Worst figure in six years Total number of farm suicides since 1997 is 2,16,500 The share of Big 5 States remains very high at 10,765 At least 17,368 Indian farmers killed themselves in 2009, the worst figure for farm suicides in six years, according to data of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). This is an increase of 1,172 over the 2008 count of 16,196. It brings the total farm suicides since 1997...
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Of luxury cars and lowly tractors by P Sainath
Even as the media celebrate the Mercedes Benz deal in the Marathwada region as a sign of “rural resurgence,” the latest data show that 17,368 farmers killed themselves in the year of the “resurgence.” When businessmen from Aurangabad in the backward Marathwada region bought 150 Mercedes Benz luxury cars worth Rs. 65 crore at one go in October, it grabbed media attention. The top public sector bank, State Bank of India,...
More »A tough innings at the helm by Rajdeep Sardesai
It has been a challenge guiding the Editors Guild of India over two years, in what are difficult times for the Indian media. Two years ago, when I was asked to become the President of the Editors Guild of India, I did so with some trepidation. The Guild had a formidable reputation of having been at the forefront of editorial integrity and independence. Set up in the Emergency years, it emerged...
More »Those other problems in Andhra Pradesh by P Sainath
If present political trends and shifts in Andhra Pradesh intensify, the State could see an election within a year. And not just over Telangana. When Chandrababu Naidu sits on a hunger fast for suffering farmers, you know something is afoot in Andhra Pradesh. Excessive rains have devastated the crops in the State. And losses have been enormous. But a farmer losing over Rs.15,000 on an acre of paddy will get less...
More »'Paid news would finish off journalism unless...'
Media is business, journalism is not. With these stinging words, developmental journalist and Magsaysay Award winner for journalism P Sainath grabbed the attention of the 250 media students attending Mumbai's Sophia Polytechnic's annual lecture, 'Catalyst for Change', on Thursday. The topic was 'Paid News', on which there cannot be a more well-informed speaker than Sainath who has consistently highlighted the menace in his writings. Sainath said since 2008, some 3000 journalists...
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