Four more Distressed Vidarbha Farmer killed themselves in a day when Maharashtra CM was reviewing “Vidarbha Crisis” with legislators at Mantralaya

Four more Distressed Vidarbha Farmer killed themselves in a day when Maharashtra CM was reviewing “Vidarbha Crisis” with legislators at Mantralaya

Nagpur-18^th JAN 2013

Vidarbha has  been  shocked today with news that four more distressed and debt trapped farmers killed themselves on 17^th Jan.2013 yesterday in which three farmers chandrapur alone and one farmer from Amaravati  when all parties legislators were protesting CM apathy towards Vidarbha regarding serious issue crop failure ,forceful debt recovery ,more than 12 hours of power load cut and complete collapse health and food security coupled massive unemployment and sky touching inflation .Recent victims farmers who killed themselves on 17^th Jan. Yesterday are

1.Dinkar Navarkhede of village Sakhari in Chandrapur

2.Ramdas Gohane of village chittegoan in Chaadrapur

3.Gajanan Raut of village Jawra-bori in Chandrapur 

4.Janrao Nagle of village khed in Amaravati 

Earlier on 14^th jan when nation is celebrating Makar Sankranti festival but for villagers of Maregoan in Maregoan taluka ,Dorali and Manoli in Ghatanji taluka of Yavatmal district of  vidarbha known as farm suicide capital of India capital were busy in funeral rituals of  these recent victims identified as Puroshottam Pursadkar of maregoan,ramrao shende of manoli and Sanjay Mohurele of village dorli all in Yavatmal district taking toll to 14 in year 2013 ,Kishore Tiwari of the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti informed in press release today.

‘Govt. ministers are busy  spending hundred crore on ‘Advantage Vidarbha’ meet to attract investment where as main opposition party BJP National president Nitin Gadkari  is also busy in arranging ‘Agro Vision’  by spending more than advantage vidarbha meet both to be organized in coming February at Nagpur but not single Minister or leader of opposition has even visited crisis driven farmers moreover Nagpur session of Maharashtra legislative house failed to discuss very serious issue of massive crop failure and despair of dying vidarbha that is real agony of tragedy that is adding more fuel   to farm suicide crisis” Tiwari added.  

‘This year their  is massive crop failure in 42 lakhs hector in vidarbha but all  districts

Of vidarbha  are not covered in recent relief aid announced by central  Govt. more over apathy of local administration fueled more hardships to 3 million cotton farmers of  vidarbha, there was gloom and despondency due to suicides of debt trapped two more cotton farmers  and moreover the recent e Centre’s announcement on Thursday of Rs778 crore as aid for drought assistance to Maharashtra from the National Disaster Response Fund left out any mention of the drought-induced crop loss faced by five million plus debt-trapped farmers of Vidarbha has left many shocked, Tiwari said.

The Vidarbha region, which has emerged as the country’s farmer suicide capital, has been reeling under its worst agrarian crisis ever due to truant rainfall leading to massive crop failure in cotton, paddy, pulses and soybean. On an average, three farmers end their lives every 24 hours. The government’s own figures show that more than 9,000 dry land farmers have killed themselves due to crop failure and economic losses due to cotton price.

“The government’s drive to push GM cotton in order to benefit one bio-tech MNC has only cruelly compounded the problems faced by farmers due to vagaries of climate since 2005 pushing many towards ending lives,” lamented Kishore Tiwari of the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti. “Instead of atoning about the way they are responsible, the Centre has mocked the dead farmers and their bereaved families.”

In fact, the meeting of the high-level committee for central assistance to states affected by natural calamity where the aid was announced was chaired by Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, who is believed to understand the agrarian scene in the state only too well. The meeting in New Delhi was also attended by home minister Sushilkumar Shinde, finance minister P Chidambaram and Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia too.

“One refuses to believe that all these ‘wise’ people didn’t realise it’d be wrong not to mention what is happening in Vidarbha. This is a ploy by the powerful western Maharashtra politicians’ lobby to ensure that the focus of the Centre and state is restricted to their region only,” charged Tiwari -- a charge which sticks when one considers how the local district administrations in Vidarbha have not even sent a report on the crop-loss to the state.

Today it is reported that a team of central government officials led by joint secretary RB Sinha visited the state in November 2012 to assess the drought situation. Curiously, it didn’t visit Vidarbha despite conditions there. It seems their recommendations to the Inter-Ministerial Group constituted under the chairmanship of the agriculture secretary did not reflect any of Vidarbha’s concerns.Many are now linking the total avoidance of any mention of the worst-hit region to these recommendations. Nearly everyone in the bureaucracy too feels stumped at the meagre amount released. “The state needs around Rs5,000 crore and that’s what had been suggested to CM Prithviraj Chavan. We were quite taken aback when he only asked for Rs2,857 crore. With the Centre’s latest announcement of Rs778 crore, one wonders what the logic is,” said a senior water resources ministry bureaucrat, Tiwari added in release.