High tur price, government schemes help reduce farmers’ suicide in Jan

Nagpur: If numbers provide any clue to the severity of the agrarian crisis, farmers’ suicides have seen a dip in January 2016 across Vidarbha, as compared to the earlier months. Government records say 70 farmers ended their lives as against 107 in December in the six affected districts of Vidarbha.
The zone covers Amravati, Akola, Yavatmal, Buldhana, Washim and Wardha.The year 2015 was worst for suicides, with each month seeing more than 100 suicides from May onwards. A new record was created last year with 903 out of 1,348 suicides marked as those due to farm crisis. Reasons for most suicides in January are yet to be probed.
The fall is being attributed to government schemes and better rates for the tur crop, which is fetching over Rs8,000 a quintal. The price is more than double last year’s prices. Last year in January, 80 deaths were recorded.
Kishore Tiwari, who as an activist maintained a score of the deaths, says that the situation seems to be improving as compared to August to September last year. At that time, the monthly toll touched 135 to 143 in these districts together.
However, there are activists who differ from this view. Shetkari Sanghatana veteran Vijay Jawandhia said it is a temporary phase and any dip in tur rates can again spur suicides.
Tiwari, who is heading the state government run Vasantrao Naik Shetkari Swavalamban Mission (VNSSM) in the BJP regime, says many measures mooted by the agency are being implemented. This has shown results and can be credited for the decline. The government is implementing the food security plan as mooted by VNSSM. It is also providing financial aid for education to farmers’ wards and drives are being taken to cover them under Rajiv Gandhi Jivandayi Yojana, a health assistance scheme. The drive has increased the number of beneficiaries by 40%, he said. “This has reduced the vulnerability level, bringing down suicides,” said Tiwari.
Under a new scheme being implemented in Osmanabad and Yavatmal, gram sabhas have been given a corpus fund to provide direct assistance to families found to be in distress. The families will be identified by the sabhas themselves, he said.
Tiwari also admitted that farmers have some cash in hand as they have got good rates for the tur crop, which is also keeping the crisis away for the time being.
Dr Prashant Chakkarwar of Umed NGO, which is working on screening cases of clinical depression among farmers, said the government schemes are showing results.
Farmers suicides in six affected districts
* 12,351 suicides since 2001, 5,334 identified as due to farm crisis
* 2015 saw 1,348 total suicides, 903 attributed to farm crisis
* It is a new record in terms of deaths attributed to farm woes
* In December 2015, 107 suicides were recorded, figure down to 70 in January
* January 2015 had seen 80 suicides
Monthly toll was above 100 from May to December 2015
October 2015 saw 143 deaths
Decline steady from Nov 2015
No suicides so far in February