Farming does kill, no matter how you say it-ET

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Farming does kill, no matter how you say

ABHIRAM GHADYALPATIL TIMES NEWS NETWORK [ SATURDAY, JUNE 02, 2007 12:05:25 AM]
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/PoliticsNation/Farming_does_kill_no_matter_how_you_say_it/articleshow/2092974.cms

1.VJAS president Kishore Tiwari, who has unwittingly earned the reputation of being a spokesperson of this agrarian tragedy, echoes the same view. "The phenomenon has to be defined as rural crisis and not an agrarian crisis. For the debate to be more inclusive and the entire exercise to be corrective, we must address the larger issue of systemic failure," Mr Tiwari said. He pointed out that post-1991, rural India had undergone drastic changes in its socio-economic profile, which have added new dimensions to the crisis.

2। The state told the PMO that the number of suicides due to "agrarian reasons" had come down to 20 per month in 2007, from 60 per month in early 2006. But what the state did not tell the PMO is this: between January 1 and April 30, 2007, more than 400 suicides have taken place in six districts of Vidarbha, where the PMO is implementing a special rehabilitation package. By May 30, the suicide toll had touched 416, according to Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS), which is meticulously recording every farm suicide in the region.



MUMBAI: Earlier this month, when the state told the Prime Minister's Office that farm suicides in Vidarbha were on the decline, it had the right statistics to quote. The state told the PMO that the number of suicides due to "agrarian reasons" had come down to 20 per month in 2007, from 60 per month in early 2006. But what the state did not tell the PMO is this: between January 1 and April 30, 2007, more than 400 suicides have taken place in six districts of Vidarbha, where the PMO is implementing a special rehabilitation package. By May 30, the suicide toll had touched 416, according to Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS), which is meticulously recording every farm suicide in the region. What's intriguing is the state's effort to differentiate between "agrarian crisis" and "agrarian distress". A committee under the district collector probes every incidence of suicide to conclude whether it happened due to agrarian reasons ― debt, crop failure or drought. This is how only 42 of the 416 suicide cases this year have been found to be eligible for government compensation. An interesting point is that the government does not dispute the high number of suicides. Sudhir Goyal, divisional commissioner, Amravati, HQ of all relief measures, acknowledges that the rate of farm suicides continues to be the same. "The number of suicides due to agrarian reasons has gone down in the first four months, compared with the corresponding period last year. But the number of suicides due to agrarian distress remains the same," Dr Goyal told ET. But the bureaucrat, who was the chief of state's agriculture directorate, wants to look beyond numbers. "When the prime minister talked about the agrarian crisis at the National Development Council, he did not mean numbers. The suicides are the symptom of a much larger socio-economic disease that has gripped agriculture not only in Vidarbha, but almost everywhere in rural India. The rate of suicides due to agrarian distress continues to be the same in all the states reporting the phenomenon. That's why statistics is not a good way to approach this crisis," Dr Goyal pointed out. VJAS president Kishore Tiwari, who has unwittingly earned the reputation of being a spokesperson of this agrarian tragedy, echoes the same view. "The phenomenon has to be defined as rural crisis and not an agrarian crisis. For the debate to be more inclusive and the entire exercise to be corrective, we must address the larger issue of systemic failure," Mr Tiwari said. He pointed out that post-1991, rural India had undergone drastic changes in its socio-economic profile, which have added new dimensions to the crisis. "The lifestyle of farmers has also changed. Market forces have entered hinterland, but the farm income has not kept up. Cost of education, healthcare and household items has gone up. The inability to keep pace with these changes has also contributed towards the crisis," Mr Tiwari said.

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