Even though the State Assembly faced stalemates for five consecutive days over the farmers’ suicide issue, the Government on Saturday once again refused to admit that the peasants’ deaths were due to crop failure or loan burden.
“Incidences of farmer suicides in the State are very unfortunate. The Government has so far received five such complaints during the current year. The investigation reports received on four cases have revealed that none of them took the extreme step for crop failure or loan burden,” Agriculture Minister Pradeep Maharathy informed the House while replying to an Adjournment Motion.
The recent farmer suicide cases were received from the districts of Bargarh, Nabarangpur, Baleswar, Boudh and Ganjam. The investigation on Boudh case was yet to be received by the Government, Maharathy said.
The Minister said the four cases were investigated jointly by the district Collectors and the SPs of the concerned districts. In all the four cases, the causes of suicide were something else other than crop loss or the debt burden, which were yet to be ascertained.
While Maharathy had earlier said that Bargarh farmer Hadu Bagarti had committed suicide following a quarrel with wife, on Saturday, he told the Assembly that Bagarti committed suicide not for crop failure and the reason could be something else.
Earlier in the morning hours, the House had witnessed an adjournment for one hour till 11.34 am as the BJP members wearing black gowns trouped into the Well of the House with a demand for a House Committee to probe the farmer suicide cases.
However, as many as 16 members belonging to both the Opposition and the ruling parties participated in the motion, which was allowed to be discussed as a special debate by Speaker Niranjan Pujari on the request of leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra.
In his speech, Mishra alleged that farmers are committing suicide under pressure of crop loss and loan burden caused by lack of irrigation facilities, timely availability of loans and seeds, marketing facilities, distress sale and storage facilities.
Slamming the Central Government for not increasing minimum support prices (MSP) of paddy, Mishra demanded that a resolution fixing MSP at Rs2,700 per quintal of paddy be passed in the Assembly and sent to the Centre. He too demanded that the Government provide pension to kin of the deceased farmers.
In his final reply, the Agriculture Minister told the House that the Government is now mulling to provide life insurance cover to all farmers in the State.
Dissatisfied over the Minister’s reply, the opposition members staged a walkout.