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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Farmer suicide in Gujarat is nil

Farmer suicide in Gujarat is nil

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published Published on Nov 4, 2014   modified Modified on Nov 4, 2014
-Ahmedabad Mirror

The Supreme Court on last Friday had issued notice to Gujarat government on a plea by an NGO seeking compensation to families of over 600 debt-ridden farmers who had allegedly committed suicide in the state from 2003 to 2012. However, information sought under the Right To Information Act by Mirror regarding the same from the Union Ministry of Agriculture revealed that between 2009 and 2013, no farmer had committed suicide in Gujarat due to crop failure. CRANTI, the NGO, in its petition had stated that since 2003 - when suicides by farmers started in Gujarat - till August 20, 2012 as many as 619 farmers committed suicide in the state.

The figures, according to the petition, were based on the response of the Gujarat government to two RTI applications. In July, 2014, Mirror filed an RTI with the Union Department of Agriculture and Cooperation seeking the total number of farmers who committed suicide in the state due to crop failure. In response, the department sent data of 'total number of suicides under subhead self employed (Farming/Agriculture)' from National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

The data showed that in 2010, 523 farmers committed suicide, while it rose to 578 in 2011. It fell to 564 in 2012, only to rise again to 582 farmer suicides the next year. But as the data did not specify the reason for the suicides, Mirror went for an appeal in August. Shockingly, the data provided by the Joint Secretary to the Government of India and Appellate Authority stated that between 2010 and 2013 'Zero number of farmers committed suicide due to agrarian reasons in the state'. The figure contradicts the data furnished by CRANTI through an RTI in 2012.

CENTRE DEPENDS ON STATE FOR DATA

As agriculture is a state matter, the central government does not have data about farmer suicides. As the reply to the appeal stated, "Department of Agriculture and Cooperation approaches all state governments/ UTs to provide detailed data relating to suicides by farmers due to agrarian reasons from time to time for the purpose of informing Parliament." The Union Appellate Authority furnished information provided to them by Gujarat government. The contradiction in data provided by the NCRB and the state government's data shows that the state government has not provided correct information to Union government about farmer suicides especially when farmer suicides are on the rise in state.

Coordinator for CRANTI Bharatsinh Jhala said that false data provided by the state government is an insult to the RTI Act. "It is clearly written in the FIR copies that I received through RTI that 614 farmers committed suicide because of crop failure. Hence, the data provided to the appellate authority is false, which is a punishable offence under the Act." Every year, state governments submit reports about agrarian conditions to the central government which also includes data on farmers' suicides. Jhala believes that rather than depending on states, the Centre should compile such data.

RISING FARMERS' SUICIDES IN STATE

Unlike Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh - where farmers' suicides have been evident in the past - have shown a plunge in suicide rates, Gujarat has witnessed a surge. According to RTI activists, this figure only represents the tip of the iceberg as many suicide cases go unreported. According to RTI activist Manoj Patel of rtiindia.org, "In hundreds of cases, farmers' suicides don't get reported due to bureaucratic influence. In fact, despite having evidence, police in the course of investigation tags 'no reason' as the cause of the suicide so that it doesn't get counted as crop failure suicide."

PUNISHABLE OFFENCE

According to Section 20 of the RTI Act, knowingly giving incorrect, incomplete or misleading information which was the subject of the request is a punishable offence. "It shall impose a penalty of two thousand and fifty rupees each day till application is received or information is furnished. However, the total amount of such penalty shall not exceed twenty-five thousand rupees," states the Act. Under Chapter 12, 218, public servants framing an incorrect record can lead to 3 years of imprisonment or fine or both.


Ahmedabad Mirror, 3 November, 2014, http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/ahmedabad/cover-story/Farmer-suicide-in-Gujarat-is-nil/articleshow/45016631.cms


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