Farmers Movement Archive

Farm suicides: Most families denied relief

Sangrur, March 1The cumbersome procedure for families of deceased debt-ridden farmers and labourers, who have ended life by suicide, to get financial help from the state government is leading to rejection of majority of cases.In Sangrur, of 823 applications, only 259 approved since 2015511 Rejected52 PendingRs3 lakh compensation for each victim’s familyIn Sangrur, from 2015 to December last year, 823 applications were submitted but only 259 were approved while 511 were rejected and 52 are pending. The maximum cases (201) were rejected in 2017-18.Reasons validNo case is rejected without any valid reason and all formalities are completed before the process. Jaswinderpal Singh Grewal, Agriculture Department Joint DirectorTough normsTo become eligible for government aid, the deceased should own a land and owe institutional debt only, as debt of private money lenders is not considered by authorities.“My son Amritpal Singh took the extreme step on November 18, 2014, after he failed to clear his debt. Since then, we have been applying repeatedly for the aid, but haven’t got anything so far. If the government does not want to help all families, it must stop the scheme,” said Malkiat Kaur from Kanakwal Bhangua village of the district. She said they don’t own any land and also don’t have any source of income. She has two grandchildren and her daughter-in-law works as a maid.A Chhajli village resident, Sulakhan Singh alleged that his brother Niranjan Singh ended his life in 2016 and since then, his family had been making rounds of various government offices, but they were yet to receive any help.“I have visited many offices and met many politicians, but to no avail,” he alleged.BKU Ugrahan leader Sukhpal Singh Manak, who is heading a special committee formed to collect details of suicides across the state, alleged: “Officials reject cases without any valid reason.”The government has formed a five-member committee in each district to clear the cases for the financial aid of Rs 3 lakh to these families. The panel includes a Deputy Commissioner as the chairman, a Chief Agriculture Officer as a member secretary and other members — Civil Surgeon, police officer and village sarpanch or municipal councillor.To be eligible for the aid, the deceased should be an owner of a land and owe institutional debt only, as debt of private money lenders is not considered by the authorities. Senior officers said most of the families did not have any land nor did they owe any money to any bank or cooperative society. #farm suicides #farmers

The Tribune

2022-03-02