Tuesday, December 18, 2007
'Relief for vidarbha farmers virtually stopped'
| Publication:Times Of India Nagpur; | Date:Dec 18, 2007; | Section:Times Nagpur; | Page Number:5 |
'Relief for farmers virtually stopped'
http://epaper.timesofindia.com
Nagpur: The year 2007 has recorded the most number of farmer suicides in Vidarbha. The number have just been on the rise as the financial relied which was supposed to be provided for the debtridden farmers has virtually been stopped due to lack of funds, Kishore Tiwari, president of the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS), said. VJAS claimed that the farmers' suicide toll has reached 1,168 in Vidarbha this year.
Prime minister Manmohan Singh had announced a Rs 3,750 crore package in July last year, which was to be distributed by the collectors of each of the six farmers suicide-hit district. Tiwari claimed that though some amount was released last year, this year saw nothing in the collector's kitty to be distributed among the needy. The situation worsened due to apathetic attitude of the Maharashtra government and PMO, he said.
The farmers suicide issue was hotly debated in the winter session of the Parliament and Maharashtra legislative assembly, without actually giving any relief to the three million farmers of west Vidarbha, where over 20,000 farmers' suicides was recorded by the national crime data reports since 1997.
The cotton farmers were expecting a complete loan waiver and Rs 2,000 per hectare compensation, as it was indicated earlier by Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh. But the decision has been pending till now, Tiwari said.
VJAS has urged the Maharashtra government to provide food, health security and employment opportunities to the dying Vidarbha farmers as a social support and healthcare system is missing, Tiwari said.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
'This is not suicide, but mass genocide by the State'
'This is not suicide, but mass genocide by the State' -rediff special-2007
http://specials.rediff.com(Text: Shobha Warrier | Photograph: Parthajit Datta/AFP/Getty Images
The Year That Was: 2007
Rediff looks back at the highs and lows, the successes and failures, the heros and villains, the wild and the overblown that made this year.
Despair and Hope
'This is not suicide, but mass genocide by the State'
December 5, 2007
The clock struck 12. Midnight, December 31, 2006. A new dawn, a new year was about to begin. With lots of hopes, dreams and aspirations.
It is also the time for the privileged in the country to party under dim lights. When they drink, dance, and scream 'Happy New Year', thousands of people in another part of India sit in the dark corners of their houses, dreading the uncertain future ahead of them.
One such person was Ashok Bhikaji Bhoyar from a place called Kavardari. A handful of people may have heard of Kavardari. It is in the
It is also the time for the privileged in the country to party under dim lights. When they drink, dance, and scream 'Happy New Year', thousands of people in another part of India sit in the dark corners of their houses, dreading the uncertain future ahead of them.
One such person was Ashok Bhikaji Bhoyar from a place called Kavardari. A handful of people may have heard of Kavardari. It is in the Vidarbha region in Maharashtra. And this man was a farmer.
Then 2007 dawned. And Ashok Bhoyar ended his life drinking pesticide. The reason: He was neck deep in debt, and saw only darkness ahead of him.
January 2 was not different from January 1. In fact, it was worse. Sopan Shrikrisna Darmode from Kadamapur and Sukhdeo Shivaji Chakranarayan from Devthana also ended their lives with pesticide.
January 3 saw two more farmers committing suicide. On January 6, four people ended their lives. By the time the month ended, 68 people had chosen to end their lives in Vidarbha region alone.
All of them were cotton farmers.
'The plight of Vidarbha's farmers is because of the globalisation of the cotton economy'
India ranks third in global cotton production after the United States and China. With 8 to 9 million hectares of cotton produce each year, India accounts for approximately 25 per cent of the world's total cotton area, and 16 pc of global cotton production.
Most of the cotton in India is grown under rain-fed conditions, and only about a third is grown under irrigation. Cotton as a cash crop is important as it contributes around 30 pc of agriculture's contribution to the gross domestic product.
While agriculture gives positive growth, cotton production in the Vidarbha region shows a down trend.
According to Kishor Tiwari, who has been voicing the plight of the cotton farmers of Vidarbha through the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti, the trouble started in Vidarbha with liberalisation.
"From 1995 onwards, the prices of seeds and pesticides increased four times, but the price of raw cotton at the national and international level went down by 30 per cent," he says. "There was a time a farmer would spend only Rs 500 per acre and would get back Rs 5,000 in income. Today, the farmer spends Rs 10,000 per acre, but he gets back only Rs 7,000 back. So, debt starts mounting. The plight of Vidarbha's cotton farmers is because of the 'globalisation of the cotton economy'. The national sample survey says the farmers of Vidarbha earn Rs 472 a month which is much below the poverty line."
