The Hindu : Kerala News : One more suicide; farmers picket Collectorate

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 23, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

One more suicide; farmers picket Collectorate

By Our Staff Reporter

KALPETTA, JULY 22. One more debt-ridden farmer committed suicide at Attinilam in Meenangandi grama panchayat in Wayanad district today.

Erayakkattukuzhi Anandan (60), hailing from Mailamppadi, is the eighth farmer to commit suicide this month due to inability to repay agriculture loans.

Apart from the 25 cents of land in his possession, he had taken land on lease at various places to cultivate crops. He had taken loans from banks and private moneylenders. He is survived by wife Annamma and two children. According to official sources, 40 farmers had committed suicide in Wayanad this year following severe drought and debts. But various farmers' organisations have put the number at 80.

`Suicide march'

Hundreds of farmers under the auspices of the Indian Farmers Movement (Infam) picketed the Collectorate here today to highlight the farmers' plight. A `suicide march' was taken out in the town on the occasion. As a symbolic protest, 79 farmers played `corpses' and `funeral rites' were performed for them. Nearly 5,000 people participated in the picketing.

The Infam leaders, including Fr. Robin Vadakkumcherry, demanded the resignation of the Cabinet sub-committee comprising the Revenue Minister, K.M. Mani, the Agriculture Minister, K.R. Gouri, and the Finance Minister, K. Sankaranarayan, for its failure to address the problems of the debt-ridden farmers in the district. The panel had visited Wayanad last week to study the situation.

Fr. Vadakkumcherry told The Hindu that the three UDF MLAs from Wayanad, K.K. Ramachandran Master, N.D. Appachan and Radha Raghavan, would not be allowed to enter Wayanad. He said that activists of the Kerala Catholic Youth Movement would launch an indefinite hunger strike in front of the Collectorate on July 24. The Mananthawady diocese had taken up the issue. A pastoral circular would be read out in all churches of the district on Sunday. A massive rally of one lakh people would be held before the Collectorate on July 29.

The farmers would boycott the payment of all State Government taxes and stop remittance of electricity bills until their demands were met, he said.

Ministers for Delhi

Our Special Correspondent writes from Thiruvananthapuram:

A three-member Ministerial team from the State left for New Delhi this afternoon, armed with a memorandum seeking Rs. 3,565 crores as Central assistance to help the State's farm sector tide over its present difficulties. The team consists of Mr. Mani, Ms. Gouri and Mr. Sankaranarayan.

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