ENARADA, Bengaluru, October 30, 2015
By Guruprasad
The Siddaramaiah Government which is battling the issue of farmer suicides received another jolt when Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa blamed the State for the current agrarian crisis.
The year 2015 has been the worst year for Karnataka as it recorded the highest level of suicides in this decade. As of July, 197 farmers had killed themselves (158 farmers had committed suicide in July alone), said to be the highest since 2003.
Speaking exclusively to www.enarada.com, Thimmappa, who has been critical of state issues, said the state needs to take proactive steps to help farmers.
Citing examples of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, he said the respective state governments had initiated a number of steps which had borne fruits. “For example, the country is facing severe shortage of rainfall which has stressed the need for water conservation. If you look at Tamil Nadu or Kerala, the governments have constructed excellent check dams which are increasing the water table. However, there is no such measure being taken in Karnataka on a large scale while the existing check dams are becoming unusable due to poor qualiity of construction,” he said adding that the state should curtail the role of middlemen who were denying the rightful benefits to the farmers.
Analysing the fluctuating prices of vegetables and pulses, he said the issue could be dealt effectively if the government provides required infrastructure. There is a dire need for proper markets and cold storages which can help farmers to sell or store their goods and will also help in overcoming artificial scarcity of produces. He also suggested the state Government to coordinate with the Centre in bringing a pan-India policy on minimum support price (MSP). “Overall, the state had failed to take up steps to help farmers,” Thimmappa rued.
[dropcap style=”inverted”]He also suggested the state Government to coordinate with the Centre in bringing a pan-India policy on minimum support price (MSP). “Overall, the state had failed to take up steps to help farmers,” Thimmappa rued.[/dropcap]
Thimmappa said the farmers shouldn’t blame only governments for their problems as there was need for financial discipline. According to him, there were many examples of farmers borrowing loans more than required which was in turn pushing them to debt trap. He also wondered why there was no unity among farmers as lack of unity affecting their prospects.
Earlier, the Speaker inaugurated a documentary-Dhare Hotti Uridode (when death strides in the fields) that deals with the farmer suicides in the state. The Kannada documentary directed by journalists Maya Jaideep and Kestur Vasuki focuses on various aspects including market dynamics, cropping pattern and state policy that is playing havoc in the lives of farmers.
Poster of the Documentary film released by speaker Kagodu Thimmappa.
