Lack of compensation, govt support pushes Kerala farmers to hopelessness

A farmer from south Kerala's Kuttanad region ended his life dejected by the crop damage caused by summer showers, while many of his peers in the state are said to be on the verge of taking the extreme step owing to a lack of adequate support and compensation.

Rajeev, 52, a native of Niranam in Pathanamthitta district, ended his late Sunday. Mounting financial stress caused by the repeated crop loss and inadequate compensation pushed him towards suicide, leaving behind his wife and two sons.

Rajeev had paddy cultivation on ten acres of land. Crops on eight acres of that land were lost to summer showers Kerala has been witnessing over the past few days. He had financial obligations of around Rs 6 lakh and some of his repayments were overdue.

Sources told DH that Rajeev had suffered crop loss in the last two years as well but he received a compensation of a meagre Rs 2,000 per acre, while the expenditure was over Rs 50,000 per acre. A group of farmers including Rajeev had even moved court seeking better compensation. Around 1,000 acres of paddy fields in the Kuttanad region were flooded in the summer rains, expected for some more days as per the weather forecast.

After the suicide triggered a row, Kerala Agriculture Minister P Prasad stated that steps would be taken to disburse compensations for crop loss without delay.

Meanwhile, Congress state president K Sudhakaran held the CPM government responsible for the farmer's suicide. He alleged that the government had not yet paid nearly Rs 25 crore due to farmers as crop insurance.

Even as the government maintains that adequate compensation was being paid, Francis, another farmer in Kuttanad who is also in deep financial crisis told DH that he got only around Rs 5,000 per acre for crop loss during the floods while he had to spend Rs 40,000 per acre.

Another farmer Sajan said that farmers in the region were not distributed subsidies over the last couple of years. In the five 'Krishi Bhavans' (agriculture department offices) in the locality, the post of agriculture officers lay vacant.

Farmers demand that the government take steps to avoid rainwater remaining stagnant in the paddy fields by regularly maintaining canals and streams. Owing to the power supply disruption, it was also not possible to pump out water from the paddy fields using motors, they lament.

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