In a stern message to the Tamil Nadu government, the Supreme Court said silence was not the answer to farmer suicides.
The order came in an appeal filed by the Tamil Nadu Centre for Public Interest Litigation.
The Madras High Court had, without looking into the merits of the issue, simply asked the organisation to obtain information about the State’s welfare schemes for farmers through an RTI.
Criticising the HC’s move to dispose the issue without taking into consideration its urgency, the Supreme Court agreed with the organisation’s plea that the State has an obligation to address the farmers’ distress.
“Deaths are due to famine and other natural causes and also due to immense financial problems. The State, as the guardian, is required to see how to solve these problems or to meet the problems by taking curative measures treating it as a natural disaster. Silence is not the answer,” the Supreme Court observed in its order.
During the hearing, the Bench orally remarked that the State cannot always bank on the Central government for help and need to “rise up to the occasion” instead of blaming anything from drought to loan sharks.
Issuing notice to the Tamil Nadu government, the court granted the State authorities two weeks to respond and produce schemes and measures intended to help the farmers. The court made it clear that the State should not treat this as an adversarial litigation but a participative one to relieve the agony of the farmers. “We say so as there is an expectation on the part of the citizens that the State shall come to their aid when such a catastrophe occurs and the State’s response must be in promptitude.”
The court appointed advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan as amicus curiae.
