Hope Has Withered for India's Farmers-As the nation touts its high-growth economy, the poor who work the land commit suicide.

LOS ANGELES TIMES REPORTED TODAY

HOPE HAS WITHERED FOR INDIA'S FARMERS

1. "SEVENTY PERCENT OF OUR POPULATION LIVE IN RURAL AREAS, LIVE IN HOSTILE CONDITIONS," FARMING ACTIVIST KISHOR TIWARI SAID. "AND THEY TALK OF 'MEGA-INDIA,' 'INDIA SHINING'? THAT'S A LOUSY PICTURE."

2. MORE THAN 700 FARMERS IN VIDARBHA, HOME TO ABOUT 6 MILLION AGRICULTURAL LABORERS, HAVE KILLED THEMSELVES IN THE LAST 14 MONTHS. MANY DRINK PESTICIDE; OTHERS JUMP DOWN WELLS OR HANG OR IMMOLATE THEMSELVES.

3. NEARLY ALL THE VICTIMS WERE COTTON GROWERS, GENERATIONS OF WHOM HAVE CULTIVATED THIS CORNER OF MAHARASHTRA STATE, SINCE THE TIME OF THE BRITISH RAJ. IT WAS ONCE SO PROFITABLE A CROP THAT PEOPLE CALLED IT "KING COTTON." NOW THAT TAG HAS CHANGED TO "KILLER COTTON."

4. NOT A SINGLE HIGH-RANKING MAHARASHTRA STATE LEADER HAS VISITED VIDARBHA SINCE THE SUICIDES BEGAN TO PILE UP, ACTIVIST TIWARI SAID.

WHEN INDIAN PRIME MINISTER MANMOHAN SINGH ARRIVED FOR AN OFFICIAL VISIT IN LATE JUNE, HE REPORTEDLY LOOKED STUNNED WHEN DISTRAUGHT FARMERS DESCRIBED THEIR PLIGHT AND RELATIVES TOLD OF THE DEATHS OF LOVED ONES.

5. ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE NEW RELIEF PACKAGE HAS FAILED TO STEM THE TIDE OF DESPAIR. IN FACT, THE SUICIDE RATE HAS GONE UP. SINCE THE PRIME MINISTER'S VISIT, AT LEAST 100 MORE FARMERS IN VIDARBHA HAVE KILLED THEMSELVES ― AN AVERAGE OF THREE A DAY.

6. THE NEW RELIEF PACKAGE PROVIDES FOR EASIER ACCESS TO CREDIT AT LOW RATES. BUT ACTIVISTS SAY THAT WON'T REVERSE DECLINING YIELDS, OR HALT THE SLIDE IN COTTON PRICES, OR WIPE AWAY THE RUINOUS DEBT FARMERS ARE ALREADY STAGGERING UNDER. NOR WILL IT ALLEVIATE THEIR INTENSE MENTAL ANGUISH.

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-fg-farmers11aug11,1,2217132,full.story?coll=la-news-a_section&ctrack=1&cset=true

Hope Has Withered for India's Farmers

As the nation touts its high-growth economy, the poor who work the land commit suicide.

By Henry Chu, Times Staff Writer

August 11, 2006

PAHAPAL, India ― He found his father's body during his early-morning chores. Sixteen-year-old Vijay Chatale had barely adjusted his eyes to the gloom in the dirt-floor kitchen when he looked up and saw his dad hanging from one of the rafters.

Tragedy also struck the Gurnule household in the nearby village of Saikheda. Late one afternoon, Chandrakanta, 28, doused his clothes in kerosene, set himself ablaze and ran screaming into the courtyard. He died a few hours later.

An epidemic is sweeping through the Indian countryside, killing farmers by the hundreds in the nation's vast, sun-baked heartland. What afflicts them is not disease or famine but despair, so deep that it is driving men such as Chatale and Gurnule to take their lives at the rate of two a day.

Fueled by crushing debt, failing crops and government indifference, the suicides are a stark reminder of the desperate poverty that continues to engulf huge swaths of this nation of 1 billion, despite the enthusiastic portrayals of India at home and abroad as a software powerhouse, an outsourcing giant and an economic juggernaut with growth of 8% a year.

Fifteen years of market-oriented reforms have unleashed a wave of capital and entrepreneurialism across India. But though high-end sectors such as information technology have made impressive strides in cities like Mumbai and Bangalore, the benefits of reform have yet to extend to the hundreds of millions who toil on the land.

"Seventy percent of our population live in rural areas, live in hostile conditions," farming activist Kishor Tiwari said. "And they talk of 'mega-India,' 'India shining'? That's a lousy picture."

Falling commodities prices have put the squeeze on Indian farmers, the great majority of whom have only a few acres. The government also has slashed or phased out subsidies for some crops, shredding a key safety net.

The result is a growing social crisis most bleakly illustrated by the rash of suicides, in states from Punjab in the north to Kerala in the south, where 1,500 farmers are reported to have taken their lives in the last five years.

Hardest hit is this region, known as Vidarbha, an area about the size of Maine smack in the center of India. A map of the region hangs on Tiwari's office wall. Its most prominent markings are a profusion of black skulls, forming a grim diagram of death that keeps him and fellow activists busy day and night.

More than 700 farmers in Vidarbha, home to about 6 million agricultural laborers, have killed themselves in the last 14 months. Many drink pesticide; others jump down wells or hang or immolate themselves.

The real number of suicides could be much higher, as it is unlikely that every case is recorded by police or the media.

Nearly all the victims were cotton growers, generations of whom have cultivated this corner of Maharashtra state, since the time of the British Raj. It was once so profitable a crop that people called it "King Cotton." Now that tag has changed to "Killer Cotton."

The farmers have been hit by a double whammy: The cost of seeds, fertilizer and other supplies has shot up dramatically, while the state government has cut its guaranteed purchase price by 32% and bought up less of the harvest, forcing farmers to sell low to private traders.

Moreover, import duties on cotton have been reduced, leaving Indian growers at a disadvantage against cheaper American cotton, which, as critics point out, remains heavily subsidized by the U.S. government.

"The costs have gone up immensely, like never before," said Arun Tulsiram Mahalle, 28, who lives here in Pahapal, a collection of narrow dirt lanes, mud homes and few modern amenities. "People can't take it anymore."

His and his neighbors' crops have been of uneven, often poor quality ever since agriculture officials encouraged them to switch over to more expensive, genetically modified seeds. Those seeds, which produce insect-resistant plants, have turned out to be unsuitable for their small, non-irrigated plots, and the monsoons the farmers depend on to water their fields have been disappointing in recent years.

Like virtually everyone in the village, Mahalle has had to borrow money to stay afloat. But he's one of the lucky ones: He received 50,000 rupees (about $1,100) from the bank, at a reasonable 7% interest rate. Many other farmers, already in default on bank loans or rejected as high-risk, have gone down a more perilous path.

"They're mostly borrowing from private moneylenders, and the interest rate is exorbitant ― up to 50%, 60%, more than that in some cases," said Bibhuti Bhusan Mohanty, an expert on rural conditions at the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics. "And it's not one year's borrowing, it's cumulative. Over the last two to three years they've been borrowing, and the debts are accumulating."

Kachru Chatale's family knew he had borrowed from local loan sharks, but he never said much more. In fact, he spoke less and less as time passed, worn with worry and at times not eating.

Last year, Chatale sold eight of his 12 acres to pay for his daughter's wedding, one of the biggest expenses for rural families. Then his crops failed.

"He used to look worried and tense ― that much we could see," said his widow, Meera Bai. "But he never shared anything with us, and he always met the needs of the family. If we needed sugar, there was sugar. He kept to himself."

On June 22, a muggy, showery night, Chatale went to sleep on the porch with two of his boys, including 16-year-old Vijay. At some point, the 45-year-old farmer gently eased past his slumbering sons, went into the kitchen, knotted a noose around his neck and hanged himself.

