entire blame is mounted on the heads of farmers and such JLG members who are not aware of

such fraud in the name of agro credits. The task force has recommended a probe by Special

Investigation Team. Tiwari said present situation of farmers and direct agro sector is mainly due to

inadequate credit facilities which is only extended to big corporate and people like Mallya. In February

2014, Express had exposed the scam in farmers’ loan waiver scheme initiated by UPA government in

2008 to write off bank loans of 3.69 crore small and marginal farmers in 35 states and union

territories. The Department of Financial Services under Ministry of Finance had admitted that

somebody who is not eligible got it and somebody who is eligible did not get it or alternatively there

was a case of tampering or alternation. (New Indian Express 13/3/16)

29. 1,841 farmers killed self over agri crisis: Eknath Khadse (20)

Mumbai: Maharashtra agriculture minister Eknath Khadse has informed the Legislative Assembly that

out of the 3,228 farmers who committed suicide in 2015, more than 1,300 were because of reasons

not related to agriculture. Out of the total suicides, 1,841 were eligible for government aid. The

minister also said that over 20,000 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra in the last 15 years, but

only 8,066 suicides were due to crop failure, loan and recovery pressure. Mr Khadse revealed the

information in a written reply to a query on the farmers’ suicide in the Assembly. “During January 2015

to December 2015, 3,228 suicides were committed, of which 1,841 were eligible, 903 were ineligible

and 484 are pending inquiry,” Mr Khadse said. In the same reply, he admitted that over 20,000

farmers have ended their lives in the last 15 years and 2015 had the highest suicides. “However,

8,066 suicides were committed due to crop failure, debt and recovery pressure,” he said. All party

members had asked the government if it has helped the families of the farmers who have committed

suicide. The MLAs, including Ashish Shelar (BJP), Parag Alavani (BJP), Bhaskar Jadhav (NCP),

Ameen Patel (Congress), Vijay Vadettiwar (Congress) had also asked if the government was thinking

of giving compensation to the families on the lines of Telangana. The Telangana government gives `6

lakh as compensation and Rs 51,000 for marriage of daughters. However, the minister refused the

demand. Currently, the Maharashtra government offers only Rs 1 lakh as aid for the kin of farmers

who have committed suicide. The minister said that the government had proposed Rs 4,002.82 crore

aid for the drought-stricken farmers through supplementary demands. Another proposal of Rs 116

crore meant for orchards is pending before the Centre. So far, the Centre has sanctioned Rs 2,548

crore for the farmers and Rs 2,536 crore has been distributed, he added. (Asian Age 14/3/16)

30. Farmer suicides: no inquiry for compensation, says govt (20)

MUMBAI: Faced with a steadily worsening drought in the state for the fourth consecutive year, the

Devendra Fadnavis-led government sought to reach out to beleaguered farmers announcing that

suicide-hit families will not have to face inquiries about the reason to receive compensation. The

government, however, ruled out loan waivers. Since it came to power end-2014, the BJP-led state

government has refused to announce a complete loan waiver despite persistent demands from the

Opposition for the measure, and has claimed to have spent over Rs 18,000 crore till now on drought

relief. The government’s stance on loan waivers was indicated during the extended discussion in the

Legislative Assembly last week on the drought situation and the rise in farmer suicides, when

Revenue Minister Eknath Khadse said, “Will loan waiver stop farmer suicides completely? Neither you

nor we have answers to certain questions. There can be other reasons as well and we should try to

solve those problems.” While announcing the decision to change norms for compensating farmer-

suicide families, Mr Khadse said earlier the police and revenue officials would investigate the reasons

behind the suicide. “The process to find out whether an agriculture loan was the reason behind the

suicide was long and tedious. It delayed compensation to many families. We have re-evaluated the

policy. From now on, the family of a farmer who commits suicide will be given compensation (of Rs 1

lakh) without any inquiry,” he said, adding a Rs 70,000-crore loan waiver package in 2008 could not

stop suicides. Mr Khadse’s was interrupted several times by Opposition members who not only

demanded loan waivers but also asked the government to increase the compensation amount.

