In 16 years, farm suicides cross a quarter million-Maharashtra leads in statistic of shame

Maharashtra leads in statistic of shame

Mumbai,October 29, 2011

In 16 years, farm suicides cross a quarter million-

P. Sainath

It's official. The country has seen over a quarter of a million farmers’ suicides between 1995 and 2010. The National Crime Records Bureau’s latest report on ‘Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India’ places the number for 2010 at 15,964. That brings the cumulative 16-year total from 1995 — when the NCRB started recording farm suicide data — to 2,56,913, the worst-ever recorded wave of suicides of this kind in human history.

Maharashtra posts a dismal picture with over 50,000 farmers killing themselves in the country's richest State in that period. It also remains the worst State for such deaths for a decade now. Close to two-thirds of all farm suicides have occurred in five States: Maharashtra, Karnataka, A.P., Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

The data show clearly that the last eight years were much worse than the preceding eight. As many as 1,35,756 farmers killed themselves in the 2003-10 period. For 1995-2002, the total was 1,21,157. On average, this means the number of farmers killing themselves each year between 2003 and 2010 is 1,825 higher than the numbers that took their lives in the earlier period. Which is alarming since the total number of farmers is declining significantly. Compared to the 1991 Census, the 2001 Census saw a drop of over seven million in the population of cultivators (main workers). The corresponding census data for 2011 are yet to come in, but their population has surely dipped further. In other words, farm suicides are rising through the period of India's agrarian crisis, even as the number of farmers is shrinking.

While the 2010 numbers show a dip of 1,404 from the 2009 figure of 17,368, there is little to cheer about. “There was a similar dip in 2008, only to be followed by the worst numbers in six years in 2009,” points out Professor K. Nagaraj, an economist at the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai, who did the largest ever study of the farm suicides covering a decade (The Hindu, November 12-15, 2007). “This one-year decline does not in any way indicate we have turned the corner. This dip happened mostly because of one-off falls in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. In fact, a look at the ‘Big 5' who drive the numbers shows the fallout of the agrarian crisis to be as grim as ever. They have actually increased their share of the farm suicides.”

The five States with the largest share of the quarter-of-a-million farm suicides recorded in India over the past 16 years are Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

While the total number of farmers who took their own life in 2010 showed a dip from the preceding year, the share of the Big 5, in fact, rose to 66.49 per cent of all farm suicides in 2010. It was 62 per cent in 2009. Three of the Big 5 States have shown significant increases over 2009: Maharashtra (+269), Karnataka (+303), and Andhra Pradesh (+111). Nationally, the last eight years have seen on average, farmers killing themselves at a rate of one every 30 minutes.

In all, 14 of 28 States reported increases in 2010, while four have recorded declines of five or fewer suicides. The dip in 2010 comes with big falls in Chhattisgarh (-676), Tamil Nadu (-519) and Rajasthan (-461) and significant falls in Madhya Pradesh (-158), Puducherry (-150), and Uttar Pradesh (-108). West Bengal and Gujarat also report declines of 61 and 65. But the overall trend remains dismal.

In 1995, the first time the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) tabulated farm suicide data, the Big 5 accounted for 56.04 per cent of all farm suicides . In 2010, despite a one-year decline, they accounted for 66.49 per cent. Maharashtra's story is alarming. It saw 20,066 farmers kill themselves between 1995 and 2002. That stands dwarfed by the 30,415 farmers who took their lives in the next eight years. The latter period saw an annual average increase of nearly 1,155 such deaths in the State. This was also the period when money was poured into relief ‘packages' of the Prime Minister, the Chief Minister, through the loan waiver of 2008, and other measures.

During the very decade in which it reigned without break as the worst State to be a farmer in, Maharashtra rose to the first position among the big States in per capita income. Overall at Rs. 74,027, it is behind only much smaller States like Haryana and Goa. The Union Agriculture Minister is from this State and has held that post for six of those 10 years
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Suicides on the rise in Vidarbha-INDIA TODAY

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India Today India Story

Suicides on the rise in Vidarbha, Rahul Gandhi's Kalavati remains symbol of deprivation

Damayanti Datta and Kiran Tare | Vidarbha, October 28, 2011 | 17:48

Chandrakala with daughters Sonali and Payal The long, bumpy road to Jalka, 130 km from Nagpur, travels through miles of scorched cotton fields. In a tin-roofed hut, Kalawati Bandurkar, 55, sits surrounded by her six grandchildren. She tries to discipline them with an occasional shout, and then ruffles their hair in rough affection. She picks up the cranky one-year-old, Naman, her grandson who has just lost his mother. One more hungry mouth to feed in a family of eight. Kalawati's forehead pleats in a fierce frown. "You can't depend on anyone, anything. Not rains, not government." Perhaps not even on her 28-year-old daughter, Naman's mother Savita, who set herself ablaze in September. "She was bleeding continuously since Naman's birth," says Kalawati. "I used to take her to the doctor." But with money in short supply, Savita took the familiar way out. Poverty and grief stalk Kalawati's home. "I would take you to the house of Kalawati…a woman with nine children whose husband committed suicide. I would urge you to respect her." When Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi quoted her example in his July 21, 2008, Lok Sabha speech, describing how she had diversified her income, Kalawati became the symbol of rural resurgence. But Rahul didn't return to check on her. In 2010, Kalawati's son-in-law, plagued by debts, committed suicide. In September, it was her daughter-the fourth death in her family in the last six years. There's at least one Kalawati in every village in Maharashtra's "graveyard for farmers", Vidarbha. In the last 16 years, Vidarbha has recorded the largest wave of suicides in history, according to the Centre for Human Rights and Global Justice of New York University School of Law (CHRGJ). And a great number of those affected are cotton farmers. A study of official data by K. Nagaraj of the Madras Institute of Development Studies, reports that nearly 29,000 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra between 1997 and 2005 due to extreme poverty. The figure for Vidarbha is estimated to be 8,652 between 2004 and 2011. This year, 647 cases have already been reported, according to the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS). The figures hide lives ruined as collateral damage. According to some estimates, there are 1.5 million surviving family members affected by the suicides. Their stories are no less tragic. With the husband's death, a new vicious cycle of debt is set in motion: the widows inherit their husbands' debts, work round the clock to pay back as well as make ends meet, lose a way of life, status and standing in society, and the children get sucked into farm work. This is an excerpt from India Today Cover Story dated November 7, 2011. To read more, subscribe to the magazine.

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/suicide-in-vidarbha-rahul-gandhi-kalawati/1/157775.html

‘Cotton for my shroud’ won Gold at the IDPA Awards-2011 and Nominated for the Vatavaran Environment and Wildlife Film Festival-2011

Documentary on Vidarbha Agrarian Crisis ‘Cotton for my shroud’ won Gold at the IDPA Awards-2011 and Nominated for the Vatavaran Environment and Wildlife Film Festival-2011

Nagpur -26^th October 2011

The story of the cotton farmers suicides of Vidarbha produced as documentary film ‘Cotton for my shroud’ by Top Quark Films and directed by Nandan Saxena & Kavita Bahl has been overwhelmingly viewed and got a very good response at the Mumbai Film Festival, organised by MAMI which was screened at Cinemax, Versova on October 15, 2011which has won the gold for script at the IDPA Awards-2011 and It has also been nominated for the Vatavaran Environment and Wildlife Film Festival at Delhi, to be held in December 2011, Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti president Kishor Tiwari informed today.

“This is first documentary film which gives true picture of ground reality and exposes the reason of mass genocides of farmers done bt the state and US base Bt.cotton seed company Monsanto We are trying to organize screenings in different cities in other Indian metros too so that we can get civil society support which has turned it’s blind eye on this very serious issue over years .we are indebted to producer who has dared to release this documentary even after getting big hurdles from administration ”Tiwari added.

‘Cotton for my shroud’ shows story of dying field of vidarbha where more than 10,000 cotton farmers have committed suicides since 2004 after the introduction of American Bt.cotton seed as it report and

I QUOTE

You need iron in your soul to walk through the villages in Vidarbha region of India. There is hardly a farmer here who is not under debt and rarely will you come across a village where there has been no suicide. This cotton-growers belt once known for its fine cotton produce is known for cotton farmers' suicides today. It is now termed as the 'graveyard of farmers' by statisticians.

Vidarbha region in the state of Maharashtra – one of the richest states in India - has the highest instance of farmer suicides in India. With over 2.5 million tribal people, it is a classic case of a forest and mineral-rich region languishing while the funds for development are siphoned off to the 'influential' districts in the state. The voice for a separate statehood for Vidarbha is gaining momentum.

The feature-length documentary, 'Cotton for my shroud' is not reportage. The film tries to understand from a grass-roots perspective what is driving cotton farmers in India to despair - is it just a crisis of farm credit and the stranglehold of the moneylender or are they victims of faulty paradigms of development.

The agriculture policies of the Government and their collusion with multinational corporations eyeing the vast market in India - are exposed by the testimonies of farmers and scientists. Torn between aggressive marketing of supposedly 'better varieties' of transgenic crops by the State and his traditional wisdom of low-cost and eco-friendly agriculture, the farmer ultimately lands up in the honey trap of Bt. The result is in an unending cycle of debt and misery.

'Cotton for my shroud' was shot over two extensive visits to the hinterlands of Vidarbha.

In the summer, the lack of resources and bank loan for sowing the fields drives poor farmers to end their lives. In the winter, the depressed rates of cotton become the proverbial last straw.

If one farmer kills himself, we can call it a suicide. But when a quarter of a million kill themselves, how can the government call it suicide? It is genocide.

The Indian state has created conditions that are not conducive to the survival of small farmers. They want them to go, just as the small farmers disappeared in the west. In their place shall step-in large corporations that own vast swathes of farmland, growing pesticide-laced, genetically-modified food for an unsuspecting nation.Narrated in the first person, from the p.o.v of the film-makers, the film looks at the macro picture while following the lives of three families.

While the state and the media label these deaths as suicide, the cotton fields of Vidarbha remain a mute witness to genocide.The film was shot over two visits to the hinterlands of Vidarbha.

Narrated in the first person, the film looks at the macro picture while following the lives of three families. It gives us a window into the drama and despair that forms the warp and weft of life at Vidarbha.

About the Directors: Nandan Saxena & Kavita Bahl

Nandan Saxena & Kavita Bahl work in the genre of documentary and poetry films.

Their oeuvre spans the domains of ecology, livelihoods, development and human rights.

Having spent almost a decade as news-journalists, they turned a new leaf and started as independent documentary film-makers in 1996. Their films explore man’s relationship with his environment through diverse themes and issues: culture, poetry, water, climate change, sustainable livelihoods and human rights.

Their voluntary initiative ‘Via-Media’ is an effort to catalyse change by taking positive stories to receptive minds, and to build the capacity of citizens groups and movements. They take workshops to initiate inquisitive minds into film-making and photography.

Before studying journalism, both of them were students of English literature at the University of Delhi. Kavita reported for The Indian Express for seven years, of which, two were spent covering special features in the North-eastern states.

UNQUOTE

VJAS has thanked Nandan Saxena & Kavita Bahl for their grate work and pain while touring dying field of vidarbha and ‘Cotton for my shroud’ documentary will certainly boost cause of innocent cotton farmer who are victims of wrong policies of state and will force the law makers to stop this massive corruption leading genocide of farmers in future ,Tiwari said.

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Three farmers’ suicides reported on the Eve Chief Minister Vidarbha Visit

Three farmers’ suicides reported on the Eve Chief Minister Vidarbha Visit

NAGPUR: October 23, 2011

Three farmers, said to be debt-ridden, have allegedly committed suicide in Maharashtra's Vidarbha regionon eve of state Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan ,ill fated farmers are

1. Raghunath Vishwanath Gaigol, a resident of village Vitali, consumed poison yesterday and later died in a private hospital, they said.Gaigol was reeling under financial burden, but the immediate trigger for the extreme step was non-supply of regular power which prevented timely irrigation of his standing crop, they said.

2. Dnyaneshwar Sahebrao Solanki (26), a resident of Patoda, consumed poison on October 20. He, along with his father, was facing financial burden of Rs 1.62 lakh.

3.Baliram shiva Talmale of village kuhi in Nagpur district committed suicide due to debt and crop failure as reports published here taking toll 648 in year 2011 alone , Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti president Kishor Tiwari informed today.

.

In Maharashtra alone cotton is cultivated over 52 lakh hectare and the lion's share of it is in the rain fed region of Vidarbha and Marathwada where Bt.cotton crop has been failed due to long dry spell in September severely effecting the net yield of cotton by 50% resulting another Black Diwali for Bt.cotton growers who are in rip of agrarian crisis and committing suicides since June 2005 .The rain sensitive Bt.cotton seed which has increased almost triple the cultivation cost and drop down the net average cotton production per hector coupled with international market volatility and Indian Govt. export restrictions are the main reasons of prevailing distress and despair in region forcing the cotton farmers to kill themselves which is matter of national shame but complete apathy of Govt. at the centre and state are adding fuel to this on going farmers genocide, Tiwari said.

Since august party leaders who are in power are found busy in demanding MSP for cotton like public auction from Rs 5,000 or Rs 6000 per quintal and it is countered by the opposition leaders with the demand for Rs 7,000 or Rs 8,000 per quintal for the sake of political mileage making joke of the debt ridden farmers suffering as UPA Congress-NCP government has shamelessly hiked the cotton price from Rs 3,000 to Rs 3,300 a quintal in four years overlooking sky rocketing production cost which is allowing private traders to exploit the cotton farmers hence Maharashtra farmers are demanding state procurement at minimum Rs . 6000 per quintal in order to give bailout relief more than 5 million debt trapped cotton farmers of Maharashtra as there are valid reasons when The Maharashtra State Cooperative Cotton Growers Marketing Federation chairman Dr NP Hirani has demanded Rs 6,000 per quintal while MPCC president Manikrao Thakre urged Congress president Sonia Gandhi to ensure Rs 5,000 MSP followed by social justice minister Shivajirao Moghe took two MLAs along with him to New Delhi and they urged the Party President Smt.Sonia Gnadhiji to lift ban on cotton export permanently and hike the MSP to Rs 7,000 per quintal but in ground reality cotton farmers will another Black Diwali andthere are more chances of farm suicides due on going despair and distress, Tiwari added.

Looking at prevailing situation internationally wheren cotton prices are likely to soar to Rs 7,000 a quintal this year too riding on the global scarcity on account of poor crops in the US, China and Pakistan, Indian cotton farmers can hedge these prices only if central Govt. manages to raise the minimum support price to Rs 6,000 level but The government has not responded favorably disappointing cotton farmer hence we urge for urgent intervention to save dying cotton farmers, Tiwari said.

"As the reports from allover the are showing world shortage of cotton production , the Indian farmer gets advantage this time as cotton is now placed under open general license (OGL) for exports. But the OGL status should be continued. Last year, the Centre put unnecessary restrictions on exports denying farmers an opportunity to make it big. In the process they lost a market worth Rs 30,000 crore," said Tiwari.

“At the national level Maharashtra is main state which is cultivating Bt.cotton in around 52 lakh hector which is around 40% of Indian cotton cultivation moreover agrarian economy of Maharashtra is completely based on cotton production and prices hence we demand urgent intervention from Govt.” Tiwari added.

