Farmers’ tribe to knock NHRC doors with more data on suicides

With the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) taking cognizance of suicides by farmers in Telangana and serving notices on the Government, farmers’ organisations and agri-economists are planning to go to the Commission with more data on the issue.

The Commission this week served a notice on the Telangana Government after taking suo motu cognizance of media reports that 76 farmers committed life since the formation of the State in June, unable to come out of the debt burden.

“Thousands of farmers are reportedly caught in a vicious cycle of debts due to low yields or total crop failure and there was constant pressure from moneylenders and when it does not rain and crops start failing, all they can think of is escaping it by taking their own lives,” the Commission said in its notice.

Reacting to the NHRC’s observation, S Malla Reddy, All-India Vice-President of All-India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), said that the organisation is tracking the number of suicides. “It is not 76 as it suggested. About 500 farmers committed suicide so far in the State. It is unfortunate that the Government is not doing much to rekindle hope in farmers,” he said.

AIKS, an organisation affiliated to CPM, said it is in the process of talking to like-minded organisations and intellectuals to discuss the issue and prepare a plan to address the issue.

“Farmers had gone for private loans this kharif as financial institutions refused to give loans as didn’t clear the dues. They had to buy inputs more than once due to hostile weather conditions, pushing them into a deep financial crisis,” he pointed out.

While serving the notice on the Chief Secretary of the State, the NHRC felt that if the contents of the report were true, it raised a serious issue of violation of human rights of the farmers. It sought a report from the Government in two weeks.

K R Chowdhary, an agriculture economist, felt that though the present Government was not directly responsible for the agrarian crisis, it should have done something to give confidence to farmers to carry on. “It should have announced compensation for large-scale crop losses and offered input subsidy,” he said.

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