State alone to blame for crisis, says Opposition

Hyderabad: Flaws in the TRS government’s crop loan waiver scheme implementation, its refusal to acknowledge the seriousness of the agrarian crisis, failure to instill confidence among farming community and to come up with timely steps to provide relief has led to a spate of suicides by farmers in the state, opined Opposition parties in the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday, a day when the House set aside all its regular business to debate the farmers’ issues.
 
The Opposition demanded payment of enhanced ex gratia of Rs 6 lakh to families of farmers who committed suicide right from June 2, 2104 when TS was formed as against September 19, 2015, the date decided by the government. The tone for the heated debate was set even before the its commencement, with the government naming the topic for short discussion as “Failure of monsoon and measures taken for welfare of farmers.”
 
Opposition leader K. Jana Reddy objected to this, questioning why “farmers’ suicides” was not mentioned in the topic. Responding to this, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao said, “You can mention any issue pertaining to farmers during the debate. Why are you so particular about the title? There is no need to have such a negative mindset.” Initiating the debate, T. Jeevan Reddy of the Congress said, “Had the crop loans waived off at a single go, instead of in instalments, it would have enabled farmers to get fresh loans from banks, and eliminate need of taking loans from private moneylenders.”
 
TD’s E. Dayakar Rao said, “It’s not enough if KCR alone earns crores from crops in his farmhouse. He should ensure that other farmers also earn similarly. It would be better if KCR arranges a trip to his farmhouse for farmers, ministers, MLAs and officials so that they can learn  from him.” BJP floor leader K. Laxman said, “Tens of suicides by farmers everyday in second richest state is a matter of serious concern. Due to drought, farmers fear they cannot repay the debts and committing suicide. Spurious seeds and fertilisers are further compounding the woes of farmers due to which they are incurring huge losses.”
 
Farmer stages protest from atop cell tower:
 
Of the 14 farmers who ended their lives, Mahbubnagar district alone witnessed five deaths, while three suicides were reported from Ranga Reddy district. In Karimnagar, two women farmers committed suicide. Two suicides each were reported from Karimnagar and Adilabad, and one each from Nalgonda and Nizamabad districts. Of the 14 farmers who ended their lives, three were women.
 
Meanwhile, a 40-year-old farmer created a flutter outside by climbing a cellphone tower and threatening suicide. Tension prevailed near the Assembly for over two hours till the police managed to convince the farmer, B. Sammaiah, to climb down.
 
Samaiah, a native of Nekkonda mandal, said that he was in debt as his crop failed this year and the year before. He was carrying a pesticide bottle, and threatened he would drink it and jump off from the tower. Samaiah claimed that he had been trying to meet Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao since the past few days, but wasn’t allowed inside the camp office.
 
Panel finds 305 suicides to be genuine:
 
The number of farmers’ suicides is steadily rising in TS, even by government count. The three-member committees, each comprising RDO, DSP and an agriculture officer, which enquired into the 583 of the 673 cases of farmers’ suicides reported as on date in the nine districts, found 305 cases to be genuine, highly placed sources told this newspaper.
 
Of the 305 suicides, Medak accounted for the highest number of 75 deaths, followed by Nalgonda 64, Warangal 51, Karimnagar 28, Ranga Reddy 26, Mahbubnagar 24, Adilabad 21, Khammam 16 and Nizamabad 0. Interestingly, top leaders hail from the districts where the most suicides were reported.
 
Medak is represented by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, minister T. Harish Rao and Deputy Speaker Padma Devender Reddy etc., Nalgonda by minister Jagdish Reddy, Congress’ K. Jana Reddy and Uttam Kumar Reddy, Warangal by Speaker Madhusudhana Chary, Deputy CM Kadiam Srihari, TD’s E. Dayakar Rao and others.