VIJAYAWADA: Three tenant farmers attempted suicide in the Nunna police station on Wednesday. All three of them consumed pesticide before the police and were rushed to the government hospital where they are undergoing treatment. The farmers Poornaiah, Tirupatirao and Ramaiah belong to Penugolanu village of Gampalagudem Mandal, Krishna district.
A year back, nearly 210 farmers of the village tried to cultivate chilli, the seeds and saplings of which they took from Lakshmi Tirupatamma Nursery. Later they realised that all they were of a bad quality and the entire crop failed. The farmers then appealed to the government for help. The Collector of the Krishna District ordered the nursery to pay the compensation of '2.35 crores. But, the nursery proprietors appealed in the High Court against the Collector’s orders and got a stay order. The farmers took to agitating against the nursery owners.
The agitating farmers had organised Chalo Assembly on Wednesday, which was stopped by the police. The police arrested them and shifted them to Nunna police station. The frustrated farmers consumed pesticide in front of the police. All the other farmers reached the government hospital and raised slogans against the government. The farmers have also complained of the rude behaviour of the police at the hospital.
Bhanureddy, one of the protesting farmers, said that they have been struggling past one year and had requested every official from Tahasildar to Collector to look into the matter. “But, nobody has cared about our issue and we have not received any compensation so far,” he said. “After the High Court verdict, we wanted the administration to file a case in the upper court, but nobody has the time for us,” he added.
