The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has directed the Chief Secretary to submit a report on the alleged farmers’ suicide in the State due to crop loss, loan burden and Government ‘inaction’.
Acting on a petition filed by rights activist Pradip Pradhan, the commission has asked the Chief Secretary to submit the report within four weeks.
The petitioner has alleged that 30 debt-ridden farmers committed suicide in less than a month between November 21 and December 10 last in 12 districts.
“Unfortunately, the State Government has been constantly denying the allegation of farmers’ suicide. However, the Chief Minister ordered all district Collectors and SPs for inquiry into the farmers’ suicide and submit reports. The inquiry reports of the Collectors obtained through RTI pointed out various reasons like family problems, love matters and family disputes, etc., as reasons for farmers’ suicide,” the petitioner stated.
“But during our field visit, we experienced precarious conditions of the families, mental trauma suffered by the family members, failure of crop due to less rainfall, tension to repay the loans borrowed from private moneylenders at exorbitant rates of interest, etc. All the families vociferously said crop failure and loan burden as the major reasons for suicidal death of the farmers,” the petitioner contended.