'Loan waivers not enough to end suicides'

MUMBAI: There doesn���t seem to be an end to Vidarbha farmers��� woes. With no financial assistance coming in despite various packages, four debt-trapped farmers took an extreme step of ending their lives on Sunday. Last week alone saw as many as nine farmers killing themselves.

Frustrated over their inability to celebrate Pola, these farmers ended their lives. Pola is one of the major festivals for the farmer community in the region ��� they worship their bullocks with great fanfare. The festival also marks the successful completion of Kharip activity. However, for the four farmers in debt, it was a different story. Two years ago, the same festival had witnessed two deaths.

The farmers who ended their lives are from Soneri village of Amravati, Muktapur of Nagpur and Pendhri and Kona of Yavatmal. On Saturday, five more debt-trapped farmers killed themselves. In two days, as many as nine have ended their lives, raising questions over the efficacy of Rs 71,000-crore agri-package announced by the Manmohan Singh government.
The five farmers who committed suicide were from Sawargaon in Buldana, Chora in Chandrapur and Mandvi in Yavatmal.

Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti leader, Kishor Tiwari, feared more suicides in the days to come. He pointed out that the government has not provided enough funds for loan disbursal and a fresh line of credit has not been made available even after the next agri season has begun.

Meanwhile, experts believe that mere loan-waiver will not stop the suicides.

The waiver for debt-ridden farmers may have earned praise, but experts feel such exemptions would prove to be short-lived and only agrarian infrastructure would be able to deal with farmer suicides. ���Loan waivers are like saline that works slowly; the immediate problems of Vidarbha���s farmers cannot be solved by offering such projects. The conditions attached to the waiver scheme are also an impediment in its implementation,��� former vice chancellor of Punjabrao Krishi Vidyapith Sharadrao Nimbulkar said.

Taking note of the lack of institutional financing in the region, he expressed concern at the growth of money lenders who add to the misery of debt-ridden families. ���Irrigation in Vidarbha covers a mere 4% of the total cultivated land while fragmentation of land due to Hindu Succession Law and ceiling on land are a few more problems,��� he said.

He also questioned the condition in the waiver scheme that ensures loans allotted after 1997 are to be waived off, asking that what should be the fate of farmers who live in similar situation but have been given the loan prior to 1997.