Six farmers ended their lives in Vidarbha in the last 72 hours- Pradip Kumar Maitra-Hindustan Times.

Six farmers ended their lives in Vidarbha in the last 72 hours- Hindustan Times.

Pradip Kumar Maitra ■ pradipmaitra@hindustantimes.com
NAGPUR -5th Jan.2010

In the initial years when farmers distress came to attract public attention it was said that indebtedness through use of Bt Cotton were the main cause for farmers suicide.

IN VIDARBHA The victims took the extreme step despite the market rate of raw cotton being reasonably satisfactory
AMONG THE LATEST VICTIMS, TWO ARE FROM YAVATMAL AND ONE EACH FROM WARDHA, AMRAVATI, AKOLA AND BHANDARA DISTRICTS
The agrarian crisis continues to drive distressed farmers in Vidarbha to suicide. Six more farmers ended their lives in the erstwhile cotton belt in the last 72 hours.
6 farmers end life in 72 hours. According to reports reaching here on Tuesday, most of the victims were cotton growers and the tragedy occurred when the prevailing rate of raw cotton in the market is approximately Rs 4,200 a quintal.

Among the latest victims, two are from Yavatmal and one each from Wardha, Amravati, Akola and Bhandara districts.

The district collector of Yavatmal Sanjay Deshmukh was not available for comments.
Fifty-two farmer shad committed suicide in December 2010.

Kishore Tiwari of Vidarbha Jan Anodolan Samiti, an organization that is documenting farmers’ suicides in the region, said crop failure was the primary reason for the latest farmers suicides. “The market rate of raw cotton was reasonably satisfactory despite a meager guarantee price of Rs3,000 per quintal announced by the government.

But the farmers could not cope with the situation because of crop failure due to untimely rains this season,” he said.

Tiwari criticized the state government for its lackadaisical approach towards the cotton growers of Vidarbha while announcing the relief package after the unseasoned rains damaged crops. While grape growers of the state got a compensation of Rs 25,000 per hectare from the government, cotton growers got a only Rs 5,000 per hectare.


“This is an insult to the crisis ridden cotton growers of Vidarbha,” he said.
The issue figured in the winter session of the state legislature held in Nagpur in December. The state’s rehabilitation minister, Patangrao Kadam, had told the Assembly that 4,427 debt-ridden farmers from Vidarbha had committed suicide between 2001 and October 31, 2010.

In the initial years when farmers distress came to attract public attention it was said that indebtedness through use of Bt Cotton were the main cause for farmers’ suicide.

Here it is important to notice that in the context of Indian history the moneylender is considered to be a particularly evil person and the farmer an unwitting subject of his machinations.

Moreover, in recent times there has been a considerable ideologically driven movement against the use of Bt crops
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