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Another ‘Black Diwali’ for five million Maharashtra Cotton Farmers due to Crop Failure and Non-Procurement from The Govt

Another ‘Black Diwali’ for five million Maharashtra Cotton Farmers due to Crop Failure and Non-Procurement from The Govt.

NAGPUR: October 21, 2011

In Maharashtra alone cotton is cultivated over 52 lakh hectare and the lion's share of it is in the rain fed region of Vidarbha and Marathwada where Bt.cotton crop has been failed due to long dry spell in September severely effecting the net yield of cotton by 50% resulting another Black Diwali for Bt.cotton growers who are in rip of agrarian crisis and committing suicides since June 2005 .The rain sensitive Bt.cotton seed which has increased almost triple the cultivation cost and drop down the net average cotton production per hector coupled with international market volatility and Indian Govt. export restrictions are the main reasons of prevailing distress and despair in region forcing the cotton farmers to kill themselves which is matter of national shame but complete apathy of Govt. at the center and state are adding fuel to this on going farmers genocide, Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti president Kishor Tiwari informed today.

Since August party leaders who are in power are found busy in demanding MSP for cotton like public auction from Rs 5,000 or Rs 6000 per quintal and it is countered by the opposition leaders with the demand for Rs 7,000 or Rs 8,000 per quintal for the sake of political mileage making joke of the debt ridden farmers suffering as UPA Congress-NCP government has shamelessly hiked the cotton price from Rs 3,000 to Rs 3,300 a quintal in four years overlooking sky rocketing production cost which is allowing private traders to exploit the cotton farmers hence Maharashtra farmers are demanding state procurement at minimum Rs . 6000 per quintal in order to give bailout relief more than 5 million debt trapped cotton farmers of Maharashtra as there are valid reasons when The Maharashtra State Cooperative Cotton Growers Marketing Federation chairman Dr NP Hirani has demanded Rs 6,000 per quintal while MPCC president Manikrao Thakre urged Congress president Sonia Gandhi to ensure Rs 5,000 MSP followed by social justice minister Shivajirao Moghe took two MLAs along with him to New Delhi and they urged the Party President Smt.Sonia Gnadhiji to lift ban on cotton export permanently and hike the MSP to Rs 7,000 per quintal but in ground reality cotton farmers will another Black Diwali andthere are more chances of farm suicides due on going despair and distress, Tiwari added.

Looking at prevailing situation internationally wheren cotton prices are likely to soar to Rs 7,000 a quintal this year too riding on the global scarcity on account of poor crops in the US, China and Pakistan, Indian cotton farmers can hedge these prices only if central Govt. manages to raise the minimum support price to Rs 6,000 level but The government has not responded favorably disappointing cotton farmer hence we urge for urgent intervention to save dying cotton farmers, Tiwari said.

"As the reports from allover the are showing world shortage of cotton production , the Indian farmer gets advantage this time as cotton is now placed under open general license (OGL) for exports. But the OGL status should be continued. Last year, the Centre put unnecessary restrictions on exports denying farmers an opportunity to make it big. In the process they lost a market worth Rs 30,000 crore," said Tiwari.

“At the national level Maharashtra is main state which is cultivating Bt.cotton in around 52 lakh hector which is around 40% of Indian cotton cultivation moreover agrarian economy of Maharashtra is completely based on cotton production and prices hence we demand urgent intervention from Govt.” Tiwari added.

शेतकऱ्यांच्या जखमेवर मीठ चोळू नका, पदांचे राजीनामे द्या कापूस हमी भाव वाढीचे कागदी घोडे

शेतकऱ्यांच्या जखमेवर मीठ चोळू नका, पदांचे राजीनामे द्या कापूस हमी भाव वाढीचे कागदी घोडे

शेतकऱ्यांच्या जखमेवर मीठ चोळू नका, पदांचे राजीनामे द्या कापूस हमी भाव वाढीचे कागदी घोडे