Former CM Prithviraj Chavan of the Congress said the 2008 loan waiver had reduced suicides

considerably. “It is the drought since last the four years that has led to the rise in number of suicides,”

he said. Former finance minister and NCP leader Jayant Patil added, “I assure you that if you take the

decision now, it will have a positive impact. The number of farmers’ suicides will come down by over

50 per cent.” Khadse said families of farmers killed by natural calamities will be paid Rs 4 lakh, while

under the Late Gopinath Munde Accident Insurance scheme, families will be paid Rs two lakh in case

of death due to snake bite, falling off a tree etc. “But increasing compensation in case of suicides

would make me guilty of promoting suicides,” the minister said. Maharashtra has registered 3,228

farmer suicides in year 2015, the highest since 2001. As per the earlier norms, only1,841 were

considered eligible for compensation, leaving out 1,387 claimants. Shiv Sena’s Arjun Khotkar asked if

the new rule will be applied retrospectively as well, to which Mr Khadse said the government will

decide on it soon. Khadse’s replies, however, did not impress Leader of Opposition Radhakrishna

Vikhe-Patil, who led a boycott of the assembly accusing the government of not considering the

legitimate demands of farmers. (The Hindu 15/3/16)

31. NHRC Seeks Report on Farmers' Suicide (20)

BHUBANESWAR: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has directed the Chief Secretary

to submit a report on high number of farmers’ suicides due to agrarian distress in the State. Acting on

complaints filed by rights groups led by Pradip Pradhan, seeking its intervention in providing justice to

the families of victims, the Commission has sought a detailed informative report within four weeks.

The petitioner has alleged that 30 debt-ridden farmers in 12 districts had committed suicide due to

crop failure over only a fortnight between November 25 and December 10 last year. He has submitted

a fact-finding report on farmers’ suicides after visiting 12 districts and collecting detailed information

on the plight of farmer community. The petitioner has urged the Commission to constitute an enquiry

team or assign a probe by special rapporteur into the farmers’ suicides as well as directing the State

Government and Centre to ensure food security and rehabilitation of the distressed families. (New

Indian Express 16/3/16)

32. 2,000 crore increase in allocation for farm sector (20)

Chandigarh: In an attempt to de-stress the distressed rural sector and enable it to meet the economic

challenges, the Haryana budget has enhanced allocation for the agriculture and allied sectors by

13.71%. Finance minister Captain Abhimanyu has allotted Rs 13,494 crore for 2016-17 in the budget

in comparison to Rs 11,444.41 crore for 2015-16. The announcement has come at a time when the

farmers in Haryana are facing severe crisis following crop failures because of heavy rains coupled

with hailstorms. The state had also witnessed suicides by several farmers after the crop failure in

2015. Presenting his budget proposals in the state assembly on Monday, Capt Abhimanyu said that

the outlay for agriculture had been hiked to realize the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who

aimed to double the farmers' income within five years. Haryana also increased its share by 54% for

various central government schemes like Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana, National Food Security

Mission, National Mission on Agriculture Expansion and Technology, National Oil Seed and Oil Palm

Mission. The allocation under the Centre's schemes of National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture

and the Soil Health Card Scheme has also been increased from Rs 4.56 crore to Rs 15.02 crore. For

different schemes to promote the horticulture sector, the allocation has been upped to Rs 378 crore

from Rs 239.45 crore of 2015-16. Welcoming the launch of the new farm insurance scheme

'Pradhanmantri Fasal Bima Yojana', he said it would go a long way in providing financial support to

the farmers in the event of failure of notified crops because of natural calamities, pests and diseases.

