Complexity in GO delays justice to kin of farmers

Warangal: Lack of knowledge and alleged indifferent attitude of official machinery in implementing GO 421 has denied the much-needed relief to the bereaved families of farmers, who have committed suicide in the district.

The revenue officials such as MROs, who were responsible for conducting ground level work in compiling report whenever a farmer commits suicide, have been at loss in comprehending the GO. As a result, dispersal of compensation to huge number of suicide cases is pending since 1998.

The GO was issued on June 1, 2004 during Chief Ministership of Y S Rajasekhar Reddy extending financial assistance with retrospective effect, informed Human Rights Forum (HRF) district committee member Dadaboina Ranjith. The order states that the bereaved family members of farmers who have committed suicide could be given compensation from July 1, 1998. But sadly, none of the officials concerned were aware of the facts leading to depriving compensation to huge number of affected families, he claimed.

Several representations to MROs and RDOs by the affected families and the HRF in several mandals of the district have yielded no result as officials feigned ignorance over providing compensation on retrospective basis, Ranjith explained. The HRF activist demanded the district administration to immediately take up the case and issue directions to the officials concerned to compile data and put up files related to farmers’ suicides taken place prior to 1998.

“The orders will also be applicable to all the suicides primarily arising out of farm income related issues from July 1, 1998 till the date of issue of these orders,” he said quoting the GO. But not a single case prior to 1998 was given assistance, he added. “The district collector V Karuna should look into the matter and clarify the officials on the issue,” he demanded. More over rendering economic assistance and rehabilitation of bereaved family members of deceased farmers was highly unsatisfactory in Warangal district. Nearly 3000 suicides of farmers have taken place in the district since 1998 owing to increasing debts and failure of crops, the HRF activist said.

In 2006, about 752 farmer families were given compensation. Later a small number of families received the assistance but some are still waiting for the compensation.

The GO 421 specifies that a three-member committee consisting of the RDO, DSP and assistance director agriculture should verify the instances of farmers' suicide within a month after the incident was reported. But, sadly the three-member committees were not visiting the bereaved families. The district administration should re-open and conduct inquiries afresh into the cases that have been rejected earlier based on narrow reading of the GO 421, Ranjith appealed.

James Edwin