Sainath Report on Farmers Suicides
Is Indian farmer not an Aam Aadmi? Does his welfare not form part of the country's economic development? But, then why his contribution and problems take a back seat? Does his pathetic, dependent and poor status not change despite India shining and 9% growth rate being achieved? Are we focussed on committing scams after scams in every possible field and look for UN Seat? Should we feel proud with Cricketainment thro World Cups, Gold Medals in Sports and Games at International level, IPL, etc, etc? How long people like P Sainath Rural Development Journalist of The Hindu go on crusading about preparing Reports on Farmers' Suicides year after year? After all, India is basically an agri-oriented economy, we should not forget.
Some alarming revelations have surfaced from a new study. A record 2.5 lakh farmers have committed suicide in India over the last 13 years. Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar's home state Maharashtra tops the list. It has the worst record for the 10th consecutive year.According to The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, more than 2,16, 000 farmers have committed suicide since 1997. P Sainath, Rural Affairs Editor for ‘The Hindu’, says: Add figures for the years 1995 and 1996 and 2010, the total figure crosses 2,50,000!
We forget our freedom fighters and patriotic leaders' slogans. Late Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri, former Prime Minister said "Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan". Those were the days when we had serious cross border disputes with China and Pakistan. Gone are the days of war and hence no need to pursue Jai Jawan. Defence Budget could be trimmed down (after all they are hitting headlines for all sorts of scams too). But farmers' plight has not improved at all despite eleven five year plans and sixty four years of independence. Jai Kisan has to be continued with all earnestness. The present generation with IT environment and services sector dominating the economy, only remembers Jai Ho of Musician AR Rehman as current buzz word. Mera Bharath Mahaan!
