40,000 farm deaths in Punjab since 1997: study

Upto 40,000 farmers in Punjab have committed suicide from 1997 to 2005, reeling under harassment from moneylenders and commission agents, according to a suicide census conducted by the civil society organization (CSO) organisation Movement Against State Repression.

The survey also found that over 1,300 farmers spread over 91 villages in just two blocks of Andana in Sangrur district have taken their own lives in desperation. The deaths occurred between 1988 and 2005.

�In most cases, farmers who had to dispose of their lands to repay debts committed suicides to escape social stigma, as they had no option but to work as labourers in others� fields,� said Inderjit Jaijee, who heads the CSO.

The study refutes a status report that the state government had submitted to the Indian government last year, where it had mentioned that 2,116 villagers committed suicide between 1988 and 2004. According to the NGO, �it was a gross under-reporting of the problem�.

However, thousands of deaths and nearly a decade later, it took two farmer deaths over three days in the last week of April for the Punjab government to finally hit the panic button. �We have asked the Prime Minister to evolve a strategy to stop farmers from killing themselves,� said a senior officer in the chief minister�s secretariat, which is working on a mechanism to free farmers from the clutches of moneylenders.

Among the strategies being considered is the 1936 formula floated by farmers� leader Sir Chottu Ram. It envisages waiver of loans if farmers have paid as much interest as the principal amount. The formula, which later became an Act, is not applied any more.

�We want to revive some of the clauses of the Act. It also provides for the setting up of debt conciliation boards in each district to resolve disputes between borrowers and lenders. We are also toying with the idea of making registration of moneylenders mandatory to check interest rates,� the officer said.

Typically, moneylenders charge farmers 36% interest per annum. In many cases, the interest rate is as high as 40-60%.

Earlier, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh met the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and proposed that the central government take over or at least share the financial burden of waiving loans to Punjab�s farmers.

Despite the state�s relatively high level of economic prosperity, the Punjabi farmer leads the country in rural indebtedness. The total annual rural debt of the state -- it was Rs 24,000 crore in 2003-04 -- is more than its gross annual earnings from agriculture.

Source: The Telegraph, April 24, 2006

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