Governor urged to help stop farmers suicides

Hyderabad: Telangana State Rythu Ikya Karyacharana Committee has appealed to Governor ESL Narasimhan to direct the TRS government to enforce two government orders to stop suicides of farmers. In a letter addressed to the Governor, committee chairman Justice (Retd) B Chandra Kumar has stated as per GO No. 69 of 13.8.2014 issued by the State government, all farmers were eligible for loan waiver up to Rs one lakh, irrespective of renewals of their loans.

But the Director of Agriculture had instructed the banks to give the benefit of loan waiver in GO 69 only to those farmers who come for renewal of their loans. This was absolutely in defiance of the GO, he said. The committee chairman said so far no action was taken by the government.

Many farmers were committing suicides as they fail to get fresh loans due to faulty government policies on agriculture like failure in timely supply of seed, fertilisers and fixation of remunerative prices to agricultural produces. Even in the cases of farmers who have been committing suicides since 1998, GO 421 issued on June 1, 2004 that was meant to benefit the bereaved families was not being properly implemented.

The GO lists at least seven kinds of benefits to the families of farmers who committed suicide. The seven kinds of benefits were not being provided to the victim families even in a single case so far right from 1998. The main condition of the visit and enquiry by the three-member committee specifically laid down in the GO to certify the event of suicide had been ignored mostly.