The trauma of discovering his father shows in Vijay's dark eyes. The youth has dropped out of school to find day work to support his mother and two younger siblings, who have been left with nothing ― friends and relatives scrounged up two sacks of rice so they wouldn't starve.

Chatale's death made no headlines. But throughout that week, the ups and downs of the Bombay Stock Exchange were, as usual, front-page news, reflecting what critics say are the government's and the media's skewed priorities, an obsession with a stock market in which only a tiny fraction of Indians invest while hundreds of millions of farmers struggle to survive.

Agriculture has taken a back seat since the beginning of India's economic liberalization. By contrast, China, Asia's other developing behemoth, put agrarian reform at the top of the agenda when it began opening up its economy in the late 1970s. India leaped immediately into industrial reform, and now sectors such as service and high-tech command worldwide attention.

R.S. Deshpande, a scholar who has studied the epidemic of farmer suicides, said it was emblematic that the agriculture section of the government's annual economic survey was relegated from the second chapter of the report to the ninth. Eight years ago, he said, federal officials stopped seeking input from regional agricultural research centers in formulating agrarian policy, despite evidence of a looming crisis in the countryside.

"This is intentional neglect," said Deshpande, of the Institute for Social and Economic Change in Bangalore. "It's not that policymakers were unaware of the problems."

Not a single high-ranking Maharashtra state leader has visited Vidarbha since the suicides began to pile up, activist Tiwari said.

When Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived for an official visit in late June, he reportedly looked stunned when distraught farmers described their plight and relatives told of the deaths of loved ones.

Singh unveiled an $830-million relief package for Vidarbha's farmers, including measures to reschedule debt, waive interest and fund more than 500 irrigation projects.

Whether the money will be spent as intended, however, is unclear. India's bloated bureaucracy sucks up a good portion of state funds. Corruption is rampant. The daily newspaper the Hindu reported recently that previously approved irrigation plans in Vidarbha had languished for decades, while other projects racked up cost overruns of several hundred percent.

State officials have also been slow to disburse financial assistance promised to the families of those who committed suicide. In Saikheda village, Bhapurao Gurnule has yet to receive word on his compensation request in the wake of the self-immolation of his son Chandrakanta on April 1.

"We didn't know he would take such a drastic step," said Gurnule, 77. "He'd sold his gold chains and his wife's gold earrings…. There was nowhere else to turn for money."

The new relief package provides for easier access to credit at low rates. But activists say that won't reverse declining yields, or halt the slide in cotton prices, or wipe away the ruinous debt farmers are already staggering under. Nor will it alleviate their intense mental anguish.

"Some kind of serious counseling is required," scholar Mohanty said. "It's not just providing them with credit or other schemes. That won't reduce the problem entirely."

Announcement of the new relief package has failed to stem the tide of despair. In fact, the suicide rate has gone up. Since the prime minister's visit, at least 100 more farmers in Vidarbha have killed themselves ― an average of three a day.

*

Chu was recently on assignment in Pahapal.

A `final' note on credit=p.sainath

Date:11/08/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/08/11/stories/2006081104361300.htm Opinion - News Analysis A `final' note on credit P. Sainath The announcement of fresh crop loans came late in the sowing season for Vidharbha. And, say the suicide notes of farmers, the talk at the top has not been matched by credit at the bottom. Meanwhile, the rain is adding to the devastation. — PHOTO: P. Sainath. IN DEEP DISTRESS: Babytai, widow of Sahibrao Adhao, in Khirala. She is still in shock from his suicide. Adhao left behind a note that captures the trap farmers find themselves in. SAHIBRAO ADHAO paints a vivid picture of Vidharbha's debt trap. He profiles the character of the creditor, captures the pathos of the debtor. He describes the interest mechanism and how it is manipulated. Adhao brings in the local features of sahucari in the Amravati-Akola belt. Here, there is no mortgage. You just give the lender a straight deed of sale for your land. In theory, he returns the land when you pay up. In truth, he holds on to it even after you have paid up. In fact, he demands more money. Adhao is neither an academic studying the problem nor a reporter digging into the issue. Just a small farmer who lost all his land this way and whose suicide note is meticulous in detail. "We sent a fax to Home Minister R.R. Patil," says Udhav Adhao, a relative. "So far, nothing has happened. When he was alive and made a complaint, the police arrested him, not the sahucar." That's because "he tried to prevent the latter from cutting down trees on the land grabbed from him," says Ashok, the dead man's son. "Each time my father paid off some money, the sahucar raised his demand." Adhao's widow Babytai is too distressed to say a word at their home in Khirala village, Amravati district. "The more the banking system denies the farmer aid, the more he must go to the sahucar," says Vijay Jawandia, farm activist and leader. "People thought that after the Prime Minister's visit, they could go to their bank and get a fresh crop loan. For many, this did not happen." In Wardha district, the suicide note of Ramkrishna Lonkar of Susandara village has grabbed attention in the local press. In it, Lonkar writes, "After the Prime Minister's visit and announcements of a fresh crop loan, I thought I could live again." In fact, he was rebuffed at every stage when he began the process of seeking that loan. The talk at the top was not matched by credit at the bottom. "I was shown no respect," he says in his note. Lonkar took his life on August 1, a month after Dr. Manmohan Singh's visit to the Vidharbha region. "Bankers are not going to give out fresh loans even after the interest waiver," says Mr. Jawandia. "They know that farmers who could not pay back Rs.10,000 earlier cannot repay Rs.20,000 now. The more so when there is no change in the price of cotton. There is some logic in that. That's why a loan waiver is vital. It lets the farmer start with a clean slate." Officials admit the amounts involved in a possible waiver are quite small for a State like Maharashtra. "The total advances for all these six districts is a little over Rs.1,200 crore," says one. (That figure does not include the interest.) "Tamil Nadu has waived five times that amount for its farmers." There's more. "If Rs.712 crore was the interest burden, when the advances are around Rs.1,200 crore, that's shocking. It argues the original loans were very small. The burden has been too great for too long." "If you look at the amount taken away from farmers thanks to bad pricing and low import duties on cotton," says Mr. Jawandia, "this is a trifling sum." Input costs, however, have not been trifling. In some estimates, Bt cotton now accounts for 50-60 per cent of the total sown area. Even after the fall in its price, it costs much more than non-Bt seed. And despite all the claims made for it, input dealers here have seen no decline in pesticide sales as a result of its use. Some claim higher sales than before. If there is any fall now, it might be due to excess rain crippling farm operations. And many farms have reported failure with Bt anyway, long before the downpour. New `indicators' In the end, Adhao goes down as No. 650 in the list of farmers taking their lives since June 1, 2005. Lonkar was No. 702. Meanwhile, the official figure for suicides since 2001 has changed and confused many. One reason the total figure has shot up suddenly is that the State Government "has changed the indicators. And it has changed them with retrospective effect," says a top official. So the number now is 1,864 suicides since 2001 in the six affected districts. In mid-2005, the State was still speaking of a total of 141 distress suicides since 2001. When challenged in court, this number changed to 524 — State-wide. Then when the National Commission on Farmers came visiting last October, the Government told the Commission there had been over 300 in that period in a single district — not State-wide. That was Yavatmal and the data showed that the deaths had doubled each year since 2001. Which undid the claim that the rate of suicides was "normal." In the State Assembly in December, the Government admitted to a figure of 1,041 farmers' suicides State-wide since 2001. Today, for the same period, it accepts a figure of 1,864 — in just six districts (Maharashtra has 35). Till late last year, it stuck to a definition of distress farm suicides that excluded very large numbers of people from its list. For instance, if a cultivator took his life but the family land was in his father's name — this was not a "farmer's suicide." The claim was that "since there was no land in the name of the deceased, he or she was not a farmer," points out the official. The State's list also required that each case be judged by over 40 indicators before being declared a farm suicide. It was reported at the time (The Hindu, June 25, 2005) that this kept out many deaths from the Government's list. It also meant that the bereaved families would get no compensation. In recent months, the State has revised its approach. Now, such a tragedy in a farm household is acknowledged as a farmer's suicide even if that family member had no land in his or her name. The result: hundreds of names have been added to the list from the 2001-05 period. There have been other changes, too. The rain lashing Vidharbha is making things much worse. A lot of those who borrowed money to buy their inputs have seen their efforts washed away. For many, it will be difficult to recover from the accumulated losses of successive seasons. © Copyright 2000 - 2006 The Hindu

HIGH COURT ORDER ON P.I.L. IN THE MATTER OF FAILURE OF STATE TO APPOINT MEMBERS ON MAHARASHTRA HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION:

VIDARBHA JAN ANDOLAN SAMITI

Regd. Office : 11, Shivalaya, Trisaran Society, In front of Somalwar School, Khamla, NAGPUR – 440 025.

