Ahead of Rahul Gandhi’s visit, KPCC president to visit districts where farmers committed suicide

Bengaluru: Ahead of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's visit to Karnataka in the light of spiralling instances of farmers committing suicide, a state unit team led by KPCC president Dr G Parameshwar will tour districts which witnessed maximum number of cases of self-harm during the last one month.

Top sources in KPCC told Deccan Chronicle that the state unit was not only “shocked” but also “embarrassed” over the death of 68 farmers during April-July, 2015. The state unit has sent reports to the high command at regular intervals about the growing number of cases of suicides. Besides, Mr Rahul Gandhi has been in constant touch with PCC leaders and with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for updates on steps taken to tackle this issue.

"Mr Rahul wanted to visit Karnataka 10-15 days ago but it was re-scheduled after the conclusion of extended budget session in order to avoid embarrassment to his own government,” sources added.

Sources said the government took its own time to respond to woes of farmers. People at the helm of affairs should have been alert when five farmers ended their lives in April. Due to delayed response, eight farmers committed suicide in May, and the number jumped to 18 in June. But during the current month, 37 farmers have ended their lives till July 13. Any responsible government should have told the farming community that it was with them always and appealed to them not to take extreme steps. This was definitely a 'blot' on the two and a half years governance of Congress in Karnataka.

Sources pointed out that there was lack of coordination at the district level among nodal officers (of the rank of principal secretaries), deputy commissioners and local legislators. The duty of nodal officers was to keep a watch on farmers and they should have informed deputy commissioners if any farmer committed suicide in their jurisdiction. Besides, the deputy commissioners ought to have visited villages to instill confidence among farmers. Unfortunately, no confidence building measures were initiated in districts where farmers were ending their lives. Some district in-charge ministers too have not visited taluks and hoblis to instill confidence among farmers.

Sources said the government should have announced creation of a revolving fund by diverting Rs 5,000 crores to check farmers' suicide.

Around Rs 4,800 crores was being spent on 'Anna Bhagya' scheme where nearly 50 per cent of rice goes for polishing and re-sold in market at higher price. Instruction should have been given to all deputy commissioners to create awareness among villagers about creation of the revolving fund to bail out farmers in distress, sources added.

Expert panel to probe deep into farmer suicides

The state government has decided to constitute an expert committee to unearth the real reasons behind farmer suicides as it feels socio-economic reasons could be one cause of these suicides. The expert committee will be absolutely free from government interference, there will be no government official in the committee. Agriculture department officials are looking for experts from fields like finance, co-operation, psychology and an expert from the agriculture sector to form the committee.

Department officials are already working in this direction, very soon the government will constitute an expert committee, a minister told this newspaper. If necessary, the government will add one member from the farming community too, the minister added. After studying the status of farmers who committed suicide in last three months, the committee will submit its report.

Crop turns killer for 5 more farmers in state

Five more farmers including two in tumakuru committed suicide on Tuesday amid rising incidents of farmers killing themselves. The deceased have been identified as 25-years-old G. Anil and 50-years-old Rangaswamy. Anil committed suicide by consuming pesticide, while Rangaswamy hanged himself from a tree in an agricultural field.

Anil had borrowed Rs 2 lakh from Canara Bank and also from private moneylenders. Rangaswamy had borrowed money to the tune of Rs 3.5 lakh from moneylenders, to build a shed at a leased agricultural plot. He could neither clear the loan nor pay interest following crop failure.

In Mandya, 25-year-old farmer Santhosh committed suicide by hanging himself at his residence, in Ijjalagatta in Nagamangala taluk Monday evening. Ijjalagatta is the native place of MLA of Nagamangala, Cheluvarayaswamy. Santhosh’s father owned four acres and they cultivated tomato, onion and cabbage. According to a complaint by his father, they had borrowed Rs 1-2 lakhs from banks .

A Dalit farmer of Uppar Nandihaal village in Lingasugur taluk, Raichur district, Yenkappa Thippanna (50) has committed suicide. According to a complaint, Yenkappa had taken a loan of Rs 1.50 lakh from private lenders for cultivating his land. However due to alleged harassment for repayment, he consumed poison on Sunday. and died on Tuesday.

A debt-ridden Giriyappa (64) hanged himself from a tree on the outskirts of Kondlahalli village in Molakalmuru taluk in Chitradurga Tuesday evening. The deceased owned seven acres of land and had grown silk. The crop withered as the three borewells he dug yielded no water. Mr Giriyappa had borrowed Rs. 3 lakh from a bank.