A sum of Rs 300 crore has been proposed for the scheme. Capt Abhimanyu has proposed Rs 50

crore in the first instance for setting up a horticultural university in Karnal. The grant-in-aid for the

Haryana Agricultural University has also been increased. "The Haryana government not only

enhanced the compensation rate per acre but also widened the scope for coverage of the crops

damaged due to floods, standing water, fire, electric sparking, heavy rains, hailstorm, dust storm and

whilefly attack," said the minister. (Times of India 22/3/16)

33. Kisan sabha to oppose river linking project (20)

BERHAMPUR: The Odisha unit of peasants’ organisation All-India Kisan Mazdoor Sabha (AIKMS)

has decided to oppose Mahanadi-Godavari river linking project as well as over-promotion of ground

water use for agriculture in the State. It was decided at the two-day State level conference of the

organisation that concluded in Berhampur on Tuesday. Speaking to newsmen, organisation national

general secretary Sushant Jha and State president Natabar Pradhan claimed that river linking project

and over-tapping of ground water would be a major bane for environment and agriculture. The AIKMS

claimed that although Odisha had ample amount of surface water and adequate rainfall, due to lack of

proper water management its farmers were suffering drought-like situation regularly. They criticised

the government for over-promotion of bore wells for irrigation purposes, which, according to them,

would be a major reason of ground water depletion in near future. They wanted scientific

environment-friendly small projects to tap water of traditional sources for irrigation. “We are opposed

to large irrigation projects and want irrigated land of Odisha to be increased at least 50 per cent

through small barrages on rivers or streams,” said Mr Pradhan. The State government has shown

positive attitude towards the Centre’s river linking project. However, the AIKMS opposes the proposal

saying that it would be a major danger for environment and displace thousands of peasants. Mr. Jha

had on Monday said that the rate of suicide of peasants in the country has increased to 52 per day in

first few months of 2016 in comparison to 42 suicides per day in 2015. He claimed that agriculture and

farmers were being neglected by both the State and Central governments. “Our aim is to make micro

level analysis of problems being faced by farmers and possible remedial measures through

discussions,” said national committee member of AIKMS Bhala Chandra Sarangi. Mr. Natabar

Sarangi was sceptical about the second green revolution being promoted by the NDA government in

eastern India, including Odisha. (The Hindu 23/3/16)

34. Unable to repay loans, 2 more farmers end lives (20)

Mansa: Reeling under debt, two farmers ended their lives by gulping poison in Mansa district. With

this, the suicide count has risen to 14 in less than three months in the district.Jang Singh, 60, of

Tandian village, committed suicide late on Holi night by consuming a poisonous substance. "His

cotton crop sown on five acres was damaged due to whitefly attack. Now his wheat crop too had been

hit due to untimely rains. He owed Rs 2 lakh to the village cooperative society and Rs 5 lakh to a

moneylender," said Tandian sarpanch Shinder Kaur. Jang's wife Amarjit Kaur said, "The cooperative

society had sent notice to repay the loan in coming month and he was upset for not able to make the

payment. He committed suicide on Thursday night." Balbir Singh, 42, of Autanwali village, had only

one acre of land and had taken four acres on lease. He owed Rs 1.5 lakh to a moneylender.

Autanwali sarpanch Gurmail Singh said, "Balbir had two daughters, who are nearly 20 years of age.

With no return from small land holding he was worried about marrying them off and committed suicide

on Thursday night." As per a survey conducted by Punjabi University at Patiala, the farmers of the

state were reeling under debt of nearly Rs 69,000 crore which included Rs 56,000 crore institutional

and nearly Rs 13,000 non-institutional debt. (Times of India 26/3/16)

35. Opp blames govt for farmer's suicide opp Mantralaya (20)

Mumbai, Mar 28 () The ruling and opposition parties today had a heated discussion in Maharashtra

Legislative Council over suicide by a farmer opposite the Mantralaya (state secretariat) here last

week. The Opposition demanded that a murder case be registered against "errant officials".However,

state Agriculture Minister Eknath Khadse said the state government had done all it could, and that the

farmer had received drought aid over a month back. Madhav Kadam, a farmer from Nanded district,

had attempted suicide by consuming an insecticide opposite the state secretariat here on March 23,

allegedly because of not receiving drought compensation despite his crop failure. He later died in an

hospital on March 26. As the House assembled for the day, Leader of Opposition Dhananjay Munde,

via an adjournment motion, said a government which believes in communicating through social media

cannot respond to the cries of farmers. "This suicide incident has happened because the government

excluded farmers sowing cotton from getting compensation for crop failure. This is a government that

believes in communicating through social media. But, why does it not hear the cries of farmers?" he

asked. He said the farmer had met a few ministers, tehsildar and Collector asking for help, but did not

receive any. Jayant Patil (of PWP) said it is the first time in the history of the state that a farmer has

committed suicide in front of Mantralaya. "(Eknath) Khadse, while he was in the Opposition, had many

a times demanded that a murder case be lodged against officials when a farmer committed suicide.

