Not even a single family of the 33 farmers, who committed suicide since June 2014 in Krishna district, got the compensation and rehabilitation package, according to the Human Rights Forum (HRF).
A fact-finding team led by HRF’s Andhra Pradesh and Telangana general secretary V.S. Krishna on Friday documented the pathetic state of the families of the farmers, who committed suicide owing to crop failure and agrarian crisis.
“The negligence in offering compensation and rehabilitation package shows the inhuman face of the Krishna district authorities concerned. The three-member committee, headed by Revenue Divisional Officer, did not visit to any of the families of the deceased farmers to determine the cause of the death and study the eligibility criteria for sanctioning of the package,” said Mr. Krishna. The G.O. 62 (2015) stated that the three-member committee certified that many farmers who committed suicide were not eligible for the package.
The HRF team on Friday documented the process of how they were being denied the promised compensation by talking to the family members of the five farmers who committed suicide since 2015. “Four of the five farmers who committed suicide have ‘Loan Eligibility Card’ which also certifies ‘tenancy’ in Krishna district. The G.O. 62 mandates that the three-member committee should determine the death of a farmer for eligibility of the compensation by visiting the family of the deceased but it did not happen in any of the cases,” added Mr. Krishna.
The fact-finding team heard the five families of farmers who committed suicide owing to crop failure and debt—M. Sampatha Rao of Gowdapalem, Ramisetti Satyanarayana of Lellagaruvu, T. Rambabu of Mallvolu, K. Surendra of Kodali and Jogi Rambabu of Dokiparru village in Machilipatnam and Gudiwada revenue divisions.
1,112 farmers’ suicides
The HRF stated that barely 126 families among the 1,112 farmers who committed suicide since June 2014 in Andhra Pradesh were given compensation and rehabilitation package worth ₹5 lakh.
The forum will document the status of the implementation of the G.O. 62 in Guntur district on February 26. Rythu Swarajya Vedika researcher B. Kondal and Krishna District HRF Secretary P. Amar were also part of the fact-finding committee on farmers’ suicides.
