Even as news trickled in of two more farmers committing suicide in the State over the past two days, Prakash Karat, general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), said here on Wednesday that the policies of the Trinamool Congress-led government were responsible for such incidents.
“It is because of the policies of the Trinamool Congress-led government. They have failed to provide for adequate procurement; they have failed to provide for the alleviation of the indebtedness and distress of farmers here,” Mr. Karat told journalists when asked to comment on the issue.
He claimed that farmer suicides did not happen when the Left Front government was in power in West Bengal.
In the nearly eight months since the Trinamool Congress-led government came to power, there have been reports of 23 farmer suicides.
Speaking at a seminar on “Challenges of the times and the task of the Left” at the North 24 Parganas district conference of the CPI(M) on Tuesday, Mr. Karat had said that suicides were not natural disasters, they were man-made.
“Suicides happen because of man-made policies and 2.5 lakh farmers committing suicide is a telling commentary on the nature of neo-liberal policies that were pursued in the last two decades in India,” he added.
