Govt's schemes no solution to farmer's suicides :HC

Nagpur, Oct 4 (UNI) The schemes being implemented by Maharashtra Government to tackle the large number of suicides by farmers in Vidarbha region of the state would not provide long-lasting solution to the serious problem, the Bombay High Court observed today.

Hearing a petition on the agrarian crisis in Vidarbha, a division bench here comprising of Justice Dilip Sinha and Justice Bhushan Dharmadhikariench directed the state government to file an affidavit within a month about the other methods that it proposed to adopt to resolve the problem in the long term.

''It is no doubt true that efforts are being made by the state government to tackle the issue of suicides by cotton growing farmers in six districts of Vidarbha region. However, waiver of loan and evolving of methodology and schemes by itself, in our view, will not provide long lasting solution to eradicate the serious issue,'' the bench said.

''We have informed the assistant public prosecutor about the other methods that the state government is expected to look at,'' the court said, adding that these were not being mentioned in the day's order since the counsel had sought time to discuss these issues with the government and assured the bench that an additional affidavit in this regard would be filed, if necessary, at the next date of hearing. Looking to the seriousness of the issue involved, it will be appropriate to grant four weeks' time to the state government to file its reply,'' they said.

The petition, filed by Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS), a non-government organisation working among farmers in the region, has sought, among other things, complete waiver of loans of farmers, food security to them, restoration of bonus payment to cotton cultivators and generation of employment opportunities in rural areas to surmount the ongoing agrarian crisis.

UNI