शेतकऱ्यांच्या जखमेवर मीठ चोळू नका, पदांचे राजीनामे द्या

कापूस हमी भाव वाढीचे कागदी घोडे यवतमाळ, १९ ऑक्टोबर / वार्ताहर दिवाळी तोंडावर आली असताना आणि कापूस पणन महासंघाची खरेदी सुरू झालेली नसताना खाजगी व्यापाऱ्यांना कापूस विकण्याशिवाय शेतकऱ्यांना पर्यायच नसल्याने ‘वाट्टेल त्या भावात’ खरेदी होत असून शेतकऱ्यांचे शोषण होत आहे, असा आरोप विदर्भ जनआंदोलन समितीने केला आहे. पणन महासंघासह विविध संघटना आणि नेते केवळ हमीभाव सहा हजार रुपये असावा, सात हजार रुपये असावा, नऊ हजार रुपये असावा, अशा केवळ मागण्या करून कागदी घोडे नाचवत शेतकऱ्यांच्या जखमेवर मीठ चोळत आहेत, अशी टीका ‘विदर्भ जनआंदोलन समिती’ चे नेते किशोर तिवारी यांनी केली आहे. यावर्षी पाऊस उशिरा सुरू झाला, नंतर पाहिजे तेव्हा आला नाही, खतांचा तुटवडा होता, कापसावर रोगांचे अतिक्रमण आले. परिणामी, यंदा कापसाचे उत्पादन मोठय़ा प्रमाणावर घटणार हे उघड आहे. अशा स्थितीत कापसाला किमान सहा हजार रुपये हमीभाव आणि प्रती क्विंटल चार हजार रुपये बोनस सरकारने दिला पाहिजे. शेतकऱ्यांसाठी सरकार काहीच करत नाही व पणन महासंघासह सारेजण केवळ मागण्यांचे कागदी घोडे नाचवत आहेत, असे तिवारी यांनी एका पत्रकात म्हटले आहे. महाराष्ट्रात ५२ लाख हेक्टर क्षेत्रावर कपाशीची लागवड झाली आहे. यवतमाळ जिल्ह्य़ात साडेपाच लाख हेक्टर क्षेत्रात कपाशी आहे मात्र, सर्वत्र उत्पादनात घट येणार आहे. दिवाळी तोंडावर आहे. कापूस खरेदीसाठी सरकार तयार नाही. खाजगी व्यापारी या संधीचा फायदा घेऊन मनमानेल त्या भावात कापूस खरेदी करत आहेत. पणन महासंघाचे अध्यक्ष डॉ. एन.पी. हिराणी म्हणतात, हमी भाव सहा हजार रुपये द्या, काँग्रेस प्रदेशाध्यक्ष आमदार माणिकराव ठाकरे म्हणतात, किमान पाच हजार रुपये हमीभाव द्या, कापूस परिषदेत सात हजाराची मागणी झाली, तर काही संघटनांनी नऊ हजाराची मागणी केली, पण प्रत्यक्षात कोणी काहीही करत नाहीत. सामाजिक न्यायमंत्री शिवाजीराव मोघे व आमदार नीलेश पारवेकर सोनिया गांधी यांना दिल्लीत भेटले आणि सात हजार रुपये हमीभाव असावा, अशी मागणी केली. हे सारे प्रकार शेतकऱ्यांच्या जखमेवर मीठ चोळणे आहे. या नेत्यांनी एकतर हमीभाव सात हजार रुपये मिळवून द्यावा किंवा पदांचे राजीनामे तरी द्यावेत आणि रस्त्यावर येऊन आंदोलन करावे, असे आवाहन विदर्भ जनआंदोलन समितीने केले आहे. कापूस उत्पादक शेतकऱ्यांचे हाल आहेत, त्यांची दिवाळी अंधारात जाणार हे कटूसत्य आहे, अशी सार्वत्रिक प्रतिक्रिया आहे.

Tiwari demands Rs 6,000 MSP for cotton-Times of India

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Kishore Tiwari demands Rs 6,000 MSP for cotton

TNN | Oct 18, 2011, 03.12AM IST
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/Tiwari-demands-Rs-6000-MSP-for-cotton/articleshow/10395293.cms

Yavatmal: Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti president Kishor Tiwari had demanded minimum support price of Rs 6,000 per quintal of cotton for farmers of Vidarbha.

In a press release on Sunday Tiwari said, "The Congress-NCP government has shamelessly hiked the cotton price from Rs 3,000 to Rs 3,300 a quintal in four years overlooking sky rocketing production cost. As a result the farmers in the country have been forced to suffer a Rs 2000 crore loss.

In Maharashtra alone cotton is cultivated over 52 lakh hectare and the lion's share of it is in the rain fed region of Vidarbha. Tiwari said. "At present these party leaders are found busy in demanding MSP for cotton like public auction," Tiwari said, adding the ruling party leaders demand for Rs 5,000 or Rs 6000 per quintal and it is countered by the opposition leaders with the demand for Rs 7,000 or Rs 8,000 per quintal for the sake of political mileage. Tiwari urged them not to make joke of the debt ridden farmers suffering only losses every season.

The Maharashtra State Cooperative Cotton Growers Marketing Federation chairman Dr NP Hirani has demanded Rs 6,000 per quintal while MPCC president Manikrao Thakre urged Congress president Sonia Gandhi to ensure Rs 5,000 MSP. A couple of days ago, social justice minister Shivajirao Moghe took two MLAs along with him to New Delhi and they urged the party president to lift ban on cotton export permanently and hike the MSP to Rs 5,000 per quintal. Tiwari urged these leaders to arrive at a consensus and insist for Rs 6,000 MSP.

He urged the opposition to launch mass agitation for Rs 6,000 per quintal MSP and Rs 4,000 special assistance loss incentive against each quintal of cotton.

