Date:12/06/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/06/12/stories/2007061210560400.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Chief Minister to interact with farmers

S. Rajendran

Government to announce policy to curb suicide by farmers

Low-interest loans, loan waiver have not had much of an impact

Over 1,500 farmers have ended their lives in past four years

Bangalore: Cases of suicide by farmers have been on the rise in the State, especially among sugarcane farmers hit by the crash in prices. A feature of the recent spate of suicides, according to official records, is that most of the farmers owned irrigated land.

Policies announced by the Government to help farmers, including the recent waiver of farm loans obtained from cooperatives are yet to have an impact in preventing suicides. Making available farm loans at a subsidised interest rate of four per cent has also not produced the anticipated results.

Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy told The Hindu here on Monday that his Government was aware of this and he was perturbed by the developments on the agricultural front. "I want to hear from farmers directly rather than take policy decisions in Bangalore that have not had much of an impact," he said.

Mr. Kumaraswamy, who recently announced that he would step down from office if farmers continued to commit suicide, will have interact with farmers on Thursday and listen to farmers and their representatives from the 27 districts of the State. After that, the Chief Minister will announce a "farmers suicide prevention policy".

The Chief Minister said middlemen were cutting into the profits of farmers and dictating prices of agricultural and horticultural produce in the retail market. Added to this was the role of private financiers to whom farmers mortgaged their crops even before harvest.

The Chief Minister will also urge Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar to enhance Centre-State cooperation to check suicide by farmers. Even the Centre's package to check suicide by farmers in six districts of the State has not produced the desired results.

No let-up

According to Agriculture Department records, nearly 1,500 farmers committed suicides over the past four years, with Belgaum and Hassan districts reporting over 100 suicides. The districts of Bidar, Bagalkot and Bijapur have witnessed nearly 110 suicides in six months following the crash in the sugarcane market.

The Agriculture Ministry is now urging farmers to look at allied agricultural activities.