Now, the district collector should be charged under IPC section 302," he said. (MORE) MM GK PVI

(Times of India 28/3/16)

36. Farmers’ group organises protest in Nashik (20)

Nashik: Demanding remunerative prices for farm produce and farmland for the adivasi community, the

leftist organisation Kisan Sabha staged a massive state-level morcha and agitation in Nashik on

Tuesday. Communist Party of India (Marxist) national general secretary MP Sitaram Yechury, Akhil

Bharatiya Kisan Sabha general secretary Hunnan Maula, senior journalist P. Sainath, veteran trade

union leader Dr D.L. Karad and other leaders addressed the rally. Mr Yechury criticised the union and

state governments for their inaction on farmers and adivasi issues. “The government waives off the

loans of capitalists but not of farmers. The Maharashtra government has no scheme to waive off the

debts of farmers,” he charged. “The current rate of wheat is Rs 1,150 per quintal while the production

cost is Rs 1,800. The government should stop importing wheat and should give a remunerative price

of Rs 2,400 per quintal for wheat,” he said. Mr Yechury stated that 99 per cent adivasis in Mizoram

had got farms. “In Maharashtra too, the adivasis should get their land,” he asserted. Mr Yechury said

that the voice of the youth was being stifled and enmity was being promoted between two

communities. The major demands are complete waiver of all loans and electricity bills of farmers,

remunerative prices for farm produce, water, fodder and work in drought areas, minimum `50,000 per

acre compensation for crop losses, among others. Nashik was chosen as the venue because in

Mumbai, there are several morchas daily and a particular morcha is not highlighted. Moreover, given

the number of agitators, an expected one lakh, Nashik was a better choice, sources said. The morcha

began late evening, though the time given was in the afternoon. Traffic was stalled for a while, as the

morcha began from Golf Club and marched to the Collectorate. (Asian Age 30/3/16)

37. Provide Details of Farmers' Suicides: Hyderabad HC (20)

HYDERABAD: A division bench of Hyderabad HC on Thursday asked the petitioners to submit

details to the governments of TS and AP regarding the farmers who have committed suicide after

failing to repay their agriculture loans due to crop loss. The bench comprising Acting Chief Justice

Dilip B Bhosale and Justice P Naveen Rao was dealing with the PIL cases filed separately by

Vyavasaya Jana Chaitanya Samithi, Pakala Srihari Rao and others challenging the inaction of both

TS and AP governments in curbing farmers’ suicides. Telangana Vidyavanthula Vedika and

Telangana Rythu JAC were also made party to the case. One of petitioner’s counsel complained that

both state governments have failed to take steps to set up the state level farmers’ commission.

Reacting to the submission, the bench said it is easy for anyone to approach the court and blame the

governments. The bench asked S Sharath Kumar, special government pleader of TS, to tell whether

the families of farmers who committed suicide due to crop failure are receiving the benefits or not?

The government counsel said the petitioners have submitted list of farmers who have committed

suicide due to crop failure and district collectors are examining the cases. But in some cases the

family members have admitted that suicides were not due to crop failure. Steps have been taken to

summarise the details and to place, he added and urged the court to grant some time to place the

details of cases. Following the request, the bench adjourned the case for two weeks. (New Indian

Express 1/4/16)

38. 91 farmers ended their lives in the last one year (21)

Mysuru: As many as 91 farmers committed suicide in the last one year (April 1, 2015 to March 31,

2016) in Mysuru district. As many as 20 farmers committed suicide each in K.R. Nagar and

Piriyapatna taluks in this period. While 21 farmers in Hunsuru had ended their lives, 12 farmers in

H.D. Kote taluk, four each in Mysuru and T. Narasipura taluks and 10 farmers in Nanjangud taluk

committed suicide during the last financial year. Of the 91 farmers, cases of 60 farmers were

accepted by the committees headed by the Assistant Commissioners and families of all the 60

deceased farmers were given compensation of Rs. 5 lakh each. As many as 12 cases were rejected

as the deceased farmers had not availed loans from any banks, financial institutions or from any

registered pawn brokers. Also, those who ended their lives for reasons other than financial crisis were

not considered by the committees. Three such cases in Hunsuru and Nanjangud taluks and two

cases each in H.D. Kote, K.R. Nagar and Mysuru taluks have not been considered for compensation.

