WHY FARMERS COMMIT SUICIDE?
Recently, I received a circular about Matha Amrithanandamayi donating Rs 200 Crores to the cause of preventing Farmer suicides in Maharashtra.IT IS A WELCOME SIGN THAT OUR RELIGIOUS LEADERSHIP IS SUPPORTING GOOD SOCIAL CAUSES.BUT FARMER’S SUICIDES ALL OVER INDIA NEEDS SOME INTROSPECTION.
Actual reason for farmer’s suicides is that Gods have taken away the Farmer’s right on seeds and handed over to multinationals like Cargill, Monsanto and Syngenta.They made the Indian farmer dependent on fertilizers and pesticides . Poor peasants had to buy seeds from Corporates.Now Ambanis buy the farm products at throw away prices from the dying farmers and we gladly buy them from Reliance Stores at exorbitant prices without bargaining.
In India Farmer suicides have been going on since 1997.Due to corporate globalization, farming has become expensive and farm commodity prices have fallen. Over 25000 farmers have so far committed suicide.
When Monsanto introduced BT Cotton in India our farmers lost I billion Rupees.
Farmers in Kerala or Maharashtra or Bihar are too poor to fight the multinationals. For each ton of Soya bean produced in USA, American Govt pays 190 $ as subsidy, thus reducing the price of Soya. Cheap Soya import has destroyed the future of Coconut farmers in Kerala and Mustard farmers of Bengal and Groundnut farmers of Maharashtra.
Cotton growers in US get 4 billion Dollars annually as subsidy and US cotton prices are lowered artificially. Where will the Maharashtrian cotton farmer sell his cotton crop? What will he do to control his debts? What can he do except commit suicide?
Indian farmers are said to be loosing 26 billion dollars anually.This is the cause for suicides. Cause of these suicides has nothing to do with Alcoholism or lack of religiosity. It is purely Economics. There are studies to show that only 17% of those who committed suicide were alchoholics.54% had borrowed from money lenders.Tata Institute of Social Sciences made a study in Maharashtra and concluded that 93% cases were due to debts.
What AMRUTHANANDAMAYI HAS DONE IS INDEED LAUDABLE. But giving Rs.200 Crores will not do anything to remove this gigantic problem. Though it is at best a welcome symbolic gesture, much more need to be done. She is a respected Religious leader with a substantial following. Prime ministers and Cabinet ministers and Governors and Industrialists queue up for her blessings. She must use this clout to give them some good advice: WHAT SHE CAN DO:
· Advise our rulers to make policy changes that will help the farmers.
· Stop unfair global trade that resists development.
· Persuading farmers and personal counseling as Amma has prescribed is not the solution. Let her help in creating public opinion (or divine intervention if possible to remove the root causes of this imposed poverty).
· Persuade nationalized banks and financial institutions to give easy credit to farmers and save them from the clutches of private money lending sharks.
· 98% of the farmers who committed suicide had no irrigation facilities. Tell govt leaders to act or make the Gods give regular rain.
· Ask Vilasrao Deshmukh who shared the stage with her to jail private money lenders who squeeze blood out of the farmers.
· Ask finance minister to make nationalized banks responsive to farmer’s economic problems.
· Ask Chidambaram to raise import duty on cotton as correctly advised by M.S.Swaminathan.
· Mataji can tell her leftist followers in Kerala not to support the actions of Communist governments who shoot down their own farmers.
· Advice her followers in Government that mindless production of cars without keeping money to invest in agriculture and spreading the country’s wealth to smaller people will create more suicides.
Let us look forward to more help from her illuminated mind.
A.P.Jayanthram
22.3.07
Recently, I received a circular about Matha Amrithanandamayi donating Rs 200 Crores to the cause of preventing Farmer suicides in Maharashtra.IT IS A WELCOME SIGN THAT OUR RELIGIOUS LEADERSHIP IS SUPPORTING GOOD SOCIAL CAUSES.BUT FARMER’S SUICIDES ALL OVER INDIA NEEDS SOME INTROSPECTION.
Actual reason for farmer’s suicides is that Gods have taken away the Farmer’s right on seeds and handed over to multinationals like Cargill, Monsanto and Syngenta.They made the Indian farmer dependent on fertilizers and pesticides . Poor peasants had to buy seeds from Corporates.Now Ambanis buy the farm products at throw away prices from the dying farmers and we gladly buy them from Reliance Stores at exorbitant prices without bargaining.
In India Farmer suicides have been going on since 1997.Due to corporate globalization, farming has become expensive and farm commodity prices have fallen. Over 25000 farmers have so far committed suicide.
When Monsanto introduced BT Cotton in India our farmers lost I billion Rupees.
Farmers in Kerala or Maharashtra or Bihar are too poor to fight the multinationals. For each ton of Soya bean produced in USA, American Govt pays 190 $ as subsidy, thus reducing the price of Soya. Cheap Soya import has destroyed the future of Coconut farmers in Kerala and Mustard farmers of Bengal and Groundnut farmers of Maharashtra.
Cotton growers in US get 4 billion Dollars annually as subsidy and US cotton prices are lowered artificially. Where will the Maharashtrian cotton farmer sell his cotton crop? What will he do to control his debts? What can he do except commit suicide?
Indian farmers are said to be loosing 26 billion dollars anually.This is the cause for suicides. Cause of these suicides has nothing to do with Alcoholism or lack of religiosity. It is purely Economics. There are studies to show that only 17% of those who committed suicide were alchoholics.54% had borrowed from money lenders.Tata Institute of Social Sciences made a study in Maharashtra and concluded that 93% cases were due to debts.
What AMRUTHANANDAMAYI HAS DONE IS INDEED LAUDABLE. But giving Rs.200 Crores will not do anything to remove this gigantic problem. Though it is at best a welcome symbolic gesture, much more need to be done. She is a respected Religious leader with a substantial following. Prime ministers and Cabinet ministers and Governors and Industrialists queue up for her blessings. She must use this clout to give them some good advice: WHAT SHE CAN DO:
· Advise our rulers to make policy changes that will help the farmers.
· Stop unfair global trade that resists development.
· Persuading farmers and personal counseling as Amma has prescribed is not the solution. Let her help in creating public opinion (or divine intervention if possible to remove the root causes of this imposed poverty).
· Persuade nationalized banks and financial institutions to give easy credit to farmers and save them from the clutches of private money lending sharks.
· 98% of the farmers who committed suicide had no irrigation facilities. Tell govt leaders to act or make the Gods give regular rain.
· Ask Vilasrao Deshmukh who shared the stage with her to jail private money lenders who squeeze blood out of the farmers.
· Ask finance minister to make nationalized banks responsive to farmer’s economic problems.
· Ask Chidambaram to raise import duty on cotton as correctly advised by M.S.Swaminathan.
· Mataji can tell her leftist followers in Kerala not to support the actions of Communist governments who shoot down their own farmers.
· Advice her followers in Government that mindless production of cars without keeping money to invest in agriculture and spreading the country’s wealth to smaller people will create more suicides.
Let us look forward to more help from her illuminated mind.
A.P.Jayanthram
22.3.07
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