Farmers’ Suicides and Rural Starvation in the Shadow of Globalisation
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
The Indian Institute of Marxist Studies has produced this booklet in response to the current crisis gripping Indian agriculture, and
Five years ago, farmers’ suicides were considered to be a temporary phenomenon. But, today what we are witnessing refutes that story. Farmers’ suicides regularly appear in the newspaper columns of
The organised attempts to study the phenomenon of suicides undertaken by the governments of Punjab and Karnataka have proved to be superficial and designed to toe the official line. The
Almost all suicide victims belong to the category of small and marginal peasants. So, not only the Veeresh Committee of Karnataka but also the National Agricultural Policy suggests consolidation of
Most of the farmers who committed suicides owe heavy debts to usurious moneylenders, in some cases, to banks as well. Many moneylenders have invested crores of rupees in this business.
Pesticides and fertilizers constitute major part of the expenses of agricultural operations apart from high electricity tariff. Farmers, hoping against hope, have been using much larger doses of pesticides to
The farmers’ movement as a whole is already forced to make a strategic shift from demanding remunerative prices to minimum support prices. Even minimum support has become a mirage in
Developed countries like America subsidise agriculture, categorizing it into the Amber Box, Blue Box and Green Box. The total subsidy in America has reached more than $90 billion in 1994
In the backdrop of increasing number of suicides being reported from many state’s, extending institutional credit to farmers and rural areas is a crying need. But, the trend is in
The attempt for domination by multinational companies is more focused in the seed sector. Agri-business TNCs and private houses are hell bent on establishing their stranglehold on the seed business.
Millions of people go to bed hungry every night. Already thousands have died of endemic hunger and malnutrition in states like Rajasthan, Orissa, etc. Even in some pockets of the
While starvation deaths are closely related to the policies of distribution and food security, farmers’ suicides are closely related to the policies of agricultural production and porocurement. Starvation is basically
Farmers’ movement in India has been traditionally led by rich, capitalist farmers and kulaks in India. The present turbulence is more obviously intense among the lower strata of peasantry while
Determined implementation of a comprehensive program of radical land reforms to eliminate the vestiges of landlordism and ensure land to the tiller
Scrapping of all anti-farmer agreements signed in the name
An extremely outrageous situation has surfaced in Anantpur District. Forty-five suicides of farmers have taken place within fifty days in early 2003, according to Eenadu, a local newspaper. P. Sainath
A Committee headed by Mr. G.K. Veeresh, former Vice-Chancellor of Karnataka Agricultural University, was appointed to probe the cause of mounting farmers' suicides by the state government of Karnataka. The
The three districts together form one of the most economically backward regions of India that makes headlines for starvation deaths and sale of children.
Kalahandi, Bolangir and Koraput first came into
Water has become a commodity. Water has also become a source of power. In South Africa, control over water resources is a more powerful control of dominance than the control
In Sonebhadra district of UP 18 children of Ghasia tribe died due to starvation in the past one year. These deaths occurred in Naibasti hamlet of Rupgaon village. Of these,