‘Everyone has abandoned me’-Times of India

Publication: The Times Of India Mumbai;

Date: Oct 16, 2011;

Section: Times City;

Page: 8

‘Everyone has abandoned me’
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Sukhada Tatke TNN
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Farm widow Aparna Mallikar’s KBC win turned sour when relatives, money lenders and fake creditors descended on her, demanding their share. It’s the same story everywhere

THE BIG PICTURE Days before Aparna Mallikar was to appear on KBC, her brother-in-law, who’s an NCPturned-Congress leader and former mayor of Nagpur, called the organisers and said that her husband’s was not a case of farm suicide, and that the suicide was, in fact, propelled by Mallikar’s parents and herself

It took a few moments of intense uncertainty before Aparna Mallikar, 27, decided to relinquish her hot seat opposite Amitabh Bachchan. Something told her that the answer to the question he had just posed (‘Who wrote 4000 abhangs on Vithoba?’) was Sant Tukaram—but not wanting to lose out on what was within reach, she chose to withdraw from the contest with a prize money of Rs 6.40 lakh. She believed the amount would be enough to bail her out of the misery awaiting her back home in the hamlet of Vara-Kawatha in Yavatmal district, about 750 kilometers away from the glamour of where she was. Instead, there was more anguish lingering at her doorstep.

Aparna, whose debt-ridden, cotton-growing farmer husband Sanjay ended his life in August 2008, thought that winning the money would, if not entirely put an end to her family’s misfortune, at least temporarily assuage their distress. However, the sudden windfall and the publicity accompanying it translated into burgeoning problems with her in-laws, the arrival of a clutch of people posing as creditors and an unprecedented increase in familial and neighbourhood discord. Amitabh Bachchan, moved by her sorry tale, gave her Rs 1 lakh. The money that she won on the show, aired on September 29, is yet to be transferred to her.

After her husband’s death, Aparna was left to raise her two daughters, eight-year-old Rohini and four-year-old Samruddhi, all by herself (Samruddhi was barely nine months old when her father consumed pesticide). Sanjay’s debts to private moneylenders and banks stood at Rs 2 lakh. The family did not get compensation from the government, as his suicide was considered “ineligible” for it. In the circumstances, KBC could have been the panacea but it was not to be.

“The problems started even before my show was aired,” says Aparna. “Days before I was to appear on it, my brother-in-law, who’s an NCPturned-Congress leader and former mayor of Nagpur, called the organisers and said that my husband’s was not a case of farm suicide, and that the suicide was, in fact, propelled by my parents and me. The allegations took a great mental toll on me. As if I hadn’t borne a heavy enough burden after my husband died, I had to now start proving with documents that he had indeed ended his life because of debts. My in-laws, who abandoned my daughters and me days after my husband died, have been trying to ensure that the money doesn’t reach me. Various other people are approaching me, saying that they had lent my husband money, but I have no way to verify this.”

Aparna’s is not an isolated case—very often, a simple act of assistance has turned into a nightmare for widows because of the publicity surrounding it. When Rahul Gandhi visited and later mentioned Kalawati Bandurkar from Jalka village in Yavatmal during a Lok Sabha debate in 2008, she went on to become the face of the agrarian crisis in Vidarbha. Soon enough, help poured in for this mother of nine, whose husband’s death had drained her emotionally and financially. As the news spread and grabbed the attention of everyone from local leaders to the global media, several hawks swooped down, demanding money. “Suddenly, her family members increased. Those who were never around earlier came and started demanding their share of the money. It caused a lot of problems,” says Kishore Tiwari, leader of the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti, afarmers’ advocacy group.

Magsaysay award winner P Sainath, who has worked to highlight the agrarian crisis for over a decade, explains that the problem often arises after a huge public spectacle is made of the simple act of extending assistance to an affected family. “When one draws attention to help given or received, one invites a host of predators to descend on the widow and children, including all the creditors of her late husband and money lenders,” he says. “Most of this debt is illegal. Even though the principal amount is repaid several times over, high interest rates ensure that the widow can never be out of debt. Also, more often than not, the farmer never consults his wife and doesn’t even keep her in the loop about his financial transactions, most of which are based on word of honour. After he dies is probably the first time that the wife meets his creditors. While some of them exaggerate the amounts owed to them, others are plain frauds.”

A few years ago, a Californian idealist read about farmers’ suicides in Andhra Pradesh and decided to clear all the widows’ debts. While his visit was accompanied by a flood of media publicity, the entire amount went to money lenders. The result, says Sainath, was the same as in most cases: “The widows were left with nothing.”

In many cases, a widow gets socially isolated and at the receiving end of resentment and jealousy from neighbours and family members who are all in the same, impoverished state. “When Amitabh Bachchan asked me why I still wore a mangalsutra, I told him it was to ward off unwelcome male attention,” says Aparna. “But now my in-laws and others have been taunting me, saying the mangalsutrais a sign of another man’s presence.” Tears well up in her eyes as she ends, “This is the most difficult part of the journey.”

Congress –NCP Political War on Cotton MSP makes Mockery of Cotton Farmer’s Crisis-VJAS

Congress –NCP Political War on Cotton MSP makes Mockery of Cotton Farmer’s Crisis-VJAS

Nagpur -16^th October 2011

Recent demand congress party senior Minister in Maharashtra Govt. Shivajirao Moghe that central Govt. should raise Minimum Support Price MSP of cotton to Rs.7000/- per quintal as against Rs.3,300 per quintal fixed by Central Govt. for cotton season 2011-12 to UPA convener Smt.Sonia Gandhi who he met yesterday along with delegation of MLAs of west vidarbha , has initiated political war with it’s political partner NCP as NCP controlled Maharashtra cotton marketing federation chairman Dr.N.P.Hirani has officially urged central Govt. earlier to raise cotton MSP to Rs.6000/- per quintal by giving all logistic and economics behind the demand as CACP has not considered it while declaring the MSP has made mockery of 3 million cotton farmers who are committing suicides since 2005 due to agrarian crisis and this political war to take credit of non-doing will further aggravate the crisis resulting more farm suicides in west vidarbha , Kishore Tiwari of cotton farmers’ advocacy group Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti-VJAS who is demanding urgent revision in MSP and procurement of cotton by state owned agency NAFED informed in press release today .

