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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Intelligence Bureau raises red flag on farmer suicides in its report to PMO -Aman Sharma

Intelligence Bureau raises red flag on farmer suicides in its report to PMO -Aman Sharma

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published Published on Dec 24, 2014   modified Modified on Dec 24, 2014
-The Economic Times

NEW DELHI: The Intelligence Bureau has termed loan waiver and relief packages for distressed farmers as "short-term" measures and said the issue of farmer suicides needs a comprehensive solution. In a report to the Prime Minister's Office last week, the IB said farmer suicide is on a rise in Maharashtra, Telangana, Karnataka and Punjab. It also pointed to suicides by debt-ridden farmers in Gujarat, UP and Tamil Nadu and said it was in part due to manmade factors like pricing policies and and inadequate marketing facilities.

Earlier this month, the Gujarat government announced a Rs 1,100-crore package for the welfare of farmers and waived electricity bills and shortterm loans, while Maharashtra has sought a Rs 4,500-crore package from the Centre for drought-affected farmers. However, in its December 19 report, the IB said the relief packages are "of limited utility" as they do not address the plight of farmers who have borrowed from money lenders at 24-50% interest rates.

Sources said the IB report has pointed out that while loan waivers and relief packages are useful as short-term measure for mitigating farmers' distress, the problem of rising farmer suicides now requires a comprehensive solution. The IB, which has marked the report to National Security Adviser AjitDoval, senior PMO officials NripendraMishra and PKMishra, the agriculture ministry and Cabinet Secretar Ajit Seth, has asked for government to address the issues of crop yield, availability of farm inputs, loans from banking institutions, assured irrigation, cold storage and marketing facilities and fair pricing policies.

The report also said that the government should create alternative sources of income for farmers through activities like development of poultry and fisheries and dairying. The IB said that this is because outstanding loans, rising debt, low crop yield, poor procurement of crops and successive crop failures have mainly been identified as major causes of suicides of farmers.

The IB said erratic monsoons, decline in ground water and macro-economic policies regarding taxation, prices and import-export were contributing factor in farmer suicides. As per the National Crime Records Bureau, 11,772 persons with farming or agriculture as profession committed suicide in 2013. This included 3,146 in Maharashtra. According to the IB report, in states where the suicide rates are high, the major crops grown are cash crops like cotton and sugarcane, which require significant financial input and proper access to seeds and fertilisers for good yields.


The Economic Times, 23 December, 2014, http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/intelligence-bureau-raises-red-flag-on-farmer-suicides-in-its-report-to-pmo/articleshow/45610775.cms


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