Professor K Nagaraj of the Madras Institute of Development Studies, an agrarian issues expert, explained the reason why cash crops had been failing, endangering the livelihood of lakhs of farmers all over India, much more in the Vidarbha region.
"Agriculture in India was dependent on State support, which was not just subsidies; it took the form of tremendous amount of extension services which were built over a period of time, like soil and water management, timely credit, provision of inputs such as seeds, fertilisers and imparting knowledge," he said. "In the name of liberalisation, State support was withdrawn completely and the vacant space has been occupied by the private sector in an unregulated manner."
Image: Cotton farmer Vithoba Shate from Yavatmal in Maharashtra committed suicide by drinking pesticide, leaving behind his 75-year-old father Ragoba Shate, mother and wife. Photograph: Sebastian D'Souza/AFP/Getty Images
Also read: 'TN farmers are in a better situation'
Most of the cotton in India is grown under rain-fed conditions, and only about a third is grown under irrigation. Cotton as a cash crop is important as it contributes around 30 pc of agriculture's contribution to the gross domestic product.
While agriculture gives positive growth, cotton production in the Vidarbha region shows a down trend.
According to Kishor Tiwari, who has been voicing the plight of the cotton farmers of Vidarbha through the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti, the trouble started in Vidarbha with liberalisation.
"From 1995 onwards, the prices of seeds and pesticides increased four times, but the price of raw cotton at the national and international level went down by 30 per cent," he says. "There was a time a farmer would spend only Rs 500 per acre and would get back Rs 5,000 in income. Today, the farmer spends Rs 10,000 per acre, but he gets back only Rs 7,000 back. So, debt starts mounting. The plight of Vidarbha's cotton farmers is because of the 'globalisation of the cotton economy'. The national sample survey says the farmers of Vidarbha earn Rs 472 a month which is much below the poverty line."
Professor K Nagaraj of the Madras Institute of Development Studies, an agrarian issues expert, explained the reason why cash crops had been failing, endangering the livelihood of lakhs of farmers all over India, much more in the Vidarbha region.
"Agriculture in India was dependent on State support, which was not just subsidies; it took the form of tremendous amount of extension services which were built over a period of time, like soil and water management, timely credit, provision of inputs such as seeds, fertilisers and imparting knowledge," he said. "In the name of liberalisation, State support was withdrawn completely and the vacant space has been occupied by the private sector in an unregulated manner."
Image: Cotton farmer Vithoba Shate from Yavatmal in Maharashtra committed suicide by drinking pesticide, leaving behind his 75-year-old father Ragoba Shate, mother and wife. Photograph: Sebastian D'Souza/AFP/Getty Images
Despite government largesse, the suicides have continued
The situation in Vidarbha worsened in 2002 after the Indian government permitted commercial cultivation of genetically modified Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) cotton.
The Gene Campaign study in 2006 came to the conclusion that the introduction of Bt cotton in Vidarbha has failed in the rain-fed region completely and that 70 per cent of small farmers lost their landholdings as collateral for loans they could never repay.
The study also revealed that many farmers opted for Bt cotton not knowing it was privately produced and marketed. They accepted it because the government was actively promoting it.
Interestingly, in the United States, where it was introduced 10 years ago, it had developed resistance. This also happened with China. But in India, the authorities turned a blind eye to what was happening to the farmers.
When local activists and media started highlighting the issue of Vidarbha farmers' suicides from 2003, the Maharashtra government responded with a Rs 1,075 crore (Rs 10.75 billion) relief package in December 2005. Promises like debt waiver and free electricity were made during the state assembly election in September 2005.
In October 2005, Dr M S Swaminathan, chairman of the National Commission on Farmers, and his team visited Vidarbha and gave a set of recommendations to the government. On May 1, 2006, programmes for the educational support of children and livelihood rehabilitation of widows were launched, and the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation opened an office in Wardha in November 2006.
The prime minister made a well-publicised visit to Vidarbha in July 2006 and announced a Rs 3,750 crore (Rs 37.50 billion) relief package, including a write-off of Rs 712 crore (Rs 7.12 billion) overdue interest for the Vidarbha farmers. But the suicides continued.
The Gene Campaign study in 2006 came to the conclusion that the introduction of Bt cotton in Vidarbha has failed in the rain-fed region completely and that 70 per cent of small farmers lost their landholdings as collateral for loans they could never repay.
The study also revealed that many farmers opted for Bt cotton not knowing it was privately produced and marketed. They accepted it because the government was actively promoting it.
Interestingly, in the United States, where it was introduced 10 years ago, it had developed resistance. This also happened with China. But in India, the authorities turned a blind eye to what was happening to the farmers.
When local activists and media started highlighting the issue of Vidarbha farmers' suicides from 2003, the Maharashtra government responded with a Rs 1,075 crore (Rs 10.75 billion) relief package in December 2005. Promises like debt waiver and free electricity were made during the state assembly election in September 2005.