However, the government has simplified the procedure for compensation. Accordingly, a deceased

farmer need not have the land in his or her name for his or her family to avail compensation. The

farmer’s family is eligible for compensation if the land is in the name of any of the family members.

Also, farmers who were cultivating land on contract or lease basis are also eligible for compensation.

The district administration, at the behest of the State government, had taken all measures to provide

free education to children of the farmers who had committed suicide in government schools. Also,

hostels have been asked to compulsorily provide accommodation for the children without charging a

penny. Wives of deceased farmers were also being selected as beneficiaries under the Pashu

Bhagya scheme under which they would be given cows and sheep. M. Mahanteshappa, Joint Director

of Agriculture, told The Hindu that a committee led by the Deputy Commissioner has been keeping a

constant vigil on pawn brokers and private financiers to prevent them from putting pressure on the

farmers to repay the loan. The committee is also taking steps to ensure that exorbitant interest would

not be collected from the farmers. Nationalised banks have also been asked not to insist farmers to

repay the loans and they have been instructed to convert short or medium term loans into long term

loans in the wake of drought last year. (The Hindu 6/4/16)

39. Supreme Court pulls up Centre over plight of drought-hit people (20)

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday pulled up the Centre for not taking action to provide

relief to those affected by drought which forced many farmers to commit suicide and directed the

government to place before it the amount to be released to states under social welfare schemes to

handle the situation. A bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and N V Ramana questioned the Centre for

releasing funds under MNREGA to state governments and and its claim that it was taking all

necessary steps for providing relief to the drought-affected. "There is a problem and you cannot

neglect it. You must realise that there is a problem and eight to nine states are suffering from

drought," the bench said. Additional solicitor general Pinky Anand tried to convince the bench that the

government is very serious towards the issue and all possible steps are being taken to handle the

crisis. She told the bench that Rs 7983 crore will be released by the Centre in a couple of days

towards wage liability, while Rs 2723 crore will be cleared in June.The bench, however, said social

welfare schemes like MNREGA were not being implemented in true spirit and wages not being paid

on time to workers due to late release of funds by the Centre. "Unless you release the money on time,

it is not going to benefit the workers. How can you ask people to work without paying them," the

bench said. The court said framing policy on paper for relief to drought-hit farmers was not sufficient

enough. It was hearing a PIL filed by NGO Swaraj Abh (Times of India 7/4/16)

40. Farmer suicides decline in Yavatmal: Official (20)

Yavatmal: The farmer suicides in first three months of the year in the district have reduced as

compared to corresponding period last year, a senior official said. "While 96 farmers had committed

suicide between January and March last year, the number has dropped to 48 this year," Yavatmal

District Collector Sachindra Pratap Singh said. "It is certainly a good sign and if the downward trend

continues unabated for the next 12 months, the (Maharashtra) Chief Minister's assurance of

converting Yavatmal and Osmanabad into suicide free districts will be possible," he added. The

district administration had launched awareness programme 'Baliraja Chetana Abhiyan' in July last

year to curb farmer suicides. The response from the public for the programme is overwhelming, the

Collector claimed. Singh appealed to farmers not to get disheartened over the prevailing drought

situation. (Zee News 9/4/16)

41. Centre orders funds for buying fodder in drought-hit states (20)

New Delhi: Expressing its resolve to tackle the situation arising due to drought and deficient rains in

various parts of the country, the Centre on Monday ordered immediate allocation of funds to the

affected states to buy fodder. A high-level meeting, presided over by union Cabinet Secretary

