Desicritics Comments on Vidharbha Continues to be Haunted by Farmers' Suicide

Comment by temporal

Tue, 20 Feb 2007 13:57:33 EST

deepa: suicide is the last desperate resort... the last act! why should we not give them the benefit of doubt? yes they have families and children...but why should we assume they have not explored all available avenues to the degree they can? i know...i know...from our (relatively) safe perches it is so difficult to fathom what goes on in their dark and hopeless minds and it takes a lot to become THAT disillusioned and hopeless

Comment by Deepa Krishnan

Tue, 20 Feb 2007 13:50:16 EST

I am baffled at these suicides. How does a farmer take his own life, leaving wife and children behind? Does he not realise that he leaves them destitute and even more unable to cope? That they will literally starve? And this in a place that is not far from Mumbai or Pune or Nasik. Does the farmer not think of migration? Does he not consider alternative means of livelihood? Is there is something in the Indian mindset that says it is honourable to die, rather than lose your land and way of life? Do we have a penchant for drama? Are the suicides because of despair and defeat, or is it some form of grandiose male posturing? I really want to get to the bottom of this. - Deepa

Comment by bharath

Tue, 20 Feb 2007 11:51:27 EST

Vidharbha is a very nice test case. I had a chance to listen to Palgummi Sainath narrate a story about a team of psychologists that were sent to Vidharba to study the reasons behind the farmer suicides. The team inquired about the stress of rural life and the difficulty of labor. When it was time for the team to leave, the farmers asked, "would you not ask if we have had our meal today?"

Comment by temporal

Thu, 1 Feb 2007 13:42:55 EST

hi rajen:)

Comment by temporal

Wed, 31 Jan 2007 17:47:52 EST

The Indian government has so far given 5000 crore in aid as part of the relief package. It has earmarked 2077 crore for building several irrigation projects in western Vidharbha but unfortunately none could get started because of the stringent forest laws and the unsettled issue of compensation paid to farmers for acquiring their land. 1: so who is sitting on the 5000 or 5000-2077?