Ph No. 0712-2282457 / Mobile – 9371137653, 9422108846. Fax No. 07235-227387

Ref : VJAS/180/2006 10^th August, 2006

PRESS NOTE

URGENT / FLASH

HIGH COURT ORDER ON P.I.L. IN THE MATTER OF FAILURE OF STATE TO APPOINT MEMBERS ON MAHARASHTRA HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION:

HIGH COURT ISSUED NOTICES TO CHIEF MINISTER, DY. CHIEF MINISTER, SPEAKER OF ASSEMBLY, CHAIRMAN OF COUNCIL AND LEADER OF OPPOSSITION AND ALSO TO STATE GOVERNMENT ON FAILURE TO APPOINT CHAIRMAN & MEMBERS ON MAHARASHTRA HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION BECAUSE OF WHICH ITS WORKING AND FUNCTION COMPLETELY PARALYSED.

Nagpur,

Dated: 10^th August, 2006

ON A PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION FILED BY VIDARBHA JAN ANDOLAN SAMITI PRESIDENT, SHRI KISHORE TIWARI, THE HON’BLE NAGPUR BENCH OF BOMBAY HIGH COURT, TAKING THE SERIOUS NOTE & COGNIZANCE OF CONTINUED NEGLIGENCE AND FAILURE TO APPOINT CHAIRMAN & MEMBERS ON MAHARASHTRA HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION, ISSUED NOTICES TO CHIEF MINISTER SHRI VILASRAO DESHMUKH, DY. CHIEF MINISTER SHRI R.R. PATIL, SPEAKER OF LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY SHRI BABASAHEB KUPEKAR, CHAIRMAN OF LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL SHRI SHIVAJIRAO DESHMUKH (PATIL), LEADER OF OPPOSSITION IN LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL SHRI PANDURANG FUNDKAR (BJP), LEADER OF OPPOSTION IN LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY SHRI RAMDAS KADAM (SHIV SENA) BEING MEMBERS OF THE SELECTION COMMITTEE AND ALSO TO THE STATE GOVERNMENT WITHIN 4 WEEKS.

THE P.I.L. WRIT PETITION IS FILED BY SHRI KISHORE TIWARI POINTING OUT THE DELIBERATE AND MALAFIDE ATTEMPTS ON THE PART OF RESPONDENTS AUTHORITIES VIRTUALLY PARALYSING THE VERY PURPOSE OF PARAMOUNT STATUTORY BODY FOR THE PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS CALLED “MAHARASHTRA HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION” (M.S.H.R.C.) OF WHICH ALL THE FUNCTIONS ARE STAND STILL, AS THE RESPONDENTS AUTHORITIES HAS MISERABLY FAILED TO FULFILL THE STATUTORY OBLIGATION OF APPOINTING THE CHAIRMAN & THE MEMBERS ON THE M.S.H.R.C.. THE PETITIONER HAS ALSO POINTED OUT HOW THE SAID BODY IS BEING KILLED BY THE POLITICIANS & TOP BUREACRATIC OFFICIALS IN THE MANTRALAYA WHO ALL ARE DELAYING THE APPOINTMENTS ON THE POST OF THE CHAIRMAN & THE MEMBERS OF M.S.H.R.C. EVEN AFTER REPEATED DEMANDS BY THE PETITIONER’S ORGANISATION. THE PETITIONER HAS ALSO POINTED OUT THAT THOUSANDS OF CASES PERTAINING TO HUMAN RIGHTS HAVE BEEN HELD UP AND THE POOR LITIGANTS PURSUING THE SERIOUS CASES OF VIOLATION OF FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS ARE SUBJECTED TO HARASSMENT AND WASTE OF TIME & MONEY, AS THEY ALL ARE VISITING MUMBAI FOR ATTENDING THE CASES AT M.S.H.R.C. WHOSE WORK IS PARALYSED AND VIRTUALLY STAND STILL, AS NO CHAIRMAN AND MEMBERS HAVE BEEN APPOINTED BY THE STATUTORY SELECTION COMMITTEE CHAIRED BY THE CHIEF MINISTER SHRI VILASRAO DESHMUKH & ALL OTHER TOP POLITICIANS LIKE DY. CHIEF MINISTER SHRI R.R. PATIL, SPEAKER OF LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY SHRI BABASAHEB KUPEKAR, CHAIRMAN OF LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL SHRI SHIVAJIRAO DESHMUKH (PATIL), LEADER OF OPPOSSITION IN LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL SHRI PANDURANG FUNDKAR (BJP), LEADER OF OPPOSTION IN LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY SHRI RAMDAS KADAM (SHIV SENA).

AFTER HEARING THE MATTER AT LENGTH, DIVISION BENCH OF THE HIGH COURT HEADED BY JUSTICE SHRI R.M.S. KHANDEPARKAR & JUSTICE SHRI S.R. DONGAONKAR ISSUED NOTICES TO RESPONDENTS ON THE P.I.L. IN WHICH THE PRAYER IS AS FOLLOWS :-

i) entertain the present petition as Public Interest Litigation (P.I.L.) in the larger interest of the public at large,

ii) issue writ of mandamus or any other writ, order and/or direction to the respondents to appoint the Hon’ble Chairperson and the Members of the MSHRC forthwith,

iii) issue writ, order and/or direction to the respondents to pay the cost to all litigants at MSHRC who suffered due to failure on the part of the respondents to discharge the statutory responsibilities / functions of appointment of the Hon’ble Chairperson and the Members of MSHRC,

iv) issue writ, order and/or direction to the respondents not to repeat such type of mistake or error in future in discharging the statutory responsibilities / functions of appointment of the Hon’ble Chairperson and the Members of MSHRC and all such appointments to be made well within the time so that the litigants should not suffer,

ADVOCATE SHRI FIRDOS MIRZA, ADVOCATE SHRI VINOD TIWARI, ADVOCATE SHRI AJAY SOMANI, REPRESENTED THE PETITIONER AND A.G.P. SMT. SHARADA WANDILE WAIVES NOTICE ON BEHALF OF STATE. MATTER WILL BE LISTED FOR FURTHER HEARING ON 12^TH SEPTEMBER, 2006.

IT IS INTERESTING TO NOTE THAT THE M.S.H.R.C. WAS CONSTITUTED IN THE YEAR 2000 ON THE ORDERS & DIRECTIONS OF THE HON’BLE BOMBAY HIGH COURT ON THE P.I.L. FILED BY HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS INCLUDING THE PRESENT PETITIONER. THE M.S.H.R.C. IS PROVED VERY EFFECTIVE IN LARGE NUMBER OF CASES PERTAINING TO PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS. ESPECIALLY THE CASES OF FARMERS SUICIDES TAKEN UP BY THE M.S.H.R.C. THROUGH WHICH STATE WAS COMPELLED TO GRANT SUITABLE COMPENSATION TO THE AGRIEVED FAMILIES OF THE AGRERIAN CRISIS WHICH WITNESSED UNFORTUNATE INCIDENTS OF UNTIMELY DEATHS OF FARMERS.