Pradeep Kumar Sinha and attended by chief secretaries of all drought-affected states, also decided

immediate drought relief out of the State Disaster Response Fund. States will be given funds

immediately under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana for fodder, an official source said here. The

states were also expected to approach the Centre for availing of financial assistance under the

National Lifestock Mission implemented by the department of animal husbandry, dairying and

fisheries. Among other directives, the cabinet secretary instructed the ministry for drinking water and

sanitation to release funds for rural drinking water supply to mitigate problems faced by the state

governments. "The rural development ministry shall ensure that the drought-affected states give wage

employment to people over and above the stipulated 100 days and release funds on time," the source

said. Also present at the meeting were secretaries in the ministries of agriculture, rural development,

drinking water, animal husbandry, food and public distribution, water resources, home affairs, finance

and railways. The Central Drought Relief Commissioner made an overarching presentation on the

rainfall deficiency and kharif 2015, rabi 2015-16 and measures being taken to tackle difficulties faced

by farmers in drought-hit states. Other critical issues of providing additional employment of 50 days

under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme over and above the 100

days, preparation of crop contingency plans for districts facing drought and allocation for drought relief

were also discussed. The food grain situation and its distribution through the public distribution

system under the National Food Security Act, assistance under the National Disaster Response Fund

/State Disaster Response Fund, provisioning for nutritional requirement of children and lactating

mothers, midday meal scheme, and most importantly, the drinking water supply were also reviewed,

the sources said. On Sunday, at the intervention of the Prime Minister's Office, the Centre announced

that Bundelkhand in Uttar Pradesh will get a special package of Rs.1,304 crore for drought relief

under the National Disaster Relief Fund. The Centre also said that drought-like situations in

Vidharbha and Marathwada in Maharashtra too would be reviewed at high-level meetings. (Zee News

11/4/16)

42. Schoolchildren lead the way in organic farming (20)

KALPETTA: Inspired by their success in the cultivation of traditional rice varieties last year, a group of

students of the Government Higher Secondary School (GHSS), Meenangadi, in the district has come

out with different varieties of organic vegetables at affordable rates for Vishu. “We have launched the

project titled ‘Kani Kanan Kanivellari’ with the support of the Meenangadi Krishi Bhavan to sensitise

the public on the significance of consuming pesticide-free vegetables and promoting organic

cultivation through the student community,” says M.K. Rajendran, NSS programme officer, GHSS,

Meenangadi. As many as 50 NSS volunteers of the school cultivated 12 different varieties of organic

vegetables such as kanivellari or golden melon, cabbage, bitter gourd, green chilly, okra, cucumber

and brinjal on one acre of rented land. The students spent Rs.40,000 for the cultivation, and, in the

first harvest on Monday, they got vegetable crops worth Rs.10,000. The students have also put up a

stall on the premises of the school to sell the produce. “There is good demand from the public for the

organic vegetables and we sold the entire produce by noon,” said K.J. Surya, a Plus One student of

the school. The vegetable saplings were raised in paper grow bags, made by the students, to avoid

the use of plastic.“We are selling the produce at a nominal rate to the public as we were able to avoid

the intervention of the middlemen,” Ms .Surya said. The Meenangadi grama panchayat provided the

services of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme workers for the

venture during the planting of vegetable saplings. (The Hindu 13/4/16)

43. Unable to repay loan, farmer allegedly commits suicide in TN (20)

Chennai, Apr 17 : A 65-year-old farmer in Coimbatore, who had borrowed 70 lakh rupees from a

nationalised bank, committed suicide on Saturday. The farmer allegedly died after consuming

pesticide. According to reports, the victim, identified as Ramasamy, had taken the loan to set up a

farm for cultivation of capsicums and tomatoes. He had repaid around Rs. 6 lakh which he borrowed

from private lenders. His family has alleged that the bank authorities backtracked on a 50 per cent

subsidy and asked him to repay the entire loan. His son told mediapersons that he was under stress

and therefore committed suicide. Police said no suicide note was found though. (New Kerala 17/4/16)

44. No farmer suicides in watershed areas: Nabard (20)

HYDERABAD: The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development has said that there were no

instances of suicide by farmers in areas where the bank supported watershed programmes.

