We hear heart-wrenching stories of poverty and economic miseries that force a farmer commit suicide. The general impression among the people is that farmer, following a failure of the crop, would be thrown into the debt trap. Unable to repay the loan taken either from local moneylender or the banks, the farmers consumes pesticide, the only stuff readily available in the dingy hut, and commits suicide. Loan waivers, input subsidies and other benefit schemes have never really touched the core of the issues. In this backdrop, in a report submitted to the government, West Godavari District collector , unwittingly narrated circumstances that led Sonti Lakshmana Swamy commit suicide leaving his family shattered. The state government today extended an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the family of Lakshmana Swamy. The collector’s reports revealed many distressing aspects of farmers’ life in Andhra Pradesh. The report said the government took back the land, which it itself had given him long back, to construct the right main canal of Polavaram project. Of course, some compensation had been paid. But, in the process, he had been rendered landless. The cash had got evaporated into thin air forcing him to take some land on lease and a loan of Rs 5 lakh. When the crop failed , the landless farmer or tenant farmer found no way to repay the loan and finally committed suicide.
Andhra Pradesh government, while releasing the ex-gratia to the kin of Lakshman Swamy, also made his pathetic story public. This is the story in the words of the government.
“….the District Collector, West Godavari has stated that a farmer Sri Sonti Lakshmana Swami S/o Veeranna, Devarapalli Mandal committed suicide by consuming poison on 14.10.2015. The deceased farmer had borrowed Rs.5.00 Lakhs from various sources. Subsequently the amount of debt increased due to lower returns from tobacco crop over the past three/four years. Long time back, Government have assigned Agricultural Land about Ac.1.80 cents at Bandapuram Village of Devarapalli Mandal to the deceased and an extent of Ac.1.20 Cents was resumed back by paying compensation due to acquisition of land in Right Main Canal under Polavaram Irrigation Project. He used to grow Tobacco crop by taking about Ac.6.00 on lease for the last 4 Years. Due to mounting of debts, he left the lease and grown Paddy in his own filed in the current year. The deceased faced a series of troubles and inexplicable problems. The deceased went into economic distress eventually leading to committing of suicide.”
“The Collector, West Godavari District has therefore requested the Government to release an amount of Rs.5.00 Lakhs under Chief Minister Relief Fund for disbursing the same to the bereaved family members of the deceased farmer.”