KINDLY ARRANGE TO RELEASE THIS IMPORTANT NEWS IN YOUR ESTEEMED DAILY.

THANKING YOU,

YOURS FAITHFULLY,

KISHORE TIWARI

PRESIDENT

VIDARBHA JAN ANDOLAN SAMITI

NAGPUR.

Hurry up with relief for farmers

HT REPORTS TODAY-
http://epaper.hindustantimes.com/Default.aspx

Hurry up with relief for farmers

Court-HC gives govt Aug 16 deadline to submit list of beneficiaries for PM's Vidarbha package Earlier, Bombay HC pulled up 12 senior govt officials for their 'casual' approach on the issue and imposed a fine of Rs 1,000 as cost of 12 respondents in the petition

THE NAGPUR bench of the Bombay High Court has taken strong exception to the slow pace of implementation of the PM's relief packages to distressed farmers and asked the state authorities to provide a list of beneficiaries by August 16.

Pradip Kumar Maitra

Nagpur-AUGUST-08-2006

THE NAGPUR bench of the Bombay High Court has taken strong exception to the slow pace of implementation of the PM's relief packages to distressed farmers and asked the state authorities to provide a list of beneficiaries by August 16.

Responding to a PIL filed by the Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti, the court also pulled up the government for failing to prevent farmers' suicide in the region.

Petitioner Kishore Tiwari informed the court that the government had failed to implement its earlier order on ensuring relief measures to farmers so that such tragedies did not occur again.

Moreover, he pointed out, a list of beneficiaries on the state sponsored website is also missing.

Tiwari added that the government has not updated data on relief measures on its website. He provided a list of the number of suicides ― 716 ―in the current kharif season so far.

The list includes 108 farmers, who had ended their lives after the prime minister visited the region and announced a package of Rs 3,750-crore to bail them out. The state counsel, however, said it has initiated measures to prevent farmer suicides.

The government also said it would provide the list of beneficiaries in the next hearing. It has filed an affidavit before the court in this regard.

Earlier, a division bench of the Bombay High Court here pulled up a dozen senior government officials for their "casual" approach on the issue and imposed a fine of Rs 1,000 as cost of 12 respondents in the petition.

Later the state bureaucrats, including the chief secretary, made unconditional apologies before the court and requested to recall its order. While recalling the order, however, the court made it clear that "this does not mean a clean chit to them."

"Give us a price, not a package"

TO
THE HON,BLE PRIME MINISTER OF INDIA,
GOVT.OF INDIA,
NEW DELHI-110 011.

REF- PLEASE FIND TODAYS HINDU'S ARTICLE WRITTEN P.SAINATH ON"VIDARBHA AGRARIAN CRISIS'

SUB-YES PRIME MINISTERJI VIDARBHA FARMERS NEED PRICE FOR COTTON.

R/SIR,
HERE IS COPY TODAYHINDU'S ARTICLE WRITTEN P.SAINATH ON"VIDARBHA AGRARIAN CRISIS'

"Give us a price, not a package"

P. Sainath

http://www.hindu.com/2006/08/08/stories/2006080806050900.htm

Vidharbha's farmers are unhappy with the "relief packages" announced by the State and the Centre. They want the larger issues driving the suicides addressed.

— Photo: P. Sainath

`Kaka' Tadas, in Srikrishna Rahate's house, says the first priority is a fair price for cotton growers. Rahate is No. 700 in the list of Vidharbha farmers who have committed suicide since June 1, 2005.

"DUMP THE packages, give us a price. It's the price of cotton we're worried about," says `Kaka' Manohar Motiramji Tadas. "With a fair deal on that, we can manage for now." Tadas knows something about farming. He has been at it for close to 45 years. He does have other demands, like a debt waiver and access to credit. But the price of cotton tops his list just now. That is, a month after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh concluded his visit to Vidharbha.

`Kaka' Tadas speaks to us in Kavita village, Amravati district, in the house of Srikrishna Rahate. We could not speak to Rahate. He had killed himself less than a hundred hours before we arrived. Which makes him No. 700 on the list of farmers who have taken their lives in Vidharbha since June 1, 2005.

The streets are deserted — because Kavita and many villages like it are also badly hit by chikungunya. "Large numbers have it," says Dilip Choudhary, who leads us to Rahate's house. And not many can afford medical help. With floods and excess rainfall ravaging farmland in parts of Vidharbha, things are getting worse.

`Kaka' Tadas and Mr. Choudhary see no connection between the "relief package" the Prime Minister announced here and the huge spurt in suicides since then. Nor do any of the other farmers who gather to meet us. They are clear that larger issues are driving the farm deaths than those addressed by short-term "packages." They are also clear that lakhs of households that have seen no suicides are almost as badly off as the thousands that have in the past few years. If anything, they see the sharp rise in the number of farmers killing themselves as proof of how irrelevant the immediate measures have been.

The number of suicides since the Prime Minister left Vidharbha on July 1 is now well past the 100 mark. Before his visit, 101 farmers took their lives in 49 days. The same number killed themselves in 33 days after the visit ended. That is, the rate of suicides rose from around two a day to over three each day. Or one every eight hours.

This means July saw an eight-fold increase in such deaths as compared to the same period last year. July 2005 saw 11 suicides, according to the Vidharbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS). This July, there were 92. (One official count, accessed by The Hindu, puts the numbers for the same periods at 15 and 80. So though different, both confirm a disastrous trend for that month. However, these official figures have only recently come into existence and are shaky. The VJAS has been more diligent.)

What explains the July surge? "Since not a single major demand has been met in years, things could only get worse," says Kishore Tiwari of the VJAS. "Even those who sowed felt trapped, having no funds to follow up with the next steps."

He is hopeful the trend will decline in August but knows the excess rains could make things worse. And, like everyone else, he fears the coming of the spraying season after that. That is usually when the worst numbers come in. It is during the spraying period that the farmer holds pesticide in his hands. For the very desperate, that is a time when a deadly decision is most easily taken. Swallowing pesticide has been the chosen route out in four-fifths of all farm suicides here.

The process of rising debt and falling hope also continues. "What new credit?" asks Mr. Choudhary. "I own three acres and needed Rs.18,000 as a crop loan. The bank gave me Rs.5,000. How am I supposed to do anything with that?" There are cases of farmers with 25 acres getting just Rs.12,000. All this in a month after the announcement of fresh crop loans.

Off the record, bank managers admit not much has happened on the credit front: "We have no money to pay staff salaries," claim some. Also, the sowing season was almost over by the time any little money began flowing. Some did benefit from fresh crop loans. But mostly in the way that Mr. Choudhary did — pushing them once again to moneylenders for the remaining sums they need.

`Kaka' Tadas insists: "There has to be a fair price for what the farmer grows." Last year, the cotton prices fell sharply when the State Government withdrew its "advance bonus" of Rs.500 a quintal. The price now is Rs.1,700, but some have sold their cotton in distress for less.

Big firms are among the gainers in the distress sales. Farmers point out that neither State nor Central packages touch the issue of price. Cotton prices have been devastated both by State policy and worldwide by American and European Union subsidies to their producers running to billions of dollars each year.

"Many have switched to soybean," says Mohan Rahate, son of the farmer who took his life, "but soybean too, has fallen from Rs.1,100 to Rs.1,000 a quintal. It could fall to Rs.800." Meanwhile, since neither Central nor State packages promote foodcrops, particularly jowar, progress on that front is nil.

