Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Thursday, Jun 10, 2004
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Thursday, Jun 10, 2004 |
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Industry & Economy
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Natural Calamities Guntur tops in ryot suicides Our Bureau
Guntur , June 9 GUNTUR district has registered the highest number of suicides by farmers in the State after the Congress came to power less than a month ago. Mr K. Ramakrishna Rao, the District Collector, said here on Wednesday that 23 cases of suicides by farmers were reported during the period. Two suicides by weavers had also come to light recently. "We have set up a helpline and are taking all steps to provide succour to the farmers and boost their morale. Till now, 419 distress calls have been received. On an aggregate, we get 15 calls a day, but the number is gradually coming down," Mr Rao said. On scrutiny, it was found that 12 out of the 23 families were eligible for compensation under the Rs 1.5- lakh package announced by the State Government. Two more cases are under scrutiny. Mr Rao said that the weavers were not covered under this scheme. He said the Cabinet sub-committee would meet later this week and specific instructions may be received from the State Government. The District Collector said that the officials were responding promptly to distress calls from farmers and taking steps to ease the pressure of creditors, but there was no provision to offer them any immediate monetary relief. He said most of the farmers were in the marginal category with land holding of not more than three acres. . But many of them had leased three to four acres of land and expended heavily on cultivation, obtaining loans from private lenders. The farmers cultivated either cotton or chilli or both, Mr Rao said. To a query on whether the number of suicides had increased during the recent past, he said there was no empirical data to suggest that there had been a sudden increase. "But perhaps more incidents are being reported now than in the past," he said. Mr Rao said the State Government had been apprised of the problem and steps were being taken to prevent suicides by farmers and to offer them relief.
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