Addressing a press conference highlighting the performance of Andhra Pradesh regional office of the

bank on Monday, its chief general manager Hairsh Java said the bank released a grant of Rs.175

crore for 166 watershed projects in AP last year and 154 of them were completed. As a special drive

to support the farmers of nine distressed and suicide prone districts of AP, the regional office

conducted 58 customised financial literacy awareness camps. As many as 54 Farmer Producer

Organisations were sanctioned grant assistance to provide end-to-end solution from farm production

to marketing of agriculture produce. The office is implementing a climate change project for

development and restoration of mangrove plantation in the coastal area and provide livelihood for

fishermen in three villages of Krishna district with a total financial assistance of Rs.3.81 crore. The

total business of Nabard in the State in 2015-16 was Rs.8,301 crore, which was a 22 per cent growth

over previous year. About 3.76 lakh self-help groups were provided bank credit. (The Hindu 19/4/16)

45. Cabinet sub-committee surveys drought-hit areas in Mandya (20)

Mandya: A Cabinet sub-committee on drought, comprising four ministries, visited several villages in

the district on Thursday evening to get a first-hand account of the prevailing situation. All seven taluks

in the district had been declared drought-hit and over 100 farmers allegedly committed suicide owing

to crop loss.Subsequently, the State government had constituted four teams to study the situation. Of

them, a team, headed by Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs T.B. Jayachandra, visited some

villages in Maddur, K.R. Pet, Nagamangala and Srirangapatna district besides visiting the Krishnaraja

Sagar (KRS) reservoir at 6.55 p.m. Mr. Jayachandra, along with H.C. Mahadevappa, Minister for

Public Works, Ports, Inland and Water Transport, H.S. Mahadevaprasad, Minister for Cooperation

and Sugar, and Food and Civil Supplies Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao inspected lakes, canals and

farmlands at Chinnana Doddi, Thoreshetty Halli, Kestur, Athagur, Dodda Nakanahalli and Koppa in

Maddur taluk. Mr. Mahadevappa, while interacting with the villagers, said that the State government

will fill water in 20 lakes at a cost of Rs. 50 crore. Later, the team visited the KRS reservoir after

visiting Nagamangala and K.R. Pet. Housing Minister M.H. Ambareesh, Deputy Commissioner M.N.

Ajay Nagabhushan, Mandya Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer B. Sharath, Superintendent of

Police C.H. Sudheer Kumar Reddy and others were present. (The Hindu 22/4/16)

46. Loan waiver benefited over 13,000 farmers in division (20)

Nagpur: Over 13,000 farmers from Nagpur division have been benefited under Maharashtra

government's scheme to waive off moneylenders' loans to farmers. The division comprises Wardha,

Gondia, Bhandara, Chandrapur, Gadchiroli and Nagpur where 3,061 villages were identified by the

government for implementing the scheme. The announcement in this regard was made by chief

minister Devendra Fadnavis while replying to a debate over drought in Vidarbha and Marathwada

regions during winter session in city in December 2014. Revenue minister Eknath Khadse made

similar announcement in the council declaring that farmers would be given 100% loan waiver if they

had availed loan from licensed moneylenders. The debate in both house was initiated by the

opposition parties after a large number of farmers committed suicides due to mounting debts, and a

majority of them had availed loans from the moneylenders. As per reply by office of divisional joint

registrar's for cooperative Societies in Nagpur to RTI activist Abhay Kolarkar, 27,541 farmers were

identified in the division as eligible under the scheme. These were finalized by district level scrutiny

committee. This panel consisted of collector, police superintendent, divisional registrar and auditor of

the respective districts. They had taken loans from 743 moneylenders and their total outstanding was

Rs2,798.28 crore. The public information officer (PIO) at joint registrar's office informed that so far, the

government had released about Rs 19 crore towards the scheme benefiting 13,233 farmers who had

secured loans from 571 licensed moneylenders. The government freed the properties and articles of

14,647 farmers who had mortgaged them to the moneylenders. It also distributed 'Debt Relief

Certificates' to 12,116 farmers so far. The waiver was announced as a part of a relief package for

farmers and the moneylenders were asked to provide a list of borrowers. Interestingly, the

moneylenders knocked the doors of Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court challenging the waiver

saying they had been granted insufficient time to provide details. According to PIO, after getting

approval from the scrutiny committee, the moneylenders were told to return the mortgaged property of

the farmer. The debt amount was transferred to the moneylenders' account through NEFT/RTGS.

