Massive Vidarbha Farm widows protest on republic-day as six more farmers suicides reported in last 72 hours

Massive Vidarbha Farm widows protest on republic-day as six more farmers suicides reported in last 72 hours

Nagpur-25th  Jan .2013

Maharashtra Govt. is spending hundreds crore on Agri. exhibitions in vidarbha joining hand with opposition parties at Nagpur ,Yavatmal, Amaravati and Akola but denying relief aid to starving thousands widows  and families of farmers who committed suicides since 2005 even after all panels recommended Govt. for the same  hence houndereds of farm  widows will join protest at village Maregoan  in Yvatmal district where parliemnt panel headed veteran MP Basudeo Achrya visited last year to look in to causes of agrarian crisis and submitted it’s report to Indian parliament but Govt. failed to address the main cause of distress of 3 million cotton farmers of vidarbha region forcing them to kill themselves as six more farmers suicides reported in last 72 hours taking toll 20 in this year 2013 ,recent victims identified as

1.Dipak Awari  of vanoja-devi village  in yavatmal

2.Baliram Bharsakale of sirsoli village in akola

3.Namdeo Misar of doksarandi village in Bhandra

4.Jivan Kodape of Ramgoan in Amaravati

5.Vinay Kalpande of Masod  in Amaravati

6.Santosh Ganphade of dhindasi village in Chndrapur

Earlier to this last week reported

7.Namdeo Thoke of village benoda in Amaravati district

8.Balaji Thaori of village dahegoan(zari)in Yavatmal district

9.Dinkar Navarkhede of village Sakhari in chandrapur district

10.Ramdas Gohane of village chittegoan in chaadrapur  district

11.Gajanan Raut of village Jawra-bori in chandrapur  district

12.Janrao Nagle of village khed in amaravati  district

13.Puroshottam Pursadkar of margoan in yavatmal

14.Ramraoji shende of village manoli in yavatmal

15.Sanjay mohurle of dorli in yavatmal

Farmers suicides taking  toll to 20 in year 2013 ,Kishore Tiwari of the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti informed in press release today.

‘Union agriculture ministers Sharad Pawar  is taking meeting after meeting for the drought relief measures for five districts of western maharashtra where as Mahrashtra CM Prathviraj is busy in organizing Agri. Exhibitions spending crore of rupees of public exchanger but state Govt. failed to give food security ,health care facility and educational help to distressed farmers and diseased farm families member who committed suicides  even after National commission for farmers (NCF) headed by Dr.M.S.Swaminathan and Dr.Narendra Jadhav committee recommended the same this shows Govt. apathy towards the crisis which matter of serious concern for civil society’ Tiwari added. 

‘There are more than 10,000 farmer widows and families who lost bread earner since 2005 in vidarbha agrarian crisis  but we are denied relief aid by the administration hence to draw the attention of administration massive protest has been organized on 26^th JAND and we will pray god to give wisdom to Govt. to save us’ Bebitai bais ,president of vidarbha farmer’s widows association informed.

‘Administration is keeping Govt. in the dark about   Bt.cotton failure in 4.2 million hector as farmers with protective irrigation is also suffered massive cotton failure where as market rate of cotton is now below MSP but there is no intervention by state at ground level hence farmers are off loading raw cotton in throw away prices and killing themselves ,the demand of urgent relief at price front and compensation cotton failure  can only give healing support to stop on going distress and gloom that is forcing farmers to kill themselves. Nonexistent of administration and non sensitive Maharashtra Govt. coupled with hostile opposition is behind this mass genocide of vidarbha farmers ,hence we are urging civil society  to help these 5 milion dying vidarbha farmers, Tiwari added..  

‘Govt. ministers are busy  spending hundred crore on ‘Advantage Vidarbha’ meet to attract investment where as main opposition party BJP National president Nitin Gadkari  is also busy in arranging ‘Agro Vision’  by spending more than advantage vidarbha meet both to be organized in coming February at Nagpur but not single Minister or leader of opposition has even visited crisis driven farmers moreover Nagpur session of Maharashtra legislative house failed to discuss very serious issue of massive crop failure and despair of dying vidarbha that is real agony of tragedy that is adding more fuel   to farm suicide crisis and hence to protest this apathy and to bring attention of central Govt. hundreds of farm widows will go on day long fast on 26th jan 2013 observing republicday as black day at maregoan village in yavatmal district  ” Tiwari added. 

‘This year their  is massive crop failure in 42 lakhs hector in vidarbha but all  districts

Of vidarbha  are not covered in recent relief aid announced by central Govt. more over apathy of local administration fueled more hardships to 3 million cotton farmers of  vidarbha, there was gloom and despondency due to suicides of debt trapped two more cotton farmers  and moreover the recent e Centre’s announcement on Thursday of Rs778 crore as aid for drought assistance to Maharashtra from the National Disaster Response Fund left out any mention of the drought-induced crop loss faced by five million plus debt-trapped farmers of Vidarbha has left many shocked, Tiwari said.

The Vidarbha region, which has emerged as the country’s farmer suicide capital, has been reeling under its worst agrarian crisis ever due to truant rainfall leading to massive crop failure in cotton, paddy, pulses and soybean. On an average, three farmers end their lives every 24 hours. The government’s own figures show that more than 9,000 dry land farmers have killed themselves due to crop failure and economic losses due to cotton price.

“The government’s drive to push GM cotton in order to benefit one bio-tech MNC has only cruelly compounded the problems faced by farmers due to vagaries of climate since 2005 pushing many towards ending lives,” lamented Kishore Tiwari of the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti. “Instead of atoning about the way they are responsible, the Centre has mocked the dead farmers and their bereaved families.”

In fact, the meeting of the high-level committee for central assistance to states affected by natural calamity where the aid was announced was chaired by Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, who is believed to understand the agrarian scene in the state only too well. The meeting in New Delhi was also attended by home minister Sushilkumar Shinde, finance minister P Chidambaram and Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia too.

“One refuses to believe that all these ‘wise’ people didn’t realise it’d be wrong not to mention what is happening in Vidarbha. This is a ploy by the powerful western Maharashtra politicians’ lobby to ensure that the focus of the Centre and state is restricted to their region only,” charged Tiwari -- a charge which sticks when one considers how the local district administrations in Vidarbha have not even sent a report on the crop-loss to the state.

Today it is reported that a team of central government officials led by joint secretary RB Sinha visited the state in November 2012 to assess the drought situation. Curiously, it didn’t visit Vidarbha despite conditions there. It seems their recommendations to the Inter-Ministerial Group constituted under the chairmanship of the agriculture secretary did not reflect any of Vidarbha’s concerns.Many are now linking the total avoidance of any mention of the worst-hit region to these recommendations. Nearly everyone in the bureaucracy too feels stumped at the meagre amount released. “The state needs around Rs5,000 crore and that’s what had been suggested to CM Prithviraj Chavan. We were quite taken aback when he only asked for Rs2,857 crore. With the Centre’s latest announcement of Rs778 crore, one wonders what the logic is,” said a senior water resources ministry bureaucrat, Tiwari added in release