The Hindu : New Delhi News : “Take micro-level steps to prevent farmers’ suicides”

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Tuesday, Jan 19, 2010
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“Take micro-level steps to prevent farmers’ suicides”

J. Venkatesan

Supreme Court asks Centre to file affidavit

NEW DELHI: Expressing serious concern over the increasing incidents of suicide by farmers due to starvation, poverty and other reasons, the Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre to come out with mirco-level steps to prevent such suicides across the country, particularly in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

A three-judge Bench comprising Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, Justice R.V. Raveendran and Justice Deepak Verma granted six weeks to the Centre to file an affidavit in this regard.

The Bench also asked the government to identify the reasons for farmers committing suicide and come up with steps on how to prevent it.

The Bench was hearing a public interest petition filed by advocate and agricultural economist Sanjeev Bhatnagar seeking the court’s intervention in preventing such deaths.

Quoting an article written by TheHindu’s Rural Affairs Editor P. Sainath, which said that 17,060 farmers had committed suicide in 2006 in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Mr. Bhatnagar said that though the Centre had taken certain steps, they were not targeted at the mirco-level to prevent farmers’ suicides.

‘Under pressure’

Mr. Bhatnagar said farmers in various States were reported to be under pressure of very high indebtedness and were ending their lives due to the failure in repaying loans. He said that they sometimes ended their lives during situations like flood and drought or for socio-economic reasons.

Additional Solicitor-General Vivek Tanka submitted that it was a very complex issue. He said that soon after Mr. Sainath wrote a series of articles in TheHindu, he was invited to address parliamentarians on the issue. The government then announced a Rs.25,000 crore package for farmers to waive loans and other steps were also taken.

Mr. Tanka said he would hold discussions with the Union Agriculture Secretary to see whether some details could be sought from the Chief Secretaries of the States on the reasons for farmers committing suicide.

The Chief Justice told the counsel the problem differed from area to area.

“It needs to be addressed at the local level. Farmers often go to money-lenders as they give money without security. You tell us what the schemes are or packages you have for farmers, whether these schemes reach the farmers, and how far it has reduced indebtedness. You should also collect the latest data,” he said.

The CJI also asked the petitioner to come out with suggestions so that the court could give some positive directions to the government on the next date of hearing after six weeks.

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