Terming the case a “matter of concern”, the National Human Rights Commission on Thursday issued a notice to Tamil Nadu authorities over the reported deaths of 106 farmers within the span of a month.
Over 100 in a month
The NHRC took suo motu cognisance of media reports that said over 100 farmers had died in Tamil Nadu in one month. The NHRC issued a notice to the Chief Secretary in the Tamil Nadu government and asked for a report within six weeks.
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Low rainfall
As per reports, farmers had been hit by inadequate rainfall and falling groundwater levels. According to a report in a Tamil daily on Tuesday, 83 farmers had died of heart attacks and many had committed suicide. A 53-year-old farmer, Panneerselvam, in Nagapattinam district and 50-year-old farmer, Murugan, in Viluppuram district had committed suicide. The paper then reported on Thursday that the number of deaths had reached 106.
Quoting media reports, the NHRC said that the worst-affected districts were Thiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Viluppuram, Pudukkottai, Ariyalur, Cuddalore and Thanjavur.
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Inaction by State
The NHRC said the issue was not only about the right to life and dignity of the farmers but “indicative of failure and inaction by the State agencies”.