In October 2005, Dr M S Swaminathan, chairman of the National Commission on Farmers, and his team visited Vidarbha and gave a set of recommendations to the government. On May 1, 2006, programmes for the educational support of children and livelihood rehabilitation of widows were launched, and the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation opened an office in Wardha in November 2006.
The prime minister made a well-publicised visit to Vidarbha in July 2006 and announced a Rs 3,750 crore (Rs 37.50 billion) relief package,
For Maharashtra's chief minister, the farmers' suicides are 'media hype' At the same time, The Hindu Rural Correspondent P Sainath, who won the Magsaysay Award this year for his relentless journalistic campaign to expose the reasons for the farmers's suicides, wrote, 'Had there been a waiver of debt of up to just Rs 25,000, more than 80 per cent of Vidarbha's farmers would no longer have owed the banks money. People thought that waiver would come. It didn't, and the sense of being let down is great.'
He further wrote, 'Will farmers' suicides in Vidarbha halt now that there's a financial package to bring it relief? The answer is no. The deaths do have seasonal highs and lows. But a relative decline now would have little to do with the measures announced at the end of the prime minister's visit. The number of suicides in the 10-day run-up to his trip: 34. The number in 10 days after he left: 34.'
That was in July 2006.
Has anything changed after that? Like Sainath predicted, nothing.
In 2006, as per government data, 1,442 farmers entangled in the debt trap committed suicide in Vidarbha. March 2007, Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, while addressing an election rally, said, 'It was media hype. Farmer suicides are down to 25 per cent from 75 per cent last year.'
He further wrote, 'Will farmers' suicides in Vidarbha halt now that there's a financial package to bring it relief? The answer is no. The deaths do have seasonal highs and lows. But a relative decline now would have little to do with the measures announced at the end of the prime minister's visit. The number of suicides in the 10-day run-up to his trip: 34. The number in 10 days after he left: 34.'
That was in July 2006.
Has anything changed after that? Like Sainath predicted, nothing.
In 2006, as per government data, 1,442 farmers entangled in the debt trap committed suicide in Vidarbha. March 2007, Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, while addressing an election rally, said, 'It was media hype. Farmer suicides are down to 25 per cent from 75 per cent last year.'
'India's rural economy has collapsed'
The study conducted by Professor Nagaraj found that from 1997 to 2005, 1.5 lakh farmers committed suicide in India. The tragedy continued in 2006 and 2007 also. And it may even become worse in 2008.
Says Kishor Tiwari, "The suicide of these thousands of landless farmers and land labourers, women are just symbols; symbols that tell us how India's rural economy has collapsed. The epicentre of the agrarian crisis in India is now in Vidarbha."
Healthcare, education and the food security system have also collapsed in the area thanks to liberalisation. From 2004 onwards, Tiwari has been demanding a regulated farming system. "A farmer should be forced to have food crop cultivation at least in 30 per cent of his land area so that they will not die of starvation. If the government cannot save them, they should be given food security."
Says Kishor Tiwari, "The suicide of these thousands of landless farmers and land labourers, women are just symbols; symbols that tell us how India's rural economy has collapsed. The epicentre of the agrarian crisis in India is now in Vidarbha."
Healthcare, education and the food security system have also collapsed in the area thanks to liberalisation. From 2004 onwards, Tiwari has been demanding a regulated farming system. "A farmer should be forced to have food crop cultivation at least in 30 per cent of his land area so that they will not die of starvation. If the government cannot save them, they should be given food security."
'The epicentre of India's agrarian crisis is now in Vidarbha'
2007 is going to end. As per the list produced by the Maharashtra government, 1,242 farmers have committed suicide in the Vidarbha region so far.
On December 3, P Sainath wrote, 'Even as the suicides in Vidarbha go on relentlessly, a trend has strengthened in the last few months. More and more farmers are blaming the government and even talking directly in their suicide notes to Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.'
But you have a chief minister who says he is being merciful to those who have committed suicide by not registering any crime against them, who advises the farmers to practise yoga and spiritualism! You also have another minister who calls the farmers of Vidarbha lazy!
2008 will be a crucial year for farmers as loan recovery will start after the interest waiver.
Warns Tiwari, "The farmers are being killed by the policy-makers. It is a well-planned agenda to eliminate the farming community to hand over the farming sector to the corporate sector. In Korea they have succeeded, but in India, with a massive population of 70 crore people, it's not going to be that easy. This is not suicide, but mass genocide by the State."
==================================================================================================
Also read: Mr Prime Minister, the farmer is heartbroken
Rediff looks back at the highs and lows, the successes and failures, the heros and villains, the wild and the overblown that made this year.
