The Hindu, October 14, 2007
489 Gujarat farmers have committed suicide since 2003
Special Correspondent
Social activist gets information taking recourse to the Right to Information Act
“Government tried hard to suppress information”
Still information on six districts not available
NEW DELHI: The Gujarat government has admitted to 489 cases of farmer suicides across the State since 2003. Social activist Bharat Jhala got the information, taking recourse to the Right to Information Act.
Releasing the data here under the aegis of Act Now for Harmony and Democracy, in the presence of relatives of 17 farmers who committed suicide, Mr. Jhala said the information was gathered with difficulty and only on the intervention of the Central Information Commissioner.
Even now, according to him, information on six districts was not made available. “Still, the scene that has emerged from this information is very frightening. 489 suicides in four years among the farming community are indicative of an ominous trend in the agrarian sector in Gujarat,” he said at a press conference.
“Apathetic attitude”
Junagadh district topped the list with 85 suicides, followed by Rajkot (62), Jamnagar (50) and Mehsana (48). “More tragic has been the apathetic and irresponsible attitude of the State government, which has not only failed to compensate these marginal farmers but also tried hard to suppress this information.”
That there were many cases of suicide by farmers was admitted by Home Minister Amit Shah himself on the floor of the Assembly, Mr. Jhala pointed out.
“Coincidence”
Asked why the data were being released a day after the Assembly elections were announced, he said it was just a coincidence.
“The farmers had boarded the train for Delhi before the elections were announced to draw the attention of the Centre to their plight,” he said in a bid to dispel the presumption that the move was “politically motivated.” Accidental deaths
Mr. Jhala also secured data on accidental deaths of farmers. He said “6,055 accidental deaths of farmers are a shockingly high figure and [this] needs to be looked into very seriously.”
Further, it was pointed out by one of the family members that Rajput farmers would rarely report a suicide for fear of loss of honour.
In the capital, the farmers also approached the National Human Rights Commission. Their demands included immediate release of Rs. 5 lakh and a meaningful package for the families of the dead, loan and interest waiver for below-subsistence level farmers for whom agriculture was the primary source of income, and immediate availability of credit, seeds, fertilizers, electricity and agricultural implements for rabi crop.
Conceding that the announcement of elections would delay provision of relief what with the model code in place, Mr. Jhala said the government could at least order an enquiry into the high incidence of suicide and accidental deaths.
Hindustan Times, October 12, 2007
In shining Gujarat, 500 farmer suicides in 4 yrs
Debt trap has killed nearly 500 farmers in Gujarat in last four years while another 6,055 farmers died of accidental causes, a state government response to a Right to Information (RTI) application reports.
Most of the suicides have taken place in Saurashtra region while 85 farmers ended their lives in Junagadh district, the data revealed.
The figures were made available by the state government to an RTI application filed by farmer-activist Bharatsinh Jhala. He had sought details of farmers’ suicides in the state where flood devastated life, land and property in last three years.
This year, 36 farmers have ended their lives so far, Jhala told reporters during a press conference organised by an NGO Anhad in the capital on Thursday.
Jhala, who came here with a group of 17 farmers, claimed that not only 489 farmers who are confirmed to have been committed suicide, but also a majority among 6,055 farmers forced to end their lives after they went bankrupt as they couldn’t pay back loans.
Jhala said he filed the application after he found "discrepancies’’ in the information provided by the government in the assembly, which put the number of suicides at 148. Jhala then conducted a survey and found he was right.
The farmers are committing suicide due to production cost exceeding returns, non-availability of cheap agricultural credit and lack of investment in rural social infrastructure, Jhala said.
Rise in farmer suicides in Gujarat
by VENKAT PARSA
New Delhi, Oct. 11: A startling revelation was made under the Right to Information Act (RTI): that there were 489 confirmed cases of farmer suicides in Gujarat. This comes in the backdrop of the Vibrant Gujarat campaign launched by Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi.
Anhad activist Shabnam Hashmi demanded immediate release of Rs 5 lakhs to the families of farmers, who committed suicides. She also sought a meaningful package for those families. Besides, Ms Hasmi demanded waiver of the entire loan and interest amount and ensuring immediate availability of credit, seeds, fertilisers, electricity and agricultural equipment for rabi crop.
Ms Shabnam Hashmi said, "The scene that has emerged from this information is very frightening. Nearly 403 suicides over the last four years is indicative of an ominous trend in the agrarian sector in Gujarat. Junagadh led the state with 85 suicides, followed by Rajkot (62), Jamnagar (50) and Mehsana (48). More tragic has been the apathetic and irresponsible attitude of the Gujarat government, which has not only failed to compensate these marginal farmers, but also tried hard to suppress this information."
More horrifying was the admission that 6,055 farmers had accidental deaths, she said. This also needed to be looked into seriously. In most cases she said incorrect reasons were attributed for the farmers suicides, including mental instability, ill-health, debt, family reasons and unknown reasons. There are a number of FIRs, she said, in which it was mentioned that farmers killed themselves over crop failure and for financial reasons. The RTI application of Mr Bharat Jalan seemed to put the Gujarat government on the defensive.
"It tried its best to deny the information. The application filed on May 4 had to go through a long drawn process of appeals through the hierarchy of the state police department and the home ministry, with the Gujarat home secretary directing the PIO of the DGP office in Gandhinagar (by letter dated July 7) to furnish the information demanded under the RTI within 15 days. The nervousness of the government was visible in that the information demanded was still not forthcoming, finally forcing the applicant to appeal to the CIC on July 27. A hearing on this appeal was posted to August 28 and the CIC ruled that the information should be furnished by the Gujarat government without any further delay. The CIC told the Gujarat government representative that since it has exceeded the stipulated timeframe of 30 days, all the 169 pages of the information should be furnished free of cost to the applicant.
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