Bidar: A deep silence welcomes visitors to Bhangur village in Bidar taluk.

Shantkumar Malipatil, a farmer and father of three children, consumed pesticide and ended his life on Wednesday. Mounting debts forced the young farmer to take this extreme step.

He had taken a loan of Rs. 1.2 lakh from a co-operative bank, Rs. 56,000 from a nationalised bank, and around Rs. 30,000 from money-lenders. He could not repay these loans as the borewell and an open well he dug in his field failed to yield water. Lack of water led to the loss of banana and sugarcane crops for three consecutive seasons.

Shantkumar's body was buried in his fields.

Zamindars of village

Shantkumar was not a small farmer. The Malipatil family are the zamindars of the village. Till recently, they held around 50 acres of land, which is the highest per capita land holding in the village.

Debts forced Shantkumar to sell a major portion of his land in recent years. Now the family is left with less than 20 acres. Even this is considered a large holding. However, this has not helped them escape the problems faced by farmers.

Woes aplenty

Farmers from across the taluk attended his funeral.

"Farmers face many problems. They do not get easy credit. Rains fail them. Groundwater dries up. The soil is losing fertility day by day and crops are affected by pests. Cost of production is high. Farmers are forced to sell their produce at low prices. If it is Shantkumar today, tomorrow it may be me," Basavaraj Anneppa said.

Shivasharanappa, a relative of Shantkumar, said, "Leaders announce many pro-farmer policies and programmes. However, we never know who gets the benefits."

Sidramappa (80), the oldest farmer of the village, expressed concern over the fact that even big farmers were facing crisis.

"If this is the fate of landlords and zamindars, what is the fate of small farmers?" he asked.

Vishwanth Patil Madgul, president of the Taluk Krishik Samaj, demanded that the Government pay compensation to the family of the deceased, apart from repaying all its loans.

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