India is an Agrarian country with around 60% of its people directly or indirectly depended upon Agriculture.
BUT does the government really cares about Indian farmers?
Agriculture in India is often attributed as gambling with Monsoon because of its almost exclusive dependency on Monsoons. The failure of these monsoons leading to series of droughts, lack of better prices, exploitation by Middlemen have been leading to series of suicides committed by farmers across India. Farmers in India became the centre of considerable concern in the 1990s when a journalist brought in light the large number of suicides among them. Official reports initially denied the farmer suicides but as more and more information came to light the government began to accept that farmers in India were under considerable stress.
More than 17,500 farmers a year killed themselves between 2002 and 2006, according to experts who have analyzed government statistics.
BUT does the government really cares about Indian farmers?
Agriculture in India is often attributed as gambling with Monsoon because of its almost exclusive dependency on Monsoons. The failure of these monsoons leading to series of droughts, lack of better prices, exploitation by Middlemen have been leading to series of suicides committed by farmers across India. Farmers in India became the centre of considerable concern in the 1990s when a journalist brought in light the large number of suicides among them. Official reports initially denied the farmer suicides but as more and more information came to light the government began to accept that farmers in India were under considerable stress.
More than 17,500 farmers a year killed themselves between 2002 and 2006, according to experts who have analyzed government statistics.
National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) stated that there were at least 16,196 farmers' suicides in India in 2008, bringing the total since 1997 to 199,132. According to another study by the Bureau, while the number of farm suicides increased since 2001, the number of farmers has fallen, as thousands abandoning agriculture in distress.According to government data, over 5,000 farmers committed suicide in 2005-2009 in Maharashtra, while 1,313 cases reported by Andhra Pradesh between 2005 and 2007. In Karnataka the number stood at 1,003, since 2005-06 till August 2009. In the last four years, cases in Kerala were about 905, Gujarat 387, Punjab 75 and Tamil Nadu 26. In April 2009, the state of Chattisgarh reported 1,500 farmers committed suicide due to debt and crop failure. At least 17,368 Indian farmers killed themselves in 2009, the worst figure for farm suicides in six years, according to data of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
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Farmers across the country are continuously
struggling to feed their families to survive. Crop failure due to several
reasons has forced them to commit suicide .Recently another farmer fell victim
to the prevailing water scarcity .He committed suicide after crop failure due
to rain deficiency in his region. His name was Mohan Gohil ,a farmer from Nana
Machiyala village of Amreli district. He committed suicide by jumping into an
open well on the outskirts of his village.
A total of 152 farmers committed suicide due to various reasons,
including crop failure and drought, in 2012-13, as per the recent reports. While 118 cases of suicide by farmers were
reported from Maharashtra, in Andhra Pradesh 33 farmers ended their life due to
various agriculture reasons.In Karnataka, too, there was a case of suicide by a
farmer in the current year.
The count is on ,“Sources said at least five
farmers have committed suicide during the last one month in Saurashtra region
after their crop failed”,still no actions have been taken to SAVE FARMERS.
India Budget 2011 helped Suicide:The Indian Union Government's move to reduce the duty on import of raw silk from 30 per cent to 5 per cent, as announced in 2011-12 Budget had come as a rude shock for the State's sericulture farmers who were already agitated over the steep fall in cocoon prices.
People have the perception of "subsidies" being given to farmers, and this is one of the reasons why the urban folks think that farmers need to improve their act. But the vast majority of this subsidy is given not to the farmers themselves but to fertilizer producers. The "farmers" who get this subsidy are called Birla, Tata and Ambani! Also, this is given in such a way that the more you produce the lower the rate of subsidy, and the smaller amounts you produce, the more higher the rate of subsidy. In theory, this should support the "small farmers", but in fact the large producers overproduce and understate their output, just so they can avail of the higher rate of subsidy.
What can we do to alleviate all these problems you have discussed?
What we can do is sensitize ourselves, and be aware of the privilege we have. I make no great claim to wisdom. Simple solutions for complex problems can not solve them. Once great starting point that anyone can do is to sensitize himself/herself, and introspect. The fact that we have all gathered here means that we are at least attempting solutions and sensitizing ourselves, that's a start. There is systematic suppression, and we must open our eyes to it.Supportive communities here can help in many ways. The most direct answer is to recognize that there are those who are already in the fight to protect the poor and to bring some measure of opportunity to their lives, and for us to join them and support their needs.
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