Two positives

Just two moves appear to have clicked to some extent. The Rs.50 lakh each directly given by the Prime Minister to six District Collectors is being utilised. Close to a third of this Rs.300 lakh has been used within a week of the money coming in. Since this is not just for the suicide-hit, immediate relief has reached some thousands of people. This includes a few of those unable to pay crushing health expenses — now the second fastest growing component of rural family debt. District Collectors hope this fund will be replenished when it runs out.

Thousands of couples have also used the Rs.6 crore set aside for mass marriages under the State's package. And Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has announced he will back this with more money. This has seen over 6,000 households lower their expenses in a time of dire need. It has also, importantly, lent social legitimacy to the notion of cheap weddings.

Both moves have been positive. Yet the numbers are quite marginal to the lakhs of households in crisis. On almost all other fronts, things are lagging badly. The credibility of the Government machinery at the village level seems at its lowest ever. And farmers assert that their central issues have in no way been addressed by either the State or the Centre.

The rest of the season could get bleaker. Unless, says `Kaka' Tadas, "you give us a price. A fair price."

=======================================================================

times of india reports-HC relief lash on Maha govt

HC relief lash on Maha govt

Gives Last Chance To File Details Of

Measures Taken For Farmers

Ramu Bhagwat | TNN

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Skins/TOI/Client.asp?skin=TOI&Daily=TOIM&AppName=1&GZ=T
Nagpur: The Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court is running out of patience with the Maharashtra government on providing succour to the cotton farmers on the brink in Vidarbha.
Pulling up the relief commissioner implementing the special relief packages, the court gave the government a last chance to file full details of the status of relief measures undertaken and a list of beneficiaries.
The court had expressed indignation with sloppy implementation of the relief packages at the last hearing of the case on July 11 and asked the government and the agencies concerned to file a detailed affidavit enumerating the progress in the field and then placing the details on a website so that the public could access the information.
On Monday, the court was not happy with the affidavit that government pleader Bharati Dangre presented and asked for a printout of the webpage giving the details. When she could not, a bench of Justices R M S Khandeparkar and S R Dongaoankar turned to Anup Kumar, chief of the VNS Mission of the state government that is implementing the relief packages, and directed him to produce the printout on August 16, making it clear it was the last chance for the government to redeem itself. Earlier, the bench noted that 108 farmers had committed suicide since PM Manmohan Singh's visit to the affected villages and announcement of a Rs 3,750-crore special relief package on July 1. In a PIL, Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti president Kishore Tiwari had blamed the bureaucrats and the Maharashtra government for flawed policies that were pushing the cotton growers to suicide. The court has been hardening against what it perceives as the lackladaisical attitude of the government towards the tragedy. In June, it had imposed a cost of Rs 1,000 per head on about 13 respondents, including the chief secretary and the police chief, for failing to file affidavits in time. When the respondents offered unconditional apology, the penalty was withdrawn, but not before a reminder that the concession did not amount to a clean chit.

HIGH COURT ORDERED MAHARSHTRA GOVT. TO TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION ON REMEDIES GIVEN BY PETITIONER-VJAS

VIDARBHA JAN ANDOLAN SAMITI

REGD. OFFICE: 11, TRISARAN SOCIETY, KHAMLA, NAGPUR - 440 025.
PH. 2282447/457 MOBILE-9422108846.

===============================================================
REF: - FARMERS SUICIDES-HIGH COURT PRESS-NOTE DATED-7^TH AUGUST, 2006

HIGH COURT ORDERED MAHARSHTRA GOVT. TO TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION ON REMEDIES GIVEN BY PETITIONER AND TO HOST ALL DETAILS, RIGHT FROM LIST OF FARMERS COMMITTING SUICIDES TO THE STAGES OF IMPLEMENTATION OF VARIOUS (WELFARE) SCHEMES, FUNDS ALLOCATED AND SPENT, NUMBER AND NAMES OF BENEFICIARIES AS PER 11^TH JULY ORDER BY 16^TH AUGUST,2006

NAGPUR-7^TH AUGUST, 2006

MAHARASHTRA GOVT. FAILS TO SATISFY THE HON’BLE HIGH COURT TODAY THAT THEY ARE IMPLEMENTING RELIEF PACKAGE ANNOUNCED BY INDIAN PRIME MINISTER DR.MANMOHANSINGH ON 1^ST JULY,2006,AS TODAY GOVT. REPLY WAS NOT HAVING ANY DETAILS REGARDING LIST OF FARMERS COMMITTING SUICIDES TO THE STAGES OF IMPLEMENTATION OF VARIOUS (WELFARE) SCHEMES, FUNDS ALLOCATED AND SPENT, NUMBER AND NAMES OF BENEFICIARIES.
A DIVISION BENCH OF JUSTICE R M S KHANDEPARKAR AND JUSTICE S R DONGAONKAR WHILE HEARING A PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION FILED BY VIDARBHA JAN ANDOLAN SAMITI PRESIDENT KISHORE TIWARI ASKED THE RESPONDENT STATE TO THAT THEY LEARNED FROM PRESS THAT INDIAN PRIME MINISTER IS VISITING VIDARBHA ONCE AGAIN AS MORE THAN 100 FARMERS SUICIDE ARE REPORTED AFTER HIS VISIT AND RELEASING THE SPECIAL PACKAGE OF RS.3750/-CRORE.

THE PETITIONER, SAMITI PRESIDENT KISHORE TIWARI COUNCILS ADV.FIRDOS MIRZA, ADV.VINOD TIWARI AND ADV. AJAY SOMANI HAS INFORMED THE COURT THAT EARLIER HIGH COURT ORDER HAS NOT BEEN IMPLEMENTED YET AND MAHARASHTRA ARE TILL ACTUAL IN THE RELIEF AND FAILED TO BAIL THEM OUT FROM THE PRESENT CRISIS AND RELIEF HAS REACHED TO DISTRESS FAMILIES HENCE LIST OF BENEFICIARIES OF SUCH SCHEMES IS MISSING FROM REPLY AND WEB SITE BOTH.

THE BENCH HAS FIXED NEXT DATE ON 16^TH AUGUST , 2006 AND ASKED GOVT. OF MAHARASHTRA TO PROVIDE ALL DETAILS AS PER EARLIER HIGH COURT ORDER ,THE BENCH ALSO ASKED TAKE REMEDIAL MEASURES AS SUGGESTED BY THE PETITIONER AND TO PUT ALL RELEVANT INFORMATION REGARDING RELIEF MEASURES INITIATED BY THE GOVERNMENT IN THE WEBSITE FOR INFORMATION OF PUBLIC AT LARGE.

TODAY IN AFFIDAVIT FILED BEFORE THE HIGH COURT PETITIONER KISHORE TIWARI INFORMED COURT THAT GOVT. OF MAHARASHTRA TILL DATE HAS NOT PUT ANY DATA REGARDING IT’S RELIEF MEASURE IN ORDER TO STOP ON GOING SUICIDES IN VIDARBHA MORE OVER PETITIONER AS GIVEN LIST OF REMEDIES TO HIGH COURT ALONG WITH 716 NAMES OF FARMERS WHO COMMITTED SUICIDE SINCE JUNE, 2005 .THIS LIST INCLUDE NAME 108 FARMERS WHO COMMITTED SUICIDES AFTER PRIME MINISTER ANNOUNCED IT’S RS.3750/- CRORE RELIEF PACKAGE.

EARLIER ORDER IMPOSED COST OF RS 1000 EACH ON 13 TOP BUREAUCRATS, INCLUDING CHIEF SECRETARY FOR THEIR FAILURE TO TAKE COGNIZANCE OF COURT NOTICE FOR NOT FILING REPLIES.

