List steps taken to protect farmers: High Court
The Madras High Court (MHC) has directed the state government to file an affidavit on the steps taken to protect farmers, who have allegedly resorted to a suicide spree unable to handle crop loss.
By : migrator
Update: 2017-01-05 18:36 GMT
Chennai
The First bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice M Sundar offered the direction based on a plea moved by Tamil Nadu Centre for Public Interest Litigation represented by its managing trustee K K Ramesh. The plea had sought for a direction to the State Government to set up an expert committee in every district in the State to stall instances of farmers’ suicides. The bench on directing the state to file the affidavit within four weeks posted the case for further hearing to February 14.
Ramesh had submitted that owing to failure of North East and South West monsoon for the past three years, agriculture in Tamil Nadu has been severely affected, pushing farmers to the brink of poverty. Many farmers unable to pay back farm loans were resorting to suicide while others have been migrating to others districts and States seeking other jobs.
The plea also highlighted a study done by a team in Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam that agriculture related suicides and deaths have become frequent in the delta region owing to water shortage and crop failure.
Citing media reports which had claimed that as many as 13 farmers have committed suicide over the last two months out of which seven were from Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam districts, he said the government should take up the issue seriously and set up a process for identifying the families of those farmers and provide suitable relief. He also noted that it was the bounden duty of the government to protect the farmers from committing suicide.
The PIL also sought a direction to the State to use latest modern technology like what transpires in Israel to save standing crops if monsoon fails and to create awareness among the farmers about it as that alone could save farmers from such rampant poverty and suicides.
Deaths due to crop failure crosses 100
As drought continues to hit crops, death tolls increases and while on Wednesday alone more 10 farmers died after looking at their withered crops.
On Thursday a 58-year-old farmer from Vedaranyam in Nagapattinam died of cardiac arrest due to crop failure. Presently, the death toll of farmers crossed 100 in the state. Despite water release from Mettur, it was not adequate to take up Samba cultivation. The farmers with a little hope on the monsoon rains, began to undertake their seasonal samba and a section of farmers undertook direct sowing method while a few had used water source through bore wells.
At this juncture, the NorthEast monsoon faulted. It was a big blow to farmers who were already affected by water shortage due to non-release of Cauvery water. While the crops have been transplanted after raising up nurseries, the farmers in the delta regions were trying hard to get water to save their standing crops. But in vain. This made the farmers to lead a life of distress and on an average at least two farmers died in December.
However, on Wednesday as many as 10 farmers including seven from delta region died of cardiac arrest after witnessing their crops withering. For instance, Sounderajan (65) of Muthupettai in Tiruvarur died of cardiac arrest while in Vedaranyam, Sethu Ammal (73) died while looking at the wilted crops.
Similarly, a Kuppamuthu (65) and Valarmathi (52) from Pudukkottai, Govindan (65) from Ariyalur, Bharathidasan (48) from Karur also died of cardiac arrest. Meanwhile on Thursday, Sivanathan (58) from Aathanur village in Vedaranyam died of cardiac arrest after witnessing the crop failure on his 3-acre land where he had raised samba under the direct sowing method. Till Wednesday, the death toll in the state was 106. Another farmer, Muthukrishnan (40) son of Omakutti from Panangaattoor village has reportedly died due to cardiac arrest on Thursday morning. This has raised the death toll further.
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