The Akhil Bhartiya Kisan Mahasabha has held the Uttarakhand state government responsible for the suicide for Surendra Singh, a farmer from Doldungri village of Berinag block in Uttarakhand. The Kisan Mahasabha state President Com. Purshottam Sharma said that the farmers of the state were in a dire state owing to the anti-farmers’ policies of the state government. If the loans of the farmers are not waived off, there might be an increase in farmers’ suicide in the state. A fact-finding team from Kisan Mahasabha will soon visit Doldungri. Com. Purshottam also added that farmers are beginning to leave farming in the mountains due to the terror of wild animals. The little farming that is still possible on the river beds is also becoming vulnerable to attacks from wild animals. In the last years there has been a drastic reduction in the employment in rural areas under the MNREGA scheme and the ones who have found employment also have not yet received proper payments. The farmers in the state are facing a grave situation in absence of food and employment. In such a situation, they are unable to pay
the loans. The All India Kisan Mahasabha has demanded- a compensation of 1 crore for the family of the victim, waiving off of all loans of the farmers in the state, security for agriculture from wild animals in mountain regions, guarantee of procurement of farmers’ produce and profitable minimum support price for agricultural and dairy products.
In Jharkhand, the All India Kisan Mahasabha held protests against the suicides of two farmers in Pithoