Sunday, March 27, 2011

Five more debt-ridden farmers end life-TIMES OF INDIA

Five more debt-ridden farmers end life


YAVATMAL: Five more farmers committed suicide on Friday in Yavatmal and Chandrapur districts of Vidarbha despite the state government's tall claim of allocation of funds for their uplift in the state budget। Four victims are from Yavatmal district alone and one from adjacent Chandrapur। With this the toll this year has risen to 114

The names of the deceased farmers are: Suresh Rathod of Khed village, Ganesh Deshmukh of Marsala, Devidas Pandhare of Kothuralak and Madhav Parothi of Machindra, all from Yavatmal district and Subhash Mumngal of Awarpur in Chandrapur district, informed Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS), which works for the welfare of farmers in Vidarbha region.

"In December last year, Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan had announced Rs 1,000 crore bailout package for Maharashtra farmers who lost crop due to untimely rains but there is no provision for the same in 2011-12 budget. Moreover, the government is silent over the crisis that makes farmers more distressed and despaired lot. It is a serious concern and will invite more debt-ridden farmers to kill themselves if immediate relief is not given," warned VJAS.

"The state budget presented by state finance minister Ajit Pawar has ignored about three million debt-trapped cotton farmers which triggered fresh farm suicide in the region," VJAS president Kishore Tiwari said.

As three million cotton farmers have lost cotton crop this year, it was expected that the state would address the ongoing agrarian crisis and will give a bailout package as the earlier relief packages were disappointing, he said

No comments: