No farmer in Madhya Pradesh committed suicide due to agrarian distress: CID report
The CID of Madhya Pradesh police has reported that none of the farmers, who committed suicide in the state, took the extreme step due to agrarian distress. The Madhya Pradesh government has forwarded this report to the NHRC in response to a query by the rights panel.
In Short
- As many as 21 farmers have ended their lives in last fortnight in Madhya Pradesh.
- CID report says farmers committed suicide for other reasons.
- NHRC had sought reply from Madhya Pradesh government.
If you have read a PTI report saying that as many as 21 debt-ridden farmers have ended their lives in Madhya Pradesh in the last fortnight, you might just have fed yourself with wrong information, according to a CID report.
If the Crime Investigation Department of the Madhya Pradesh police is to be believed, there is no agrarian distress in the state. That the farmers are committing suicide because of alcohol, marriage related issues, property issues, illness and family related issues, the CID report says.
There is no such thing called a debt trap, asserts the Madhya Pradesh CID.
WHY CID REPORTS ON FARMERS' DEATHS
The Madhya Pradesh government after receiving a notice from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on rising farmer suicides had tasked the CID of the state police to find out the reasons behind farmers taking the extreme step.
The CID in its report concluded, "It is worth mentioning that farmers commit suicide for miscellaneous reasons like family problems, alcohol, illness, marriage related issues, property disputes etc which has no direct relation with the deceased being a farmer by profession."
The state government has forwarded this report to the National Human Rights Commission.
GROUND REPORT ON FARMERS' DEATHS
The CID report has come out at a time when farmers in Madhya Pradesh are committing almost on a daily basis. Twenty one farmers across the state have ended their lives in the past 17 days.
In all cases family members have alleged distress due to debt as the cause but the state government is not willing to accept the same.
In some case farmers have also left behind suicide notes clearly spelling debt related distress as the cause but the state government is calling them isolated cases.
DYING STATEMENT OF A FARMER
One Babu Lal Verma of Hoshangabad immolated himself in Hoshangabad on June 16 and died in hospital on June 20. In his dying statement, Babu Lal Verma gave account of harassment by money lenders which drove him to take the extreme step.
But, the state government preferred the CID report when it forwarded its response to the National Human Rights Commission.
Though a large number of farmers commit suicide every year, the numbers have suddenly seen a surge after June 6 this year following protests in Mandsaur, where it turned violent. Police resorted to firing in which five farmers were killed. One farmer who was injured during lathicharge died in an Indore Hospital on June 8.
The state government announced a compensation of Rs 1 crore to those died in police firing. Ironically, the state government has refused to accept that agrarian crisis is there in Madhya Pradesh which is driving farmers to suicides.
Farmer groups and Opposition leaders have demanded parity in compensation for killed in police firing and those killing themselves.
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