Compensation fails to reach kin of farmers

Pochubai, wife of deceased farmer Perumalla Istari

The Government order (GO) No . 194 issued by the state government enhancing the amount of compensation of Rs 6 lakh to families of the farmers who committed suicides has failed to enhance the confidence of the bereaved families in Adilabad district of Telangana.

Earlier, the government used to give Rs 1.50 lakh compensation under GO No . 421 to the families who committed suicide. The state government has issued GO. 194 in October 2015 with the retrospective effect from the formation of the Telangana state on June2.

The state government has failed to implement G0. 194 which was issued enhancing the compensation Rs 6 lakh from Rs 1.5 lakh to the family of the deceased farmers who committed suicide due to mounted debts.

So far, compensation was sanctioned only to 38 deceased farmer families where as many as 222 farmers committed suicides in the Adilabad district since the formation of the state.

Suryavamshi Parameshwar committed suicide by hanging himself unable to handle debts in Tadithnoor in Narnoor mandal. Local Tahsildar visited deceased farmer’s home and collected details but nothing has been done as far as sanctioning compensation.

V.S Krishna, state general secretary of the Human Rights Forum (HRF) said the state government has literally failed to implement the GO No.194 issued enhancing compensation.

“In most cases, members of the divisional level committees led by RDO formed to verify the authenticity of the farmer suicide are not visiting the deceased’s house instead depending the local Tahsildar’ reports which are most of the time being rejected at divisional level”, he observed adding that same is the situation in all the district except Hyderabad and Medak.

Tenant farmers were 80 percent among the total farmers who committed suicides in the Telangana state and compensation was being denied to tenant farmers citing the lack of land ownership documents.

B. Kondal Reddy, representative of the Rythu Swarajya Vedika said compensation  was sanctioned to only three farmers who committed suicide from Utnoor division out of total sanctioned 38 in the district though farmer suicides were high in number in Utnoor division.

Kavitha, the wife of the deceased Suryavamshi Parameshwar who committed suicide in 2015, said they have cultivated cotton in the 10-acre land out of total 15 acres they had and there was only 2 quintal of cotton production in acre due to severe drought and added that they have lost a cotton crop in the last two seasons.  

She said they have incurred a huge loss due to crop loss and mounted debts due to a huge investment in cotton cultivation.

Same is the case with the Rahith Ramdas who committed suicide in Jaithram Thanda in Narnoor mandal and also Perumalla Isthari of Vaghapur of Adilabad mandal who committed suicide due to crop loss and mounted debts.