Despair and Hope
'This is not suicide, but mass genocide by the State'
December 5, 2007
The clock struck 12. Midnight, December 31, 2006. A new dawn, a new year was about to begin. With lots of hopes, dreams and aspirations.
It is also the time for the privileged in the country to party under dim lights. When they drink, dance, and scream 'Happy New Year', thousands of people in another part of India sit in the dark corners of their houses, dreading the uncertain future ahead of them.
One such person was Ashok Bhikaji Bhoyar from a place called Kavardari. A handful of people may have heard of Kavardari. It is in the
It is also the time for the privileged in the country to party under dim lights. When they drink, dance, and scream 'Happy New Year', thousands of people in another part of India sit in the dark corners of their houses, dreading the uncertain future ahead of them.
One such person was Ashok Bhikaji Bhoyar from a place called Kavardari. A handful of people may have heard of Kavardari. It is in the Vidarbha region in Maharashtra. And this man was a farmer.
Then 2007 dawned. And Ashok Bhoyar ended his life drinking pesticide. The reason: He was neck deep in debt, and saw only darkness ahead of him.
January 2 was not different from January 1. In fact, it was worse. Sopan Shrikrisna Darmode from Kadamapur and Sukhdeo Shivaji Chakranarayan from Devthana also ended their lives with pesticide.
January 3 saw two more farmers committing suicide. On January 6, four people ended their lives. By the time the month ended, 68 people had chosen to end their lives in Vidarbha region alone.
All of them were cotton farmers.
'The plight of Vidarbha's farmers is because of the globalisation of the cotton economy'
India ranks third in global cotton production after the United States and China. With 8 to 9 million hectares of cotton produce each year, India accounts for approximately 25 per cent of the world's total cotton area, and 16 pc of global cotton production.
Most of the cotton in India is grown under rain-fed conditions, and only about a third is grown under irrigation. Cotton as a cash crop is important as it contributes around 30 pc of agriculture's contribution to the gross domestic product.
While agriculture gives positive growth, cotton production in the Vidarbha region shows a down trend.
According to Kishor Tiwari, who has been voicing the plight of the cotton farmers of Vidarbha through the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti, the trouble started in Vidarbha with liberalisation.
"From 1995 onwards, the prices of seeds and pesticides increased four times, but the price of raw cotton at the national and international level went down by 30 per cent," he says. "There was a time a farmer would spend only Rs 500 per acre and would get back Rs 5,000 in income. Today, the farmer spends Rs 10,000 per acre, but he gets back only Rs 7,000 back. So, debt starts mounting. The plight of Vidarbha's cotton farmers is because of the 'globalisation of the cotton economy'. The national sample survey says the farmers of Vidarbha earn Rs 472 a month which is much below the poverty line."
Professor K Nagaraj of the Madras Institute of Development Studies, an agrarian issues expert, explained the reason why cash crops had been failing, endangering the livelihood of lakhs of farmers all over India, much more in the Vidarbha region.
"Agriculture in India was dependent on State support, which was not just subsidies; it took the form of tremendous amount of extension services which were built over a period of time, like soil and water management, timely credit, provision of inputs such as seeds, fertilisers and imparting knowledge," he said. "In the name of liberalisation, State support was withdrawn completely and the vacant space has been occupied by the private sector in an unregulated manner."
Image: Cotton farmer Vithoba Shate from Yavatmal in Maharashtra committed suicide by drinking pesticide, leaving behind his 75-year-old father Ragoba Shate, mother and wife. Photograph: Sebastian D'Souza/AFP/Getty Images
Also read: 'TN farmers are in a better situation'
Most of the cotton in India is grown under rain-fed conditions, and only about a third is grown under irrigation. Cotton as a cash crop is important as it contributes around 30 pc of agriculture's contribution to the gross domestic product.
While agriculture gives positive growth, cotton production in the Vidarbha region shows a down trend.
According to Kishor Tiwari, who has been voicing the plight of the cotton farmers of Vidarbha through the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti, the trouble started in Vidarbha with liberalisation.
"From 1995 onwards, the prices of seeds and pesticides increased four times, but the price of raw cotton at the national and international level went down by 30 per cent," he says. "There was a time a farmer would spend only Rs 500 per acre and would get back Rs 5,000 in income. Today, the farmer spends Rs 10,000 per acre, but he gets back only Rs 7,000 back. So, debt starts mounting. The plight of Vidarbha's cotton farmers is because of the 'globalisation of the cotton economy'. The national sample survey says the farmers of Vidarbha earn Rs 472 a month which is much below the poverty line."
Professor K Nagaraj of the Madras Institute of Development Studies, an agrarian issues expert, explained the reason why cash crops had been failing, endangering the livelihood of lakhs of farmers all over India, much more in the Vidarbha region.