“Earlier MPCC President Manikrao Thakare wrote to Prime Minister on this serious issue of injustice with cotton growers of region who are innocent victims of wring policies of central Govt. while declaring MSP by CACP which is controlled by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar , has ignored all norms all facts and declared MSP at Rs.3,300 under the pressure of textile lobby asked urged centre to raise it Rs.5000 per quintal and in reply to this NCP controlled Maharashtra cotton marketing federation wrote second letter to PMO demanding the revision of cotton MSP to Rs.6,000 per quintal but the ground reality is central Govt. has shown dustbin to both letters and distressed and debt trapped cotton farmers are forced to sale their cotton in throw away price and are committing suicides that’s most unfortunate ” Tiwari added.

‘If NCP wants cotton farmers should get MSP of Rs.6,000/- then they should part with centre and state Govt .on this issue and same is the case with MPCC President Manikrao Thakare and all Ministers/MLAs of vidarbha should resign from party to save dying cotton growers who are committing suicides due economic losses after the crop failure this year .the current situation in west vidarbha and part of maharashtra is too worst to describe as cotton crop in around 52 lakhs hector has been failed and cotton growers in the region are in deep economic crisis needs urgent bailout package hence Cong.-NCP should stop political war of cotton MSP issue and ask Govt. to start procurement of cotton through CCI or NAFED ar the MSP Rs.6000/- per quintal’ VJAS demanded.

केबीसी फेम अपर्णा मालीकरचा सासरच्या मंडळीकडून छळ, सोनियांकडे मदतीची याचना

STAR Majha Marathi news: Featuring latest news from Mumbai, Maharashtra, Konkan, pune, Nagpur. Exclusive coverage of Marathi news.

केबीसी फेम अपर्णा मालीकरचा सासरच्या मंडळीकडून छळ, सोनियांकडे मदतीची याचना

नितीन भागवते, प्रतिनिधी, स्टार माझा

यवतमाळ : अमिताभ बच्चनच्या केबीसीमध्ये हॉट सीट वर बसलेली शेतकरी विधवा काँग्रेस नेत्याच्या जाचामुळे त्रस्त झाली आहे. अखेर या छळातून मुक्ती मिळण्यासाठी या विधवेने थेट सोनिया गांधींना साद घातली आहे. स्थानिक काँग्रेस नेत्यांकडून होणारा जाच न थांबल्यास आत्महत्या करण्याची धमकीही या विधवेनं दिली आहे.

पतीच्या आत्महत्येनंतर शेतात राबून आपल्या दोन लहान मुलींचे पालन पोषण करणारी वारा कवठा येथील अपर्णा मालीकर कौन बनेगा करोडपती या कार्यक्रमामुळे प्रसिद्धीच्या झोतात आली. या कार्यक्रमातून तिला सहा लाख चाळीस हजार रुपये आणि अमिताभ बच्चन यांच्याकडून व्यक्तिगत एक लाख रुपये मदत मिळाली. एकीकडे अपर्णाला मदत तसेच प्रसिद्धी मिळाली मात्र तिच्या सासरची मंडळी दुखावली गेली.

अपर्णाचे भासरे तसेच काँग्रेसचे स्थानिक नेते असलेल्या रघुनाथ मालीकर यांनी तिला त्रास द्यायला सुरू केलाय. परिवाराची करीत असलेली शेती सुद्धा तिच्या पासून हडपण्याचा प्रयत्न सुरु झाल्याचा तिचा आरोप आहे.

विशेष म्हणजे तिच्या सासरच्या मंडळींनी केबीसीमध्ये जाण्यापासून तिला अडविण्याचाही पुरेपूर प्रयत्न केला. समाजात जाणीवपूर्वक बदनामी करण्याचा प्रयत्न सुरु असल्याने अखेर त्रस्त होवून अपर्णाने थेट सोनिया गांधीकडे मदतीची याचना केली आहे. स्थानिक काँग्रेस नेत्यांकडून होत असलेला त्रास कमी झाला नाही तर आत्महत्या करण्याची धमकीही दिली आहे.

तीन वर्षापूर्वी अपर्णाचे पती संजय यांनी विष पिऊन करून आत्महत्या केली. या नंतर अपर्णाच्या सासरच्या लोकांनी अपर्णाचे वडील आणि भाऊ यांच्या विरोधात तक्रार केल्याने आजही या दोघांवर न्यायालयात केस चालू आहे. आता अपर्णाला सुधा त्रास द्यायला सुरूवात केलीय.