A DIVISION BENCH OF JUSTICE J N PATEL AND JUSTICE S R DONGAONKAR IN A SNUB TO THE BUREAUCRACY HAD IMPOSED RS 1000 AS COST ON 13 RESPONDENTS.
THE 13 TOP OFFICIALS LATER ON JUNE 28 OFFERED AN APOLOGY TO THE COURT AND DEPOSITED SUM.

LATER ON, WHILE ISSUING THE ORDER TO RECALL OF ITS OWN ORDER, COURT CLEARLY STATED THAT "THIS DOES NOT MEAN A CLEAN CHIT TO THEM.”

ADV.FIRDOS MIRZA ,ADV.VINOD TIWARI,ADV.AJAY SOMANI APPEARED FOR PETITIONER WHEREAS ADV.BHARATI DANGARE,A.G.P APPEARED FOR STATE .SPRECIAL RELIEF COMMINOR MR.ANUP KUMAR WAS PRESENT IN HIGH COURT AT THE TIME OF HEARING TODAY.CASE HAS BEEN FIXED ON 16^TH AUGUST FOR FURTHER HEARING.

PLEASE ARRANGE TO PUBLISH AS NEWS ITEM.

THANKING YOU,
YOURS TRULY,


KISHOR TIWARI

PRESIDENT

IN SPITE OF HIGH COURT ORDER MAHARSHTRA GOVT. FAILED TO HOST RELIEF MEASURES ON WEB SITE:

VIDARBHA JAN ANDOLAN SAMITI

REGD. OFFICE: 11, TRISARAN SOCIETY, KHAMLA, NAGPUR - 440 025.
PH. 2282447/457 MOBILE-9422108846.

===============================================================
REF: - FARMERS SUICIDES-HIGH COURT PRESS-NOTE DATED-7^TH AUGUST, 2006

IN SPITE OF HIGH COURT ORDER MAHARSHTRA GOVT. FAILED TO HOST RELIEF MEASURES ON WEB SITE: THE PETITIONER HOST LIST OF 716 FARMERS ON HIS WEB SITE: HIGH COURT TO TAKE UP THE CASE TODAY

NAGPUR-7^TH AUGUST, 2006

EARLIER ON JULY 11, 2006 THE NAGPUR BENCH OF THE BOMBAY HIGH COURT TODAY ASKED MAHARASHTRA GOVERNMENT WHY FARMERS IN THE VIDARBHA ARE COMMITTING SUICIDES EVEN AFTER THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF A SPECIAL PACKAGE BY THE STATE AND PRIME MINISTER MANMOHAN SINGH DURING HIS TOUR TO THE REGION EARLY THIS MONTH.
A DIVISION BENCH OF JUSTICE R M S KHANDEPARKAR AND JUSTICE S R DONGAONKAR WHILE HEARING A PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION FILED BY VIDARBHA JAN ANDOLAN SAMITI DIRECTED THE RESPONDENT STATE TO FILE AN AFFIDAVIT CONTAINING ALL SCHEMES MEANT FOR FARMERS TO BAIL THEM OUT FROM THE PRESENT CRISIS AND LIST OF BENEFICIARIES OF SUCH SCHEMES SO FAR.

THE BENCH ALSO TOLD THE STATE TO PUT ALL RELEVANT INFORMATION REGARDING RELIEF MEASURES INITIATED BY THE GOVERNMENT IN THE WEBSITE FOR INFORMATION OF PUBLIC AT LARGE.

THE BENCH ASKED THE PETITIONER, SAMITI PRESIDENT KISHORE TIWARI, TO SUGGEST REMEDIES FOR OVERCOMING THE PRESENT CRISIS.

TODAY IN AFFIDAVIT FILED BEFORE THE HIGH COURT PETITIONER KISHORE TIWARI INFORMED COURT THAT GOVT. OF MAHARASHTRA TILL DATE HAS NOT PUT ANY DATA REGARDING IT’S RELIEF MEASURE IN ORDER TO STOP ON GOING SUICIDES IN VIDARBHA MORE OVER PETITIONER AS GIVEN LIST OF REMEDIES TO HIGH COURT ALONG WITH 716 NAMES OF FARMERS WHO COMMITTED SUICIDE SINCE JUNE, 2005 .THIS LIST INCLUDE NAME 108 FARMERS WHO COMMITTED SUICIDES AFTER PRIME MINISTER ANNOUNCED IT’S RS.3750/- CRORE RELIEF PACKAGE .

A DIVISION BENCH OF JUSTICE R M S KHANDEPARKAR AND JUSTICE S R DONGAONKAR WILL TAKE UP THE MATTER TODAY ON AUGUST 7, 2006 AS APATHY OF GOVT. OFFICIALS ON SUICIDE ISSUE WAS TAKEN VERY SERIOUSLY AND EARLIER ORDER IMPOSED COST OF RS 1000 EACH ON 13 TOP BUREAUCRATS, INCLUDING CHIEF SECRETARY FOR THEIR FAILURE TO TAKE COGNIZANCE OF COURT NOTICE FOR NOT FILING REPLIES.

A DIVISION BENCH OF JUSTICE J N PATEL AND JUSTICE S R DONGAONKAR IN A SNUB TO THE BUREAUCRACY HAD IMPOSED RS 1000 AS COST ON 13 RESPONDENTS.
THE 13 TOP OFFICIALS LATER ON JUNE 28 OFFERED AN APOLOGY TO THE COURT AND DEPOSITED SUM.

LATER ON, WHILE ISSUING THE ORDER TO RECALL OF ITS OWN ORDER, COURT CLEARLY STATED THAT "THIS DOES NOT MEAN A CLEAN CHIT TO THEM.”, HENCE TODAY HEARING IS IMPORTANT AS FARMERS SUICIDES ARE INCREASING DAY BY DAY AND IT HAS TAKEN VERY ALARMING SITUATION WEST VIDARBHA,KISHOR TIWARI ADDED.

PLEASE ARRANGE TO PUBLISH AS NEWS ITEM.

THANKING YOU,
YOURS TRULY,


KISHOR TIWARI

PRESIDENT

VIDARBHA JANADOLAN SAMITI
CONTACT-MOBILE-09422108846

EARLIER REPORT OF AFP-

Court tells India to create website on farmers' suicides

Posted on Monday, July 31, 2006 (EST)

NEW DELHI (AFP) - The Indian Express quoting orders of the Mumbai High Court said the website would contain information concerning farmers' suicides as well as aid packages being implemented by the authorities for those in debt.

The website was due to be online by next week, the daily said.

The court stepped in following complaints that a spree of suicides had not waned despite an economic package offered July 1 by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to impoverished farmers in Maharashtra's cotton-growing belt.

"It will have all details, right from list of farmers committing suicides to the stages of implementation of various (welfare) schemes, funds allocated and spent, number and names of beneficiaries," the report said, quoting an unnamed official.

Social activists say the suicide rate of poverty-hit farmers in the cotton belt has hit a decade high despite Singh's 37.5-billion rupee (835 million dollar) relief package.

Sixty farmers -- including two fathers and their sons -- have killed themselves so far this month crippled with debt and hit by falling prices for their cotton, according to one group working with farmers.

More than 600 farmers killed themselves in Maharashtra's cotton belt of Vidarbha in the 12 months ended June this year, hitting a peak of more than 70 in March, according to Kishor Tiwari, of the Vidarbha People's Protest Forum.

Federal officials earlier this year said more than 8,900 farmers had committed suicide since 2001 in four states hardest hit by the ongoing agricultural crisis, including 980 in Maharashtra.

©AFP

PTI REPORTED ON JUL 11

Nagpur, Jul 11: The Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court today asked Maharasthra goverment why farmers in the Vidarbha are committing suicides even after the announcement of a special package by the State and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his tour to the region early this month.