"Agriculture in India was dependent on State support, which was not just subsidies; it took the form of tremendous amount of extension services which were built over a period of time, like soil and water management, timely credit, provision of inputs such as seeds, fertilisers and imparting knowledge," he said. "In the name of liberalisation, State support was withdrawn completely and the vacant space has been occupied by the private sector in an unregulated manner."
Image: Cotton farmer Vithoba Shate from Yavatmal in Maharashtra committed suicide by drinking pesticide, leaving behind his 75-year-old father Ragoba Shate, mother and wife. Photograph: Sebastian D'Souza/AFP/Getty Images
Despite government largesse, the suicides have continued
The situation in Vidarbha worsened in 2002 after the Indian government permitted commercial cultivation of genetically modified Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) cotton.
The Gene Campaign study in 2006 came to the conclusion that the introduction of Bt cotton in Vidarbha has failed in the rain-fed region completely and that 70 per cent of small farmers lost their landholdings as collateral for loans they could never repay.
The study also revealed that many farmers opted for Bt cotton not knowing it was privately produced and marketed. They accepted it because the government was actively promoting it.
Interestingly, in the United States, where it was introduced 10 years ago, it had developed resistance. This also happened with China. But in India, the authorities turned a blind eye to what was happening to the farmers.
When local activists and media started highlighting the issue of Vidarbha farmers' suicides from 2003, the Maharashtra government responded with a Rs 1,075 crore (Rs 10.75 billion) relief package in December 2005. Promises like debt waiver and free electricity were made during the state assembly election in September 2005.
In October 2005, Dr M S Swaminathan, chairman of the National Commission on Farmers, and his team visited Vidarbha and gave a set of recommendations to the government. On May 1, 2006, programmes for the educational support of children and livelihood rehabilitation of widows were launched, and the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation opened an office in Wardha in November 2006.
The prime minister made a well-publicised visit to Vidarbha in July 2006 and announced a Rs 3,750 crore (Rs 37.50 billion) relief package, including a write-off of Rs 712 crore (Rs 7.12 billion) overdue interest for the Vidarbha farmers. But the suicides continued.
The Gene Campaign study in 2006 came to the conclusion that the introduction of Bt cotton in Vidarbha has failed in the rain-fed region completely and that 70 per cent of small farmers lost their landholdings as collateral for loans they could never repay.
The study also revealed that many farmers opted for Bt cotton not knowing it was privately produced and marketed. They accepted it because the government was actively promoting it.
Interestingly, in the United States, where it was introduced 10 years ago, it had developed resistance. This also happened with China. But in India, the authorities turned a blind eye to what was happening to the farmers.
When local activists and media started highlighting the issue of Vidarbha farmers' suicides from 2003, the Maharashtra government responded with a Rs 1,075 crore (Rs 10.75 billion) relief package in December 2005. Promises like debt waiver and free electricity were made during the state assembly election in September 2005.
In October 2005, Dr M S Swaminathan, chairman of the National Commission on Farmers, and his team visited Vidarbha and gave a set of recommendations to the government. On May 1, 2006, programmes for the educational support of children and livelihood rehabilitation of widows were launched, and the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation opened an office in Wardha in November 2006.
The prime minister made a well-publicised visit to Vidarbha in July 2006 and announced a Rs 3,750 crore (Rs 37.50 billion) relief package,
For Maharashtra's chief minister, the farmers' suicides are 'media hype' At the same time, The Hindu Rural Correspondent P Sainath, who won the Magsaysay Award this year for his relentless journalistic campaign to expose the reasons for the farmers's suicides, wrote, 'Had there been a waiver of debt of up to just Rs 25,000, more than 80 per cent of Vidarbha's farmers would no longer have owed the banks money. People thought that waiver would come. It didn't, and the sense of being let down is great.'
He further wrote, 'Will farmers' suicides in Vidarbha halt now that there's a financial package to bring it relief? The answer is no. The deaths do have seasonal highs and lows. But a relative decline now would have little to do with the measures announced at the end of the prime minister's visit. The number of suicides in the 10-day run-up to his trip: 34. The number in 10 days after he left: 34.'
That was in July 2006.
Has anything changed after that? Like Sainath predicted, nothing.
In 2006, as per government data, 1,442 farmers entangled in the debt trap committed suicide in Vidarbha. March 2007, Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, while addressing an election rally, said, 'It was media hype. Farmer suicides are down to 25 per cent from 75 per cent last year.'
He further wrote, 'Will farmers' suicides in Vidarbha halt now that there's a financial package to bring it relief? The answer is no. The deaths do have seasonal highs and lows. But a relative decline now would have little to do with the measures announced at the end of the prime minister's visit. The number of suicides in the 10-day run-up to his trip: 34. The number in 10 days after he left: 34.'
