Government blamed for Indian farmers’ suicide crisis

(November 16, 2010) A Catholic archbishop and a social activist have blamed federal and state governments as debt-ridden farmers continue to commit suicide in India’s central-western region. In the past four days, 16 farmers took their lives in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra state, and as many as 667 farmers committed suicide since January. Archbishop Abraham Viruthakulangara of Nagpur says many lives could have been saved if the government machinery had acted in time. He heads the region which is most affected with the suicides of farmers. The archbishop said the church is engaged in creating alternative sustainable sources of income for farmers so that they will not face the similar fate in future. According to Kishore Tiwari, who is fighting for the rights of some 1 million debt-trapped farmers in the region, “A nation that ignores the welfare of its farmers cannot survive.” Tiwari’s Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (or the forum for Vidarbha people’s struggle) maintains the record of farmers committing suicides in the region. After a 2006 survey identified some 1 million farmers in deep distress the government agreed to offer them free grains, medicine, children’s education, marry off their daughters and give fresh bank loans to restore their lives. But Tiwari said the government did nothing to save farmers from private loan sharks. According to Tiwari the main cause of farmer despondency is the government delay in procuring cotton and forceful loan recovery by banks and private micro finance agencies.