A division bench of Justice R M S Khandeparkar and Justice S R Dongaonkar while hearing a Public Interest Litigation filed by Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti, directed the respondent state to file an affidavit containing all schemes meant for farmers to bail them out from the present crisis and list of beneficiaries of such schemes so far.

The Bench also told the State to put all relevant information regarding relief measures initiated by the government in the website for information of public at large.

The Bench asked the petitioner, Samiti President Kishore Tiwari, to suggest remedies for overcoming the present crisis.

The High Court recalled its earlier order of imposition of cost of Rs 1000 each on 13 top bureaucrats, including Chief Secretary for their failure to take cognizence of court notice for not filing replies.

A division bench of Justice J N Patel and Justice S R Dongaonkar in a snub to the bureaucracy had imposed Rs 1000 as cost on 13 respondents.

The 13 top officials later on June 28 offered an apology to the court and deposited sum.

Today, while issuing recall of its own order, court clearly stated that "this does not mean a clean chit to them."

.

NABARD’S FRESH CREDIT TO VIDARBHA FARMERS IS FROZEN CREDIT

VIDARBHA JAN ANDOLAN SAMITI

REGD. OFFICE: 11, TRISARAN SOCIETY, KHAMLA, NAGPUR - 440 025.
PH. 2282447/457 MOBILE-9422108846.

===============================================================
REF: - FARMERS SUICIDES PRESS-NOTE DATED-6^TH AUGUST, 2006

NABARD’S FRESH CREDIT TO VIDARBHA FARMERS IS FROZEN CREDIT

SHARAD PAWAR’S BARAMATI DISTRICT GET DOUBLE CREDIT THAN

SUICIDE PORN 6 DISTRICT OF WEST VIDARBHA-

IT’S DOUBLE STANDARD USED BY FINANCE MINISTER FOR TAMILNADU-TN (RS.7000 CRORE LOAN WAIVER) AND WEST VIDARBHA (RS.1100 CRORE LOAN WAIVER REJECTED)

NAGPUR-6^TH AUGUST, 2006

VIDARBHA JANANDOLAN SAMITI HAS ASKED NABARD CHAIRMAN MR.YASHWANT THROAT TO CLARIFY THAT WHY AGRICULTURE MINISTER SHARAD PAWAR’S DISTRICT BARAMATI 2 LACS FARMERS GETS RS.4200 CRORE ANNUAL CREDIT PLAN AND 20 LACS FARMERS OF WEST VIDARBHA GETS ONLY RS.1305 CRORE CREDIT PLAN SANCTION WHERE AS PER NABARD OWN GUIDE LINES COTTON GROWERS SHOULD GET RS.12000 CRORE CREDIT FROM THE BANKS WITH SCALE OF FINANCE OF RS.5000/- PER ACRE. EVEN THOUGH NABARD HAS INCREASED IT’S CREDIT OUTLAY BY ANOTHER RS.1200 CRORE AFTER INDIAN PRIME MINISTER’S RS.3750CRORE RELIEF PACKAGE FAILED TO STOP ON GOING FARMERS SUICIDE WHICH HAS TOUCHED 712 MARK SINCEJUNE, 2005 BUT THIS WILL COVER ONLY ADDITIONAL 5% COTTON FARMERS OF THE REGION AS AGAINST 10% COVERED EARLIER FORCING REMAINING 85% FARMERS TO TAKE CROP LOAN FROM PRIVATE MONEY LEANDER FAILING IN THE SAME DEBT TRAP RESULTING FARMERS SUICIDES. VJAS HAS ALSO DRAWN THE ATTENTION OF NABARD TOWARDS IT’S RECENT SANCTION OF RS.1800 CRORE CREDIT TO 1.8 LACS FARMERS OF MASHIE DISTRICT OF WESTERN MAHARASHTRA.IN FACT THIS YEAR NABARD,S HAS SANCTION MORE THAN RS.60,000 CRORE TO SIX DISTRICT OF WEST MAHARASHTRA INCLUDING PUNE,NASHIK,BARAMATI,KARAD,SANGALI AND SATARA THAT ALSO RAISES THE EYE BROW OF VIDARBHA FARMERS.NABARD CHAIRMAN HAS ANNOUNCED IN MAY THAT HE IS MOVING THE RURAL PART OF WEST VIDARBHA BUT VISITS ARE TILL AWAITED MORE OVER HE HAS RESTRICTED HIMSELF TO FIVE STAR HOTEL PRESS MEET IN MUMBAI AND DELHI ONLY,KISHOR TIWARI ADDED.

FINANCE OF MINISTER OF INDIA’S DOUBLE STANDARD

FOR TAMILNADU AND VIDARBHA

THE FINANCE MINISTER MR.P.CHITAMBARAM HAS ALLOWED TAMILNADU CHIEF MINISTER DR.KARUNANIDHI TO ANNOUNCE RS.7000 CORE LOAN WAIVER TO THEIR DEBT BURDON FARMERS BUT AT THE SAME TIME THE REQUISITION OF ONLY RS.1100 CORE LOAN WAIVER OF VIDRABHA COTTON GROWERS IS TURNED DOWN .BY NOW ANOTHER STATE KERALA IN HIS COFFEE GROWERS SUICIDE PORN REGION HAS ANNOUNCED LOAN WAIVER AND SAME SATE HAS SET UP A COMMISSION TO WRITE-OFF THE PENDING DEBT ON FARMERS. WE ARE INFORMED THAT UNION AGRICULTURE MINISTER SHARAD PAWAR, PLANNING COMMISSION DE FACTO BOSS DR.MANTAK SINGH ALUWALIA ARE WITH YOU TO APPOSE THE LOAN WAIVER FORMULA BUT CANT OPT THE DOUBLE STANDARD FOR VIDARBHA COTTON GROWERS AND YOU HAVE TO ANNOUNCE COMPLETE LOAN WAIVER FOR WEST VIDARBHA TOO,KISHOR TIWARI ADDED.

PLEASE ARRANGE TO PUBLISH AS NEWS ITEM.

THANKING YOU,
YOURS TRULY,


KISHOR TIWARI

PRESIDENT

VIDARBHA JANADOLAN SAMITI
CONTACT-MOBILE-09422108846

.

BABU RAJ IN THE GOVT. IS KILLING THE FARMERS-SUICIDE TOLL AT 710

VIDARBHA JAN ANDOLAN SAMITI

REGD. OFFICE: 11, TRISARAN SOCIETY, KHAMLA, NAGPUR - 440 025.
PH. 2282447/457 MOBILE-9422108846.

=========================================================================
REF: - FARMERS SUICIDES GENT-REQUISITION DATED- 5^TH AUGUST, 2006

TO,

DR. MAMOHAN SINGHJI,

HON’BLE PRIME MINISTER,

GOVT.OF INDIA, NEW DELHI-110 011

REF: VIDARBHA FARMERS SUICIDE TOLL AT 710 (PL SEE LIST)

SUB: - NO RELIEF TO FARMERS IT’S ONLY ANNOUNCEMENTS AT MUMBAI AND DELHI.