That was in July 2006.
Has anything changed after that? Like Sainath predicted, nothing.
In 2006, as per government data, 1,442 farmers entangled in the debt trap committed suicide in Vidarbha. March 2007, Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, while addressing an election rally, said, 'It was media hype. Farmer suicides are down to 25 per cent from 75 per cent last year.'
'India's rural economy has collapsed'
The study conducted by Professor Nagaraj found that from 1997 to 2005, 1.5 lakh farmers committed suicide in India. The tragedy continued in 2006 and 2007 also. And it may even become worse in 2008.
Says Kishor Tiwari, "The suicide of these thousands of landless farmers and land labourers, women are just symbols; symbols that tell us how India's rural economy has collapsed. The epicentre of the agrarian crisis in India is now in Vidarbha."
Healthcare, education and the food security system have also collapsed in the area thanks to liberalisation. From 2004 onwards, Tiwari has been demanding a regulated farming system. "A farmer should be forced to have food crop cultivation at least in 30 per cent of his land area so that they will not die of starvation. If the government cannot save them, they should be given food security."
Says Kishor Tiwari, "The suicide of these thousands of landless farmers and land labourers, women are just symbols; symbols that tell us how India's rural economy has collapsed. The epicentre of the agrarian crisis in India is now in Vidarbha."
Healthcare, education and the food security system have also collapsed in the area thanks to liberalisation. From 2004 onwards, Tiwari has been demanding a regulated farming system. "A farmer should be forced to have food crop cultivation at least in 30 per cent of his land area so that they will not die of starvation. If the government cannot save them, they should be given food security."
'The epicentre of India's agrarian crisis is now in Vidarbha'
2007 is going to end. As per the list produced by the Maharashtra government, 1,242 farmers have committed suicide in the Vidarbha region so far.
On December 3, P Sainath wrote, 'Even as the suicides in Vidarbha go on relentlessly, a trend has strengthened in the last few months. More and more farmers are blaming the government and even talking directly in their suicide notes to Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.'
But you have a chief minister who says he is being merciful to those who have committed suicide by not registering any crime against them, who advises the farmers to practise yoga and spiritualism! You also have another minister who calls the farmers of Vidarbha lazy!
2008 will be a crucial year for farmers as loan recovery will start after the interest waiver.
Warns Tiwari, "The farmers are being killed by the policy-makers. It is a well-planned agenda to eliminate the farming community to hand over the farming sector to the corporate sector. In Korea they have succeeded, but in India, with a massive population of 70 crore people, it's not going to be that easy. This is not suicide, but mass genocide by the State."
==================================================================================================
Also read: Mr Prime Minister, the farmer is heartbroken
Also read: Why are Indian farmers killing themselves?
Also read: 'Had we spent the same amount of time we spend in selecting a cricket coach for agriculture, we would have been on top of the world!'
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Vidarbha farmer suicide toll crosses 1,000 in 2007
Farmer suicide toll crosses 1,000
NGO Disputes CM, Says Distressed Farmers' Relief Package Has Failed
NGO Disputes CM, Says Distressed Farmers' Relief Package Has Failed
Manish Sakharwade TNN
Nagpur: Even as Diwali festivities lit up every home, the same could not be said for a number of farm-families that fell victim to the grave agrarian crisis sweeping the Vidarbha region. The toll of distressed farmers taking the extreme step due to repeated crop failure and mounting indebtedness has crossed the 1,000 mark this year, with around seven more farmers committing suicide over the last two days alone. Till November, 1,015 farmers have committed suicide this year, claimed Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS), which has been documenting Vidarbha's agrarian crisis along with farmers' suicides in the region. On Diwali day, a distressed cotton farmer Maroti Ramji Gedam consumed pesticide in Tumup, a remote village under Parwa police station of Yavatmal district. Gedam, a tribal farmer, failing to break the vicious cycle of debt and crop failure, consumed poison, claimed VJAS. According to VJAS convener Kishore Tiwari, six more farmers including, Eknath Namdeo Kadu (Amarvati), Ashok Mahadev Desai, Durgakar Chaudhari (both from Chandrapur), Babulal Jayram Rathode (Yavatmal), Anand Pandurang Kedar (Yavatmal) and Vasant Bhikaji Umare (Yavatmal). Recently, Tiwari had strongly disputed the claim of Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh's claim of success of package meant to bail-out distressed farmers of Vidarbha. ''The chief minister is painting a rosy picture which is quite contrary to reality,'' Tiwari claimed. Tiwari also alleged that the delay on part of the government in complete loan waiver for Vidarbha