Figures submitted to the Karnataka state government on the number of farmers suicides raises more questions than answers.
The state agriculture department recently submitted a report to the Chief Secretary on the number of farmers’ suicides in the state and the number of farmers to whom compensation has been provided.
From April 1 to October 3, a total of 516 farmers have killed themselves in the state, with suicides reported from each district; Bengaluru Urban reported the lowest number: one.
Compensation Claims Rejected
In the Uttara Kannada, Udupi and Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu and Chamarajnagar districts single-digit figures have been recorded.
Of the total number of compensation cases that local committees have considered, 42 percent of claims have been rejected. According to Kannada daily Prajavani, following the perusal of 233 cases, the government had found that compensation could be given in 134 cases as the farmers’ conditions matched the government’s criteria.
The Commissioner for Agriculture, Pandurang Nayak, told The News Minute that committees headed by assistant commissioners (of the local district administration) would decide on the merits of individual cases.
Asked about reasons for the rejection of the some of the claims for compensation, Nayak said that this information was still at the district level and it had not been compiled yet.
Only if the state government asks, it will be compiled.
— Pandurang Nayak, Commissioner for Agriculture
When the National Crime Records Bureau released its report on Accidental Deaths and Suicides for 2014, farmers groups and activists in Karnataka had claimed that the government had fudged the numbers by shifting the numbers from one column to another.
There has been no attempt yet to systematically analyse the causes for farmer suicides across the state this year, and see if there is, indeed, any pattern that could emerge.
(Anisha Sheth works with The News Minute.)
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