अमिताभ बच्चन सारख्या महान कलाकाराने जिची पाठ थोपटून प्रशंसा केली तिथे सासरच्या लोकांनी मात्र तिचा छळ सुरु केला आहे. पतीच्या मृत्युनंतर धीर न सोडता शेतात राबून आपल्या लहान मुलींचे भविष्य घडविण्याचा प्रयत्न करणाऱ्या या विधवेच्या हाकेला सोनिया गांधी कसा प्रतिसाद देतात, याकडे सर्वांचे लक्ष लागले आहे.

KBC Vidarbha Farm Widow Threaten to commit suicide - Aparna Malikar’s urged Smt.Sonia Gandhi for intervention

KBC Vidarbha Farm Widow Threaten to commit suicide - Aparna Malikar’s urged Smt.Sonia Gandhi for intervention

Varha-kawadha -8^th October 2011

Vidarbha farm widow who is the news due to entry on hot seat on popular Hindi serial of ‘Sony TV -Kaun Banega Crorepati(KBC)’ Aprana Maliker has threaten to commit suicide along with her father and brother if atrocities done by local congress leader who his her brother of her husband and local police are not stopped .she has written letter to UPA chief Smt.Sonia Gandhi on Affidavit narrating her pathetic condition and grave injustice done after her husband committed suicide due crop failure and huge debt urging soniaji for urgent intervention in order to save dying family.

Narrating her saga in a letter farm widows has high lighted the plights of 8,000 vidarbha farm widows who are facing same fate after their husband are committing suicide as these widows are denied the right to cultivate and they are forced to leave the house and blamed for the tragedies asking UPA chief to create law to protect rights of farm wdows and provide complete rehabilitation package ,Aparna Malikar urged in a affidavit submitted to her.

Un folding her untold saga ,farm widows affidavit throw light on the fact that how the unfortunate death of husband of vidarbha farm widow who is victim of on going agrarian crisis happens to be the younger brother of Nagpur base congress leader and deputy mayor of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) and Politically very close to maharashtra home ministry Aaba Patil, can force farm widows to see her father and brother behind the bar and her removal from house before funeral of the diseased debt-trap farmer ,KBC’s fame Vidarbha Farm widow Aparna Malikar informed in letter on affidavit .

She adds in her letter that ‘My husband Sanjay Malikar was cultivating the family owned land since 2001 and he was official cultivator of the land as official revenue record but all income was shared by other brothers Raghunath,Sunil and Raju who are staying at Nagpur but when agrarian crisis started 2005 and cotton economy collapse ,heavy losses in Agriculture change the happy days turned in to gloomy one when debt started mounting creating fresh default with banks and harassment from the family members that forced him to kill himself but tragedy which has not darken by future but he has stuck to parent very badly when Raghunath Malikar used his political contacts and turned case farmers suicide in to culpable homicide lodging the FIR against my father Arun tathe and brother Amol Tathe and me too and police booked offence against us and arrested my father and brother ,they were behind the bar for more than 45 days ,it was not enough for these brothers who forced to out of my house and locked house but decided to live there only occupy the house and land and started cultivating it but atrocities are till continued and my parents are going to court and am also fighting legal battle to get my right of land .after the struggle of survival now I have got the strength and confidence to restart the life hence I joined open university to complete my matriculation .before the help from mega star Abhitabh Bachachan it was helping hand from P.sainath Mumbai and Adv.Amita Joseph New Delhi who helped me start cultivation and education of two daughters now KBC has changed my life but I an scared of past experience and pray the god not repeat the same ’ Aparna Malikar said .

‘when hundreds of vidarbha farm widows shared their experience this is common problem and serious plights farm widows of early 30s as most of widows are denied the land right and blamed for the suicide of husband and forced to leave the house ,if they are fighting for their legal land right they subjected for the severe atrocities and life is made miserable and civil society is mare spectators is most of cases hence we are demanding the proper rehabilitation and protection to all farm widows who are facing the similar problem like me.KBC can focus problem one Aparna but what about thousand of Aparnas who are dying before the death ’Malikar added.

‘when BigB asked ,you are widow but till you are wearing ‘Mangalsutra’ ,my answer was to protect from society this is must ,he was shocked and touched but I was cool as this was simple question for me and for all widows who lost husband in early 30s as well. KBC has given the opportunity to civil society to respond to answer and we are victims of the decision of our father to select farmer as our life partner when we are told that India in last decade more than two lacs fourty thousand farmer killed themselves and vidarbha has been farm suicide capital of India ,I will request all parents not marry their beloved daughter to cotton farmer of vidarbha to avoid humiliation, gloom and despondency and jail too.’ Aparna urged.

‘The joy of being celebrity of KBC was short-lived when VJAS activist came to house in night and told me that Raghunath Malikar has claimed that his younger brother was not farmer and he was never debt-trapped asked me more over he also informed that I am not farm widows too ,Activist asked me give all papers and bank notice copy too which I gave him, we are now very much scared as I don’t want any more police custody to father and brother and I want live peaceful life with two daughter even without KBC price money and if we are not saved from on going atrocities we will forced to committee suicide ’ Aparna Malikar added in her affidavit cum letter addressed to Smt.Soniaji Gandhi.