The Hindu : Karnataka News : Rise in suicides by farmers

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Nov 01, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

Rise in suicides by farmers

By Muralidhara Khajane

HASSAN, OCT. 31. With the death of Kari Gowda of Junjanahalli in Dudda limits of Hassan taluk, the number of suicides by farmers in the district has gone up to 92 since April 2003. This is said to be highest in the State. Kari Gowda consumed pesticide after he realised that he would not able to repay the loan he had borrowed from a co-operative society and a moneylender to cultivate his land.The district recorded 73 cases of suicide by farmers till April 1, 2004, and 19 cases have been reported in the past five months, according to sources in the district administration. While Arsikere taluk recorded five suicide cases — the highest in the district — only one case was recorded in Arakalgud taluk. The cases recorded in other taluks in the district are: Sakleshpur (2), Alur (4), Belur (2), Hassan (2), and Channarayapatna (2).

Compensation

The sources disclosed that of the 73 cases of suicide recorded in the State till April 2004, compensation had been paid only in 18 cases; relief in other cases was rejected on various grounds. The increasing number of suicides by farmers is an indicator of the crisis in the agricultural sector.Though farmers who grew potato in the district were relieved with the early arrival of monsoon, the dry spell later was frustrating for them. Now they have lost the crop, according to the sources. The plight of farmers growing coffee and cardamom is much the same.

Charge

The Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) has blamed the Government for the increasing number of suicides in the district. The general secretary of KRRS, Kodihalli Chandrashekar, accused the Government of failing to settle the crop insurance claims in time which forced them to be at the mercy of moneylenders. He said that compensation for the crop losses in the past two years had not reached the farmers. They were also yet to receive the crop insurance amount of Rs. 122 crores. The sources said that the farmers were yet to receive compensation to the tune of Rs. 2.5 crores for 2002-03. A total of 1,041 farmers had not been paid compensation so far. Mr. Chandrashekar said that the crop insurance money had not reached the farmers as financial institutions had adjusted the claims against the loan borrowed by them.

Though the Government had directed the financial institutions against adjusting the crop insurance claims towards the loan taken by farmers, the institutions were adjusting the claims towards the outstanding debts of previous years. The high premium and reduction in subsidy to small and marginal farmers had aggravated the situation, he said.

Crop failure, lack of irrigation facilities in the taluks, especially in Arsikere, pest attack, family problems, and harassment by moneylenders are cited as the reasons for the spate of suicides in the district.

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