The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Steps to end farmers' suicide urged

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Dec 17, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Steps to end farmers' suicide urged

By Our Special Correspondent

The former Chief Minister of Madhaya Pradesh Uma Bharti at a press conference in Hyderabad on Thursday. Photo: Satish.H

HYDERABAD, DEC. 16. The suspended BJP leader, Uma Bharti, has said that the `syndrome' of suicide by farmers and weavers in the State is a `wake up call' to the entire country and urged all parties to unitedly work to prevent the tendency by keeping aside politics.

Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, Ms. Bharti, who called on the bereaved families of farmers and weavers at Sircilla in Karimnagar district on Wednesday, described suicide by farmers and weavers as a `matter of shame' and called for steps to break the `syndrome'. The issue of farmers' suicide came to the fore during her `Tiranga yatra' and she had then decided to visit the affected areas.

Politicising the issue would be tantamount to committing a `sin'. The tendency could be prevented if the Government had the `will, dedication and sensitivity'. While it was the main responsibility of the State Government, it was also the duty of the entire country to lend a hand in stopping the suicide.

Faults Government

She, however, faulted the State administration for seeking to know the reasons from women for their husbands' death. The Chief Minister, Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, sought votes on this issue and the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, presented cheques for Rs. 22,000 to each family. "Why are they being questioned," she asked.

Letter to YSR

Ms. Bharti, whose appointment with Dr. Reddy was cancelled, in a letter to the latter said the "rising number of suicide deaths are turning into a national shame." Urging him to take concerted effort to break the `vicious syndrome', she suggested that a nodal officer be appointed for each district to deal with the problem.

While stating that she was aware that the problems of cultivators were not of his making, she told the Chief Minister that having made it into an election issue, it was his `moral' responsibility to ensure that the affected families were provided adequate relief.

Expressing her anguish over the suicides, she referred to the suicide of a farmer at Vangara, the native place of the former Prime Minister, P.V. Narasimha Rao, and said the widow had told her that they went without food at times. She declined to answer political questions.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Andhra Pradesh