like every year, farmers in the State are pestered with shortage of fertilizers and black-marketing this year also. Societies also face heavy shortage of fertilizers.
State Congress spokesperson Susheel Anand Shukla said that farmers being forced to purchase fertilizers from black marketing, at a time when they desperately need fertilizers and insecticides. The markets in the State were flooded with artificial fertilizers and low standard insecticides.
He said that because of shortage of fertilizers and artificial insecticides, there have been outcries among farmers. last year, a number of farmers in the State had committed suicide because of the loss they suffered from using fake insecticides. The Government was not alert to the problem of farmers this year also and has been a mute spectator, he added.
He said, during the reign of the BJP, farmers were going through crisis of existence. Because of the anti-farmer policy of the Government, sons of the soil farmers of Chhattisgarh are being prompted continuously for committing suicide, which is a matter of concern, he added.
He said, as per Government figures for the last five years, 7777 farmers in Chhattisgarh had committed suicide. 1773 suicide cases have been registered in the year 2008, while the figure in 2009 was 1802 and in 2010, it was 1126. In the total figures of farmer suicide cases of the country, Chhattisgarh registered 26.5 per cent, he added.
Shukla said that this shameful ground reality for the BJP Government, which has been trumpeting about development and prosperity, was revealed in the figures of NCRB. The BJP Government was very careless about the problems of the farmers and their disposal, he added.
He alleged that the BJP Government, with a view of hush up farmers’ suicide issues, had changed profession of the deceased as labour or other in the post mortem report, whereas, large number of farmer suicide cases have been published in newspapers and channels during the year 2011-12. The Government should take meaningful steps to improve the condition of agriculture and farmers, in spite of hushing up the sorrowful issues of farmers’ suicide, he added.
He demanded from the Government to immediately make arrangements for adequate supply of fertilizers and insecticides, so that no more farmers should commit suicide due to financial constraints.