Brunda Sahu's death fails to wake up Government

SAMBALPUR: With the fate of Land Tenancy Act hanging in the balance and the Centre being non-committal on its promised hike in minimum support price (MSP), the spate of suicides among farmers in western Odisha has become a cause for concern. The death of Brunda Sahu, who set his crop on fire before consuming poison, has failed to wake up the Government.

While the State Government refuses to own up suicide by farmers due to crop loss or loan, the BJP is insisting on payment of bonus on paddy. The visit of two Union ministers deputed by the BJP seems to have failed to bail out the distressed farmers.

The State Government has not denied crop loss due to Brown Plant Hopper (BPH) attack, but refuses to own up the deaths of farmers because of crop loss. The fact remains that the sharecroppers had availed loans from private money lenders, including the SHGs, who shell out loan at 22 to 25 per cent interest.  The BPH has damaged crop and farmers are committing suicides as they are left with no  means to repay loan.

On November 1, sharecropper Brunda Sahu of Bargarh committed suicide and his death triggered outrage across the State. Eleven more suicides have taken place in Bargarh till now. All that Brunda’s family got was 140 bags of paddy from 16 acres of land he had cultivated, each weighing 75 kg, when it should have been 400 bags as per the State Government calculations. The Opposition is more interested to corner the State Government on the issue rather than coming up with remedial measures.

The blame game that has been unleashed now has proved beyond doubt that suicide by farmers has become more political than socio-economic issue. While the State Government is being painted anti-farmer, the Opposition is trying to project itself as the messiah of farmer.  Prime Minister Narendra Modi swore by Swaminathan Commission and promised to hike MSP by 1.5 times of production cost. He had even promised to double the income of the farmers by 2022 when on the ground, things remain unchanged and farmers continue to suffer silently.