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HRF-OPDR for aid to kin of farmers who committed suicide
The bereaved families of farmers, who committed suicide as they were caught in financial entanglements, held a massive protest rally and staged a demonstration in front of the Collectorate here on Wednesday seeking compensation from the State government.
Warangal: The bereaved families of farmers, who committed suicide as they were caught in financial entanglements, held a massive protest rally and staged a demonstration in front of the Collectorate here on Wednesday seeking compensation from the State government.
The protest was staged under the aegis of the district wings of Human Rights Forum (HRF) and Organisation for Protection of Democratic Rights (OPDR). The leaders of the organisations condemned the government’s indifferent attitude towards the families of farmers.
The HRF state president S Jeevan Kumar, its district general secretary Badavath Raju, the OPDR State president M V Krishnaiah and its district general secretary Beeram Ramulu, addressing the gathering, advised the farmers not to commit suicide, but to fight for their rights.
They alleged that the state government was trying to downplay the issue of farmer suicides. “As per the statistics available with District Crime Records Bureau, 3018 farmers have ended their lives between 1998 and 2013. In the current year alone, about 140 farmers trapped in debts have committed suicide,” they added.
Nevertheless, the State government had identified only 15 cases as eligible to receive monetary support as per the GO 421 in the current year. For the previous years, only 752 families of farmers out of 3,018 were given financial assistance. “Despite several representations, the district administration did not focus on identifying the genuine cases of farmer suicides,” they alleged. The Jayati Ghosh Commission, constituted by the then State government a decade ago on farmers’ welfare, had made several suggestions to assist the distressed farming community. But all such recommendations were ignored by successive governments.
They sought to know how could a government that failed to support the bereaved families of farmers achieve “Golden Telangana.” At least now, the TRS government should come up with a comprehensive package for extending financial assistance to all the affected families.
It should also initiate steps to prevent such occurrences in future and see that GO 421 was implemented effectively by ensuring that the three-member committee constituted at divisional-level visits affected families whenever a farmer ends life, the leaders said.
