With two consecutive agricultural seasons failing them, farmers in Andhra Pradesh are under severe financial stress. As many as 341 farmers ended their lives with debts mounting in the last six months. Farmers in the Anantapur, Kurnool, Krishna and Guntur districts are the worst hit, accounting for almost half of the deaths.

A fact-finding team representing members of Rythu Swarajya Vedika (RSV), an NGO, visited 40 families that lost a bread winner during August 2015 to February 2016. The list says Kurnool and Anantapur districted witnessed over 60 unnatural deaths each, followed by Guntur with 42.

The team observed that non-availability of institutional funding was the major reason for the crisis.

“As many as 19 out of the 40 farmers got zero bank loans, forcing them to completely depend on private money-lenders,” the team said in a statement.

The team said the private loans came with high interest rates that ranged from 24 per cent to 60 per cent.

“We have compiled a list of 341 farmer suicides in just six months from August 2015 to February 2016. This is not an exhaustive list but only a partial list compiled from published reports,” Kirankumar Vissa of RSV, has said in a statement.

The association spoke to the kin of 40 farmers who committed suicide in the seven districts of Kurnool, Anantapur, Guntur, East Godavari, Prakasam, Kadapa and Chittoor.

It has asked the government to chart an immediate action plan to rescue the farmers from the crisis. It demanded a compensation of ₹10,000 acre in the areas hit by drought, floods and excess rainfall.

“We demand that the Andhra Pradesh government should take urgent action to prevent farmer suicides and address the crisis,” he said.

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