Times
of India: Mumbai: Monday, 09 February 2015.
Families of
nearly half of the farmers in Maharashtra who have committed suicide over the
last four years are not eligible to get even the paltry Rs 1 lakh compensation
thanks to government rules. Maharashtra, along with Tamil Nadu, WB, AP,
Chhattisgarh and MP, registers a high number of farmer suicides.
An RTI
application by activist Jitendra Ghadge has revealed that of the total 5,698
suicides registered in rural Maharashtra since 2011, especially in Vidarbha and
Marathwada regions, spouses of 2,731 victims have been found ineligible to receive
government aid—either because the deceased did not have a bank loan against the
cultivation planned in that season or did not own a piece of land.
Activists say
there is an urgent need to review compensation systems and strengthen the
agrarian economy.
Experts and
activists relate this large number of 'ineligible' suicides not only with
acutely distressful agrarian issues but also to the extremes the urban and
rural economies have attained, forcing youth in rural areas to shun farming and
migrate to urban set-ups.
According to
them, district committees decide on the eligibility of compensation (Rs 30,000
cash and a cheque of Rs 70,000) based on bank and land records established by
family members and the police in the inquest panchanamas, which sometimes
contain many loopholes.
Kishor
Tiwari, a farmers' activist from Vidarbha, said there were serious issues with
the existing methods in deciding criteria for compensation. "Corruption
and political interference are rampant apart from the lackadaisical approach of
senior police and revenue officials in those districts," he said.
Journalist
and researcher of agrarian crises Jaideep Hardikar, who has authored a book
based on the life of farmers and PAPs (project-affected people), said farm
labourers or marginal farmers having no direct access to banks were getting no
attention although they too shared the agony of a failed monsoon. "Though
the situations vary, the issues remain the same in their lives," he added.
Hardikar said the case rejection or ineligibility had gone up since 2008 and
there was a need to tackle the issue more scientifically.
According to
Tiwari, a survey of 17 lakh families by the government showed distress and
frustration due to economic, educational and medical reasons besides debts and
damages to crops in natural calamities as reasons for the suicides.
"Expectations of the younger generation are increasing. When a clerk or a
peon in an urban area who relocates from rural areas is able to earn a decent
sum, a person working on a farm is unable to meet the expectations of family
members. Distress and frustration are acute due to ailments, education and
agrarian uncertainties," he said.
"This is
the failure of the government in offering better opportunities in rural areas.
Why does a Rs one lakh loan become a reason for suicide in rural areas?"
asks Hardikar and answers it himself: "Because prices and yields are
volatile and returns or investments are not guaranteed."
"Gender
bias, lack of interest among collectors and senior police officials in
verifying the police and revenue reports, loopholes in investigating reasons of
suicide such as borrowing money from private money lenders, property disputes,
alleged consumption of liquor and alleged extramarital affairs are responsible
for rising number of ineligible cases," said other activists who did not
want to be named.
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