Debt-ridden farmers will vote with a hope

Khanna: It has been one year, 11 months and 24 days since 69-year-old Gurdeep Singh of Ghudani Kalan lost his farmer son to debt. Living in acute poverty, he feels dejected for his plight as he has to work hard to repay debt of his family and is left with curses for the successive governments which haven’t done much to change the fate of farmers in the state. However, despite the feeling of anger and helplessness, he has not given up hope on the political system and will vote in Lok Sabha Elections on Sunday.
“About 10 years back, I owned five acres of farm land. But because of debt of Rs 40-45 lakh on my family, we had to sell most of the land. Still we could not get over it. As ‘arhityas’ (money lenders), banks and private persons from whom we had taken loan would keep asking for repayment. Losing all hopes, my 27-year-old son Palwinder Singh ended his life by jumping into a canal near Rara Sahib. After his death, the authorities promised us that they will pay us Rs 2 lakh compensation, but I am yet to get the same after making dozens of rounds of high offices,” said Gurdeep Singh. “Despite the shabby treatment at the hands of politicians, we continue to vote during elections hoping that some politicians would seriously try to resolve our issues.”
There are several farmers in the villages like Gurdeep Singh, who would vote in the Lok Sabha elections on Sunday with a hope in their eyes.
Mewa Singh, 65, a frail farmer of Faizgarh, still remembers his son Gurmeet Singh dying in front of his eyes on July 3, 2011. “He was a sensitive person and couldn’t bear with the burden on the family as there was a debt of about Rs 22 lakh. Though he gave up, we are still paying the debt and it seems we will have to pay it throughout our life,” said Mewa Singh. “The government has failed us, but we are voting in elections as there is no point in giving up and we know what to do with our votes,” added Singh, who has four voters in the family.
Local volunteers and activists who have been fighting for the cause of farmers said the village has witnessed more than 10 cases of suicides because of debt in the last few years.
“10 such families in the village have got compensation and about the same number of such families are fighting for the financial relief. Many such families want to press NOTA as both the state and Union governments have failed them,” said Sudagar Ghudani, of Bhartiya Kisan Union. He blames successive governments’ apathy in mitigating the suffering of farmers of the state which contributes maximum to the food bowl of the country.
A farmer in Galib Kalan village of Jagraon avers that they do want to press NOTA button when they vote, but feel that they may not form significant number for disqualification of traditional party candidates.
“We have heard that the elections get cancelled on the seat wherein 15% of voters opt for NOTA. Feeling let down by the system, we want to press that button but what is the fun of doing that when we don’t get necessary numbers,” said Shamsher Singh of Galib Kalan, whose father ended his life because of debt on April 27, 2016. “It is not difficult for governments to change the fate of farmers in state as they can do it by implementing M S Swaminathan committee recommendation, provide proper subsidy on the inputs including fertilizers, manures etc, getting crop insurance to the farmers”.
He added that they have lost hope in the system but will still be voting with hope that something may change.
Renowned agricultural economist Dr Sardara Singh Johal said despite the successive governments failing these families, they still fulfill their duty of voting in elections.
‘Govts should be like mother’
Rashpal Kaur, 62, who had lost her son Taranjeet Singh due to debt, said that governments should act like mother and should feel the pain of people. She added that for last many years they have been waiting for compensation (that is given in such cases) but they are yet to get the same.
BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) leader Saudagar Singh of Ghudani village in Payal said 14 cases of suicides have been recorded in Faizgarh since 2010. He added that of these 14 cases, they have got compensation in just four cases.