Debt-ridden farmer flays Chandrababu Naidu, ends life

Rajahmundry: A week after he wrote to the Centre, the state government and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu appealing for help, a tobacco farmer on Wednesday committed suicide by consuming soft drink laced with pesticide after incurring losses. Farmer Simhadri Venkateswara Rao, 49, ended his life at Yernagudem village of Devarapalli mandal in West Godavari.

In his letter for help, Rao referred to the APSRTC spending Rs 5.5 crore to procure a bulletproof bus for Mr Naidu and said the government could spend such a huge amount of money to protect the life of the Chief Minister and wondered whether the lives of the tobacco farmers were not that important. He also said that if a tobacco farmer committed suicide, his family members would lose the bread-winner. He said tobacco cultivation had become un-remunerative and farmers were incurring huge loss.

He said nearly 14,000 tobacco farmers in the state were facing heavy debts. Rao complained that the Tobacco Board had unilaterally reduced the quantum of tobacco yield to 25 quintals for a baron (five acres) for 2015-16 against 44 quintals per baron earlier.

This resulted in bankers reducing the quantum of loan to Rs 2 lakh from Rs 5 lakh and above per baron earlier. This added to the troubles of the farmers as they were not sufficient loans to cultivate the crop and were unable to clear the arrears.