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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Why our farmers are killing themselves -A Narayanamoorthy & P Alli

Why our farmers are killing themselves -A Narayanamoorthy & P Alli

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published Published on Jan 29, 2017   modified Modified on Jan 29, 2017
-The Hindu Business Line

Rising input costs have shrunk profits, making cultivation unviable. Easy access to credit and better MSPs can help

The unremitting wave of farmer suicides has resurfaced, now haunting the farming heartlands of Tamil Nadu. Troubled by a severely deficit monsoon which triggered the worst drought in 140 years, over 100 farmers, mostly in the Cauvery delta, have reportedly committed suicide during a period of one month, and the number continues to rise unabated.

Various farmers’ associations have voiced their concerns before the State government and have demanded immediate relief measures to halt it. Following the submission of a report on the extent of drought and farm deaths by an official team, the chief minister recently declared the entire State drought-hit and announced measures worth Rs. 160 crore and Rs. 350 crore to alleviate the water crisis in urban and rural local bodies respectively. The chief minister has said about Rs. 78 crore is to be spent on meeting the fodder needs of cattle, and has ordered the rescheduling of farm loans, the cancellation of land tax and compensation for lost crop to drought-affected farmers.

The chief minister has also promised to take steps to provide employment to the rural population at an outlay of Rs. 3,400 crore, engaging them in desilting of canals and tanks and extending employment under the MGNREGS by 50 days.

These measures no doubt look alluring and beneficial to the distressed farmers. However, have our policymakers diagnosed the deep-rooted cause of farm suicides? Is drought the only factor that is driving the farmers to commit suicide? If so, then why were no suicides reported in 1972, 1982 and 1987 when the country experienced its worst droughts?

Suicide by farmers is not entirely a new phenomenon. However, its re-emergence in spite of innumerable State and Central interventions is puzzling and shocking. The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) in its 49th Annual Report on Accidental Death and Suicides in India (2015) provides evidence that the number of farmers committing suicide rose more than 41 per cent in 2015 over 2014.

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The Hindu Business Line, 26 January, 2017, http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/real-reasons-behind-indias-farmer-suicides/article9503209.ece?homepage=true


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