-PTI Lucknow: With 55 districts in Uttar Pradesh hit by untimely rains and hailstorm, chief minister Akhilesh Yadav has declared a calamity and has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking Rs 1,000 crores to immediately provide relief to farmers. The chief minister reviewed the prevailing situation yesterday and had said that a financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh from the chief minister's fund will be provided to farmers who faced an...
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Millions of Indian Farmers Hit by Spell of Unseasonable Rains -Anjana Pasricha
-Voice of America NEW DELHI: Unseasonable rains and hailstorms have damaged wide swathes of crops in India, one of the world’s biggest producers of commodities such as wheat. The government has promised to enhance compensation for millions of farmers, who are staring at huge losses. Rains lashed much of India through March -- normally the time when dry weather and rising temperatures ripen the wheat crop, making it ready to harvest. Besides wheat,...
More »Rain-hit farmers line up for help at Agra mental institute -Aditya Dev
-The Times of India AGRA: Unseasonal rains that lashed fields across northern India and destroyed crops have not only driven farmers to commit suicide by the dozens, many are now lining up at mental hospitals for help. In just the last one month, there has been a staggering 33% increase in patients visiting Agra's renowned Institute of Mental Health and Hospital (IMHH). Doctors at the hospital told TOI on Monday that almost...
More »Death by distress: Nothing official about it -Amit Bhattacharya
-The Times of India As successive spells of freak rains in March-April ravaged fields across Uttar Pradesh, a spate of farmer deaths were reported. Most of these were ascribed to suicide or trauma, as Crop Losses mounted and the state appeared to be reeling under a fresh agrarian crisis. The UP government moved to provide relief, but on farmer deaths, it saw things a little differently. "There is no conclusive proof, yet,...
More »Fields of Despair -Sutapa Deb
-NDTV There is the reality of a farmer's suicide and then there are versions of this reality. Whether you choose to accept the farmer's context of poverty, debt and extreme risk, or deny it, often depends on the class and profession you belong to. Fields pockmarked with brown mounds create a surreal setting. At least nine suicides by farmers have been linked to the crisis in West Bengal's potato belt. Farmers have...
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