As many as 39 farmers were found dead between April 1 last year and January 15 this year in Mysuru district, with Periyapatna and Hunsur taluks recording the highest number of suicide cases. As per figures from the Department of Agriculture, 14 farmers ended their life in Periyapatana taluk, and in Hunsur 11 farmers did the same.
Mysuru taluk recorded a case while there were three from Nanjangud, six from K.R. Nagar, and four from H.D. Kote taluks. Officials in the department said that there was a marginal decline in cases of farmers’ suicides in the district.
“Earlier, it used to be higher, sometimes in excess of 60, compared to the 39 so far this financial year,” they added. Of the 39, a compensation of ₹5 lakh has been approved in 20 and rejected in two cases. The compensation will be released with respect to other cases after completing the inquiry, said officials. “It transpired that in two cases where the compensation was rejected, the victim did not have any pending loan. Hence, the cause for suicide was not linked to agriculture,” they added.
However, farmers’ organisations pointed out that the ground reality in the agrarian sector has not changed. “The decline in the number of suicide cases this year is welcome but this could be a one-off development as the agrarian crisis and mounting debt of the farmers have not eased one bit,” said Kurubur Shanthakumar, president, Karnataka Sugarcane Cultivators’ Association. He also hoped that the official figures were not fudged with to present a rosy picture.
Mr. Shanthakumar said farmers continue to bear the brunt of government policies that are discriminatory.
“In the case of paddy procurement this year, the government has put a ceiling on the quantity to be procured from farmers. The support price and procurement will only be from small and medium-sized landholding farmers and those with more than 5 acres of land will not be considered. This comes at a time when agricultural income is on the decline and the cost of production has increased which will add to the farmers woes,” said Mr. Shanthakumar.
The view was seconded by Atahalli Devaraj of the association who pointed out that there are ups and downs in the number of suicide cases every year and it could not be claimed that the agricultural sector was making a revival as farmers continue to be in debt.
(Those in distress or those having suicidal tendencies can call Arogya Sahayavani Ph. 104 for help.)
