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Suicide spectre haunts Medak dist
Highlights
Naveen and Vinodha look distraught and no amount of cajoling can bring a smile on their face. They wander all day long in the cotton field in Timmapur village, Jagdevpur mandal, Gajwel constituency and wonder why their father K Balanarsaiah (44) drank pesticide which eventually led to his death.
Of the 70 who ended their lives, many were tenant farmers
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Sangareddy: Naveen and Vinodha look distraught and no amount of cajoling can bring a smile on their face. They wander all day long in the cotton field in Timmapur village, Jagdevpur mandal, Gajwel constituency and wonder why their father K Balanarsaiah (44) drank pesticide which eventually led to his death.
Unable to come out of the debt trap, he took the extreme step. Like him, several farmers are committing suicide and the number is rising with each passing day. Since the formation of Telangana State, 189 suicides were recorded in Medak district alone from June 2, 2014 to Aug 16, 2015.
A majority of them were tenant farmers. With deficit rainfall in the present kharif season and many farmers unable to meet overdue of last year’s loan payments, the district may see a similar situation now. Kalamma (45) is left with two sons and a daughter as her husband Sunke Sankaraiah (50) of Banglavenkatapuram, Gajwel mandal hanged himself on August 4 unable to bear the burden of debt.
Two failed borewells, last year’s failed crop and no sight of rain this year was too much for him and he decided to end it all by hanging himself at the entrance of his house. Today, his family lives close to the house in a hut as tradition compels them not to enter the house for three months but Kalamma and her children are having sleepless nights as they do not know when people would start knocking on their doors for money that was lent.
The chance for ex-gratia of Rs 150,000 is only on paper and few bereaved families get it. Out of the 189 families only 36 were given ex-gratia. Farmers have to run from pillar to post and the paper work is cumbersome. There is a need to simplify the GO 421 says B Kondal Reddy of Rythu Swarajya Vedika who has been working on farmer suicide issues.
If a family were to get the ex-gratia, the file has to go through two committees; mandal level verification committee that comprises MRO, SI and an agricultural officer and then the divisional level verification committee which again has a RDO, DSP and additional director agriculture would have to decide whether the family deserves compensation.
Gunru Yadaiah, 63 who owns two acres of land says, “In most cases the land is in the name of the father and not the son (farmer) who committed suicide and that is enough for revenue officials to reject application for ex-gratia. Tenant farmers are not given loan eligibility cards which again is a reason for rejection.”
Pulli Raju, general secretary, Telangana Rythu Rakshana Samithi says, “On the one hand the government does not issue loan eligibility cards which can enable the farmers to get loans from banks but at the same time when a bereaved family applies for ex-gratia they reject the plea saying that they do not possess the loan eligibility cards.”
In 2014-15 not a single loan eligibility card was issued to farmers. From June 2, 2015 to August 3, 2015, 1038 farmer suicides have been recorded across the State. Executive Director, Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, Dr G V Ramanjaneyulu, says, “The number could easily be around 1,300 as many suicides are not reported.”
By:T P Venu
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