Bhubaneswar: The government has dismissed allegations that problems like loss of crop and loans were behind the suicides of farmers in the state.
Replying to a written question of Congress MLA Bhujabal Majhi, agriculture minister Damodar Rout said that not even a single farmer had committed suicide due to failure of crop or inability to repay loans in the last two years.
The government had received reports that 11 farmers had committed suicide in 2016-17 and seven this year. However, the reports from collectors and SPs made it clear that not even a single farmer had committed suicide due to agriculture problems, Rout said.
The highest number of six farmers allegedly committed suicide in Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s home district of Ganjam, followed by Bargarh, where four farmers committed suicide. Similarly, the government had received reports of two suicides from Balasore and one each from Dhenkanal, Nabarangpur, Boudh, Jajpur, Angul and Khurda. The minister said farmer Brundaban Sahu of Bargarh district committed suicide not due to debt. and that an inquiry is on. He said farmers Harish Chandra Pradhan of Ganjam, Basu Hembram of Dhenkanal, Bhakta Bhue and Nabin Kumar of Bargarh, Alaya Jena and Rajendra Bhuyan of Ganjam district committed suicide not due to loss of crop or loans.
Besides, the inquiry report of Khainu Bagarti alias Hadu’s suicide revealed that his death was not due to fluctuation in the power supply to his paddy field. It may be due to some other reason, the minister said.
On March 5, in a reply to the Assembly, then agriculture minister Pradeep Maharathy had admitted that there were fluctuations in the power supply to farms and steps were being taken to set it right.
As per a report of the National Crime Records Bureau 750 farmers committed suicide between 2010 and 2015. While 162 committed suicide in 2010, 144 died in 2011, 146 in 2012, 150 in 2013, 102 the next year and 50 in 2015, the minister said, in another reply to the House.
The opposition Congress and the BJP criticised the government for not admitting the suicides of framers. The BJP demanded a judicial probe into the suicides. However, Rout said that the facts placed before the Assembly were as per reports submitted by Collectors and SPs.
PNN
