Spurt in farmer suicides in Bundelkhand

BANDA: Everything is in short supply here, especially hope. There was a flicker of it, though, when on April 30 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh came here with Rahul Gandhi. Maybe the people were expecting a miracle, an end to the misery created by season after season of bad crops and the resultant rising debt.Their hope proved to be short-lived. Since then, nine farmers have killed themselves in Banda district alone, the worst hit in a cluster of seven district that form the ravaged Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh. The other six districts are Hamirpur, Jhansi, Lalitpur, Mahoba, Chitrakoot and Jalaun. Banda district hospital has reported around 330 cases of suicide between January and May this year.Locals here say most of the suicides are by indebted farmers,their world darkened by the burden. The actual number, however, is difficult totell. Official figures confirm 519 suicides in the seven districts in the firstfive months of this year. This figure includes all suicides. Buteven if one were to go by the official figures, there has been an alarming risein the rate of suicides in the last five months. In the 12 months of 2009, therewere 568 suicides in the seven districts against 519 in just the first fivemonths of this year. In 2010, 583 suicides were recorded. Between 2001 and 2005,there were 1,275 cases of suicide (the period includes 2002 and 2004, two harshdrought years).Obviously, some additional factor, other than thenormal depressive factors, has been responsible for the sudden spurt insuicides. There is good reason to believe that the killer factor this year hasbeen rural indebtedness. The total amount of current outstanding rural bankdebts in Bundelkhand is Rs 4,370.32 crore. This is 21% more than 2010 when thetotal bank debts stood at Rs 3,613.22 cr.The region is among themost backward in the country, marked by high poverty. The soil is rocky and oflow fertility, having suffered erosion of topsoil and denuded of green cover.There are no significant irrigation schemes and cultivation is largely raindependent, though rainfall itself is scanty.Bhupat Arak, a40-year-old farmer of Badokhar Khurd hanged himself on May 27. Officials say hekilled himself after a fight with his wife. But he was supporting a family ofnine: wife, mother and six children, four of them girls who have to be marriedoff. He had six bighas of land, but the crop was a washout this year. And heowed UP Allahabad Gramin Bank Rs 1.5 lakh.In Hamirpur's Garhavillage, 18-year-old Manorama Singh ended her life so that her 78-year-oldgrandfather, Prahlad, would not have to take yet another loan for her marriage.Ending her life, she thought, would put an end to the family’s problems.It hasn’t. Singh owes SBI’s Ichauli Bank over Rs 3lakh.In four of the worst affected districts, Banda, Hamirpur,Lalitpur and Jhansi, farmers owe banks about Rs 2,750 crore. And income has beenpatchy. Since 2002, three years have been declared drought-affected: in 2002,2004 and 2009. This year, too, the crop has been bad. Over the lastfew years, things have progressively gone from bad to worse for farmers inBundelkhand. The emergency medical officer at Banda’s district hospital,Dr Vineet Sachan, said,“The district hospital treats at least threesuicide or attempted suicide cases every day. We are able to save about 60%cases that are brought to us in time. We have observed a year-on-year incrementof 20% in suicide cases over the past few years. Since January 2011, we’vehad over 550 cases.”And it’s not just the farmers whoappear to have hit the dead end. Their helplessness has a cascading effect ontheir families. Eighteen-year-old Sunita from Garha tried to end her life byconsuming a local-made hair dye when she overheard her parents discussing howthey were unable to pull in enough money for her marriage. Saved in the nick oftime, she is back to face the harsh realities of life, not sure whether to thankthe doctor who saved her.It is increasingly becoming clear thatsmall doses of help will not salvage the Bundelkhand situation. Chief ministerMayawati has asked the Centre for a Rs 80,000-crore package for the region,which hasn’t yet materialized. This is despite Rahul Gandhi visiting theregion frequently, and highlighting the plight of the people.Someclaim Rahul has been making empty promises. Take the case of 17-year-old Suman,a resident of Banda’s Madhopur village. When Rahul Gandhi visitedSuman’s village in 2010, he apparently promised her financial assistanceof Rs 20,000 towards her marriage. Rita Bahuguna Joshi, accompanying Gandhi gaveher Rs 1,000 in cash. And Banda MLA Vivek Singh asked people from Suman’svillage to inform him when her marriage is fixed.On May 11 thisyear, Suman got married. An invite was sent to Singh, but the MLA did notrespond, the family claims. The promise of Rs 20,000 remained just that —a promise.Authorities do not deny that conditions are bleak, butthey are at pains to deny that the suicides are linked to high debt. Bandadistrict magistrate A K Dwivedi said, “We’ve been in the line offire for the spate of suicide deaths in the district. Deaths have occurred, butwe’ve examined each case carefully and not a single person has diedbecause of hunger or debt. Although farmers who died were poverty stricken andhad also taken loans, their reasons for committing suicide werepersonal.”Investigating officer at Banda’s PapraindaPolice Assistance Centre, Brij Kishore Sachan, said, “Farmers inBundelkhand are very smart. They understand that governments can be milked if astarvation death is reported. As a result, they attempt to project every deathas a result of starvation or debt.”In Sachan’sarea, Shyam Singh, a debt-ridden farmer beat his young daughter, shot his wifeand then killed himself. Sachan said, “Singh’s wife used to work inthe fields. He suspected her of infidelity and in a fit of rage killed her. Ifthe relatives had not intervened, he would have killed the daughter and set thehouse on fire, too.”Not everyone is buying this argument,though. Banda-based farmer activist, Pushpendra Kumar, said, “It’spolitically sensitive when cases of suicide are suddenly highlighted. (But) ifgovernments don’t intervene with measures that actually help the farmers,things will get worse. We are not asking for loan waivers. We’re askingfor sustainable development; we’re seeking solutions to ourproblems.”