Later, the certificate of actual amount was handed over to the farmer by the committee. In case any

dispute over the debt amount, the farmers have liberty to move court with further claims under Section

36 of Maharashtra Moneylending Act, 2014. (Times of India 25/4/16)

47. 116 farmer suicides in first 3 months of 2016 (20)

NEW DELHI: Days after attributing the record number of farmer suicides in 2015 to poor

disbursement of credit, which left them at the mercy of usurious money lenders, the Centre on

Tuesday shared with Parliament grim statistics highlighting how the situation remains unchanged in

2016, with as many as 116 suicides during the first three months. Maharashtra continues to be the

dark spot, recording the highest number of farmer suicides . Punjab, which recorded only three farmer

sucides in 2014, was second in the list in 2015 as also so far this year. In farmer suicide capital, a 12-

year-old poetess makes history However, MP, which has consistently been recording farmer suicides

in varying numbers till 2014, managed to escape this tragic cycle. The state did not report any suicide

in 2015 and during the first three months of this year. Officials credit MP's better agricultural growth,

backed by creation of irrigation infrastructure in water-stressed areas, for the turnaround. Water-

starved Maharashtra faces the brunt for its failure to adapt to suitable cropping patterns, particularly

Marathwada. In response to a Parliament question, the government informed the Lok Sabha that of

the 2,115 farmers who committed suicide in 2014, 1,163 were driven by debt, and the remaining by

crop loss.In Maharashtra, 857 of 1,207 farmers who committed suicide did so due to debt burden,

which lays bare their dependence on local money-lenders due to a non-functional farm credit system

in the state and also in other parts of the country. The figures for farmers' suicide were shared on a

day Union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh alleged that dams were constructed in

Maharashtra to serve interests of the sugar industry and not farmers. "I demand a discussion on

Maharashtra drought so that facts can come to light," he said in Lok Sabha, blaming the previous

Congress-led government in the state for the mess. His allegation triggered a war of words with the

opposition blaming the Centre for not doing enough to provide relief to the drought-affected states.

(Times of India 27/4/16)

48. Marathwada drought: 65 farmer suicides reported in April, highest in Beed (20)

As many as 65 farmers in Marathwada have committed suicide in April, reported The Times Of India.

It further said that the highest number of suicides was reported from Beed - 60, followed by

Aurangabad and Nanded. Latur reported 44 farmer suicides. Burdened with crippling debt and three

years of drought, over 300 farmers have ended their lives this year. Farmer suicides were also

reported from Osmanabad, Jalna, Parbhani and Hingoli districts. District administration officials have

instructed health care workers and doctors to extend help to distressed farmers and "boost the morale

of farmers." Officials told The Times Of India that 146 cases are eligible for compensation, 117 cases

are pending and around 75 claims have been rejected so far. Meanwhile, central teams will study

drought-affected areas in the country till June this year and prepare a long-term plan of possible

actions to tackle the calamity. The Central Water Commission (CWC) and Central Ground Water

Board (CGWB) teams have been asked to analyse the causes leading to drought in these areas and

identify water resources management challenges. The teams will also figure out gaps in water

information and plans to recharge, long-run solutions and suggest measures for protection,

management and restoration of water bodies, the statement said. According to a DNA report, two new

water rakes would be deployed on a shorter route to Latur. Water from Dudhana river will be sent to

Latur via Partur instead of Miraj. The Aurangabad Bench of the Bombay High Court on Tuesday

ordered 50 percent water cuts for breweries in Marathwada from 10 May. A bench of Justices SS

Shinde and Santeetrao Patil said that it was inhuman that breweries were enjoying a lavish supply of

water, when people had not seen water for days. Apart from breweries and distilleries, the court has

also increased the water cut for other industrial units by 5 percent from the initial 20 percent starting

20 May. (Frstpost 28/4/16)