RESPECTED SIR,

WHEN I SEE REPORT PUBLISHED TO DAY IN NATIONAL DAILY THAT THE NATIONALISED BANKS, CO-OPERATIVE BANKS AND REGIONAL RURAL BANKS (RRBS) HAVE WAIVED ENTIRE INTEREST OF RS 712 CRORE ON OVERDUE LOANS AS ON JULY 1, RESCHEDULE OVERDUE LOANS OF RS 1,270 CRORE AND ABOVE ALL INCREASE ANNUAL CREDIT PLAN TO RS 2,583 CRORE FOR THE CURRENT YEAR FROM PREVIOUS YEAR’S RS 1,308 CRORE FOR SIX DISTRICTS OF MAHARASHTRA WHERE INCIDENTS OF FARMERS SUICIDES HAVE BEEN ON THE RISE THIS TOTALLY MISLEADING TO THE GROUND REALITY OF WEST VIDARBHA ,IN FACT ALL BANKS RECOVERED THE INTEREST ON PENDING CROP LOANS EARLIER AND THEN RELEASED RECONSTRUCTED FRESH LOAN AT THE CROP LOAN WHICH WAS GIVEN AFTER RECONSTRUCTION IS MAXIMUM RS.2000/- PER ACRE AS AGAINST THEIR OWN NORMS OF RS.5000/- PER ACRE THAT AMOUNT DECIDED FOR COTTON CROP IN RAIN FED AREA OF WEST VIDARBHA FORCING ALL FARMERS TO TAKE LOAN FROM PRIVATE MONEY LENDERS FRO THEIR ADDITIONAL EXPENSES HENCE PURPOSE WHOLE EXERCISE HAS NOT SERVED ANY MORE ,THE BANKS OFFICIALS HAS ADDED THE FUEL WHEN THEY HAVE CREDITED THIS LOAN WAIVER AMOUNT IN PENDING CROP LOAN OF THIS SEASON. IN FACT TODAY BANKS HAVE ADMITTED THAT CREDIT PLAN FOR WEST VIDARBHA .1300/- AS AGAINST TOTAL REQUIREMENT OF RS.6000 CRORE FOR 2.4. MILLION COTTON GROWERS OF REGION AS ADDITIONAL CREDIT PLAN HAS BEEN TOO LATE TO DISBURSE, IT WILL ADD ONLY 10% MORE FARMERS AS AGAINST EXISTING 10% FARMERS WHO ARE TAKING LOAN FROM BANKS. IT IS CLEAR THAT TILL 80% FARMERS WILL BE IN THE SAME DEBT TRAP OF PRIVATE MONEY LENDER AND THESE ARE THE SMALL AND MARGINAL FARMERS WHO ARE IN DISTRESS AND ARE COMMITTING SUICIDES HENCE COMPLETE LOAN WAIVER IS ONLY SOLUTION LEFT IN ORDER TO SAVE THESE FARMERS.

BABU RAJ IN THE GOVT. IS KILLING THE FARMERS

HON’BLE PRIME MINISTERJI ,I WOULD LIKE TO REPEAT OUR ALLEGATION THAT BABUS WORKING IN THE GOVT. AND BANKS ARE FORCING FARMERS TO COMMITTED SUICIDES DUE TO APATHY RELIEF AID HAS REACHED TO THE DISTRESS S FARMERS, HERE ARE EXAMPLES-

1. ONLY 50% OF THE AMOUNT OF RELIEF AID RS.1000/- ANNOUNCED BY STATE GOVT. IN DECEMBER HAS NOT REACHED TO DISTRICT COLLECTOR AND MORE THAN 1.2. MILLION FARMERS TILL WAITING AID.

2. GOVT. OF MAHARASHTRA HAS BUDGETARY SANCTION RS.150 CRORE TO HELP RS.25000/- GRANT-IN-AID TO 60,000 COTTON GROWERS WHO ARE DISTRESS OF WEST VIDARBHA IN THE MONTH OF MARCH.2006, AFTER 90 DAYS NOT A SINGLE PAISA HAS BEEN RELEASED, RESULTING 300 MORE SUICIDES.

3.180 CRORE ANNOUNCED FOR SEED REPLACEMENT PROGRAMME HAS NOT BEEN RELEASED. TILL DATE.

4. RS.500 CRORE ANNOUNCED FOR SECONDARY SUPPORT SYSTEMS REJUVINIATION IN HORTICULTURE, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY, DAIRY DEVELOPMENT NOT SINGLE PAISA HAS BEEN RELEASED TILL DATE.

YOU’RE VERY MUCH SURPRISED THAT THERE ARE REVIEW MEETING IN MUMBAI AND DELHI ON RELIEF PACKAGES WHEN THERE NO RELIEF WORK IN WEST VIDARBHA.

NABARD CHAIRMAN YSP THORAT HAS MISLEAD THE MEDIA BY TELLING THAT THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT CROP DIVERSIFICATION FROM COTTON TO SOYA AND TUR IN THESE DISTRICTS, THIS BASELESS INFORMATION DUE MASSIVE MEDIA AND GOVT. OWN CHAMPAGNE THIS YEAR MORE THAN 90% FARMERS HAVE OPTED FOR B.T. COTTON DUE IT’S SUDDEN PRICE DEDUCTION AND THERE IS NO ALTERNATIVE BEFORE GOVT. TO RAISE COTTON PROCUREMENT THIS YEAR IN ORDER TO SLOW DOWN THE SUICIDES. ALL BANKS IN REGION ARE ILL MANAGED AND CORPORATIVE BANKS FUNCTIONING TOO HOSTILE TO BELIEVE THAT GOVT. SCHEME CAN REACH NEED THEIR OPERATION.

ANY ALLOCATION OF MONEY TO THE IRRIGATION PROJECT IS LONG TERM BENEFIT TO DYING FARMERS BUT THIS WILL BE IMMEDIATE RELIEF TO AGRICULTURE MINISTER SHRI SHARAD PAWAR AS IRRIGATION BOARD IS CONTROLLED BY HIS NEPHEW AJITDADA PAWAR HENCE PLEASE DO NOT MAKE MORE STRONG TO SHARAD PAWAR AT THE COST OF VIDARBHA FARMER SUICIDE,

PRAYER

YOU ARE KINDLY REQUESTECD TO ANNOUNCE COMPLETE LOAN WAIVER AND RESTORATION OF COTTON PRICE RS.3000/- PER QUINTAL.

THANKING YOU,
YOURS TRULY,


KISHOR TIWARI

PRESIDENT

VIDARBHA JANADOLAN SAMITI
CONTACT-MOBILE-09422108846

.

4 more funds-starved farmers die-Rs 150 Cr Relief Amount Is Lying Unused; Toll Touches 706

4 more funds-starved farmers die

Activist Claims Rs 150 Cr Relief Amount Is Lying Unused; Toll Touches 706

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Nagpur: With four more farmers committing suicide in Vidarbha, the toll has gone up to 706 in the past 14 months. Dyaneshwar Damdu Dalan of Gandhinagar village in Yavatmal district, Gautam Narayan Surve and Sambhaji Mule of Washim district and Shakradhar Rajaram Zade of Dasarnagar in Buldana district ended their lives on Wednesday, claimed Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti president Kishor Tiwari.
Tiwari told TOI on Thursday that a sum of Rs 150 crore had been allocated in this year’s budget by the state government for emergency relief to cotton farmers in the six badly-hit districts. But the amount was lying unused, he claimed. “The money could have saved many lives had it been disbursed in time. But obviously due to local politics the money is lying unused in the district collectorates,’’ he alleged.
He further said: “The budgetary provisions had been made and applications for aid were invited from distressed farmers. The districts under the guidance of their respective guardian ministers were to identify the most deserving cases for assistance. As many as three lakh farmers applied for assistance, each spending about Rs 100 to fulfill the application formalities. But none of them received any relief because the district could not finalise the list of most-distressed farmers,’’ Tiwari added.
The samiti has filed a petition in the Bombay high court, citing the flawed policies of the government and bureacratic apathy responsible for the farmers’ suicides. The matter is pending in court and notices have been issued to the government to come up with a response to the allegations made in the petition. The next hearing is before the Nagpur bench of the high court on August 7.
In the last hearing, the court had directed the government to post on its website the list of farmers meant to benefit from the relief programmes. Tiwari said he would post on his own webiste lists of widows who had been denied relief and also the names and details of the farmers who were not given fresh bank credit despite the government’s orders.
Over a 100 farmers have ended their lives after the PM visited the region and announced a Rs 3750-crore relief package.

KILLING FIELDS: Elders mourn a farmer’s death in this file picture