farmers ― as proposed by both the Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar and the chief minister ― was one of the prime reasons driving distressed farmers to take the extreme step. ''On its part, the Centre and the Maharashtra government, in principle, agreed to give Rs 1,500 per hectare relief up to a maximum of five hectare to all cotton growers, yet there has been a delay in execution of the decision. Moreover the aid is not even reaching the farmers,'' Tiwari alleged. The state government had recently appointed another panel, headed by economist Narendra Jadhav, to study reasons for Vidarbha farmers' suicides. Prior to the appointment of Jadhav committee, the government had appointed seven fact finding panels to study Vidarbha farm suicides. The panel would also review the impact of prime minister's Rs 3,750-crore relief package announced last year for the six farmers' suicide-hit districts of Vidarbha. ''If the government was serious to save Vidarbha's dying farmers then they should act fast to provide relief to over 3 million dying farmers of Vidarbha,'' Tiwari said while reacting over the appointment of another probe panel on Vidarbha farm suicides. ''Loan waiver is a part of the relief but not a complete solution to Vidarbha agrarian crisis. The issues related to the cotton price and sustainable farming, along with Food Crop Promotion Programme has to be implemented,'' Tiwari added.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
8th panel to study vidarbha farmer suicides
8th panel to study vidarbha farmer suicides
The Times of India -Breaking news,
28 Oct 2007, 0205 hrs IST,TNN
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Nagpur/8th_panel_to_study_farmer_suicides/articleshow/2496149.cms
NAGPUR: Even as the state government appointed another panel, headed by economist Narendra Jadhav, to study reasons for Vidarbha farmers' suicides, seven more farmers from the region have ended their lives in the last 48 hours. The panel would also review the impact of prime minister's Rs 3,750 crore relief package announced last year for the six farmers' suicide-hit districts of Vidarbha.
Those farmers who ended their lives in the last two days include: Rajesh Kirnapure (Bhandara), Arun Gawai (Buldhana), Subhash Jadhav, Ramkant Bobade (both Amravati), Kisan Jadhav (Yavatmal), Dashrath Sulakhe (Gondia) and Pundlik Hige (Wardha), the Vidarabha Jan Andolan Samiti has claimed.
According to the samiti the number of distressed farmers committing suicide after the announcement of PM's package has reached 1,765, with the figure reaching 968 this year alone.
Prior to the appointment of Jadhav Committee, the government had appointed seven fact finding panels earlier to study Vidarbha farmers' suicides. The panels included the ones represented by Tata Institute of Social Studies, Indira Gandhi Institute of Developmental Studies, National Farmers Commission, Planning Commission, Yashada (Pune), Gokhale Institute (Pune) and Maharashtra Government's Mega Study report. This apart even 46 universities and institutes have tried to review the situation and come out with their reports.
According to VJAS convenor Kishor Tiwari, "The government has done little and acted rarely on the reports of the various committees appointed earlier. If the government does not implement any recommendations made earlier by various committees, then it seems of no use to appoint another committee to work out the solutions of agrarian crisis and now all such initiatives seem ridiculous."
VJAS has claimed that the Mantralaya officials were busy making fresh recommendations to the prime minister's office to modify relief package for Vidarbha farmers. Citing media reports, Tiwari said that the state government was once again strongly recommending interest waiver on the outstanding crop loan of cotton farmers of western Vidarbha not the pending debt of three million distressed farmers. This, alleged Tiwari, was an effort to rejuvenate dying cooperative banks by politically influential people instead of an effort to save the dying cotton farmers of western Vidarbha.
"Loan waiver is part of the relief but not a complete solution to Vidarbha agrarian crisis. The issues related to the cotton price and sustainable farming along with Food Crop Promotion Programme has to be implemented.
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The Times of India -Breaking news,
28 Oct 2007, 0205 hrs IST,TNN
http://timesofindia.indiatimes
NAGPUR: Even as the state government appointed another panel, headed by economist Narendra Jadhav, to study reasons for Vidarbha farmers' suicides, seven more farmers from the region have ended their lives in the last 48 hours. The panel would also review the impact of prime minister's Rs 3,750 crore relief package announced last year for the six farmers' suicide-hit districts of Vidarbha.
Those farmers who ended their lives in the last two days include: Rajesh Kirnapure (Bhandara), Arun Gawai (Buldhana), Subhash Jadhav, Ramkant Bobade (both Amravati), Kisan Jadhav (Yavatmal), Dashrath Sulakhe (Gondia) and Pundlik Hige (Wardha), the Vidarabha Jan Andolan Samiti has claimed.
According to the samiti the number of distressed farmers committing suicide after the announcement of PM's package has reached 1,765, with the figure reaching 968 this year alone.
