Clarify stand on compensation for farmers’ deaths, HC tells state govt

BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday directed the Chief Secretary to clarify whether the family members of those farmers, who had committed suicide due to the inability to repay loans obtained from individual money lenders, should be excluded from the compensation of Rs 5 lakh. A division bench of Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice S Vishwajith Shetty passed the order after going through the affidavit filed by an officer appointed by the government to look into the reasons for farmer suicide in Shahapur taluk of Yadgir district.

The court directed the government to clear its stand, as the affidavit stated that the compensation was paid only to the family members of those farmers who had committed suicide owing to their inability to pay off loans obtained from banks. 

The court, which was hearing a PIL filed by Akhanda Karnataka Raitha Sangha about the failure to implement Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna (PMFBY), pointed at the compensation not being paid to some family members of farmers who had committed suicide due to debt obtained from private money lenders in Shahpur, and added that the cause appears to be the inability to repay debt.

Therefore, “we direct the Chief Secretary to look into the affidavit filed by an officer and take a clear stand on whether farmers, who have taken money from money lenders and committed suicide, should be excluded from the compensation of Rs 5 lakh”. 

Questioning the government as to why some farmers are forced to rely on individual money lenders to obtain loans, the HC said, “We are sure that the Chief Secretary will look into the seriousness of the situation in Shahapur taluk, wherein several farmers have committed suicide in a span of five years.” 

The court also asked the State Government to place on record the details of the District Grievance Redressal Committee, which was assigned the task of addressing grievances of farmers with regard to PMFBY.