Prior to the appointment of Jadhav Committee, the government had appointed seven fact finding panels earlier to study Vidarbha farmers' suicides. The panels included the ones represented by Tata Institute of Social Studies, Indira Gandhi Institute of Developmental Studies, National Farmers Commission, Planning Commission, Yashada (Pune), Gokhale Institute (Pune) and Maharashtra Government's Mega Study report. This apart even 46 universities and institutes have tried to review the situation and come out with their reports.
According to VJAS convenor Kishor Tiwari, "The government has done little and acted rarely on the reports of the various committees appointed earlier. If the government does not implement any recommendations made earlier by various committees, then it seems of no use to appoint another committee to work out the solutions of agrarian crisis and now all such initiatives seem ridiculous."
VJAS has claimed that the Mantralaya officials were busy making fresh recommendations to the prime minister's office to modify relief package for Vidarbha farmers. Citing media reports, Tiwari said that the state government was once again strongly recommending interest waiver on the outstanding crop loan of cotton farmers of western Vidarbha not the pending debt of three million distressed farmers. This, alleged Tiwari, was an effort to rejuvenate dying cooperative banks by politically influential people instead of an effort to save the dying cotton farmers of western Vidarbha.
"Loan waiver is part of the relief but not a complete solution to Vidarbha agrarian crisis. The issues related to the cotton price and sustainable farming along with Food Crop Promotion Programme has to be implemented.
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Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Loan Waiver and Restoration of Cotton Price is only Way out to Stop Vidarbha Farm Suicides-VJAS
VIDARBHA JANANDOLAN SAMITI
11, Trisaran Society, In front of
Tel No. (0712) 2282457 Mob No. 9422108846 kishortiwari@gmail.com
===================================================================
Ref : VJAS/relief package-07 PRESSS-NOTE 16th October, 2007
Interest Waiver And Corporate Farming is Fraudulent Recommendation to resolve Vidarbha Agrarian Crisis :Loan Waiver and Restoration of Cotton Price is only Way out to Stop Vidarbha Farm Suicides-VJAS
Nagpur-16th ootober,2007
Presently in Mumbai mantralaya all babus are busy to give fresh recommendations to PMO ,New Delhi so that existing vidarbha relief package is modified as it has been hoax that has triggered more farm suicides rather than stopping it but as per media reports Maharashtra Govt. is once again strongly recommending same interest waiver on the overdue crop loan of cotton farmers of west vidarbha not the pending debt of 3 million distressed farmers ,kishor tiwari of vidarbha jan andolan samiti(VJAS) has termed this move as rehabilitation process dying cooperative banks controlled by politicians in power rather than saving dying west vidarbha cotton farmers ,tiwari added.
In stead of giving protection to the cotton crop as it is being given to sugarcane farmers in Maharashtra ,Maharashtra Govt. is planning to promote corporate farming is the cotton belt of west vidarbha ,this is disaster step that to introduce MNC in the agriculture in the name of relief to dying farmers, American MNC’s are mostly responsible for vidarbha agrarian crisis moreover companies like Monsanto are tha main killer of cotton farmers hence we will not allow this large scale auction of farmers land to corporate houses in the name of relief operation, kishor tiwari declared.
VJAS earlier reported-
Maharashtra Govt. even though ordered by Mumbai high court ,Nagpur bench that present relief package has failed to stop farm suicides in vidarbha and asked administration to make urgent changes in methodologies so that relief aid is directly given to the distress farmers in order to slow down farm suicides but in stead of taking high court order in positive spirit and true sense of humanity and principles of civil governance surprising in a recent officially publication of Maharashtra govt. “lokrajya” once again special issue says that relief packages are 100% successful and properly implemented but office of relief commissioner in amaravati has very gloomy picture and figure of farm suicides as total farm suicides after relief package is announced in six districts of west vidarbha as per official record is 1720 moreover in 2007 official figure of farm suicides in six district of vidarbha is reaching 1000 mark that’s 923 ,here is official vidarbha farm suicides table
| Months-2006 | Farm suicides | Months-2007 | Farm suicides |
| july | 109 | January | 99 |
| August | 120 | February | 107 |
| september | 156 | march | 113 |
| october | 160 | april | 97 |
| november | 125 | may | 102 |
| december | 127 | june | 82 |
| | | july | 75 |
| | | august | 95 |
| | | September | 106 |
| | | october | 47 |
| total | 797 | | 922 |
VJAS URGED
After receiving drum beating remark that present methodologies failed to stop on going vidarbha farmers suicides in order to stop farm suicide chief secretary of
Restoration of advance bonus that price to raw cotton @2700/- per quintal and complete loan waiver are the main issues other than providing food security ,health care, free education and rural employments needs immediate govt. attention,kishor tiwari added.
Please arrange to publish this press note
Thanking you,
Yours faithfully,
For VIDARBHA JANANDOLAN SAMITI
KISHORE TIWARI
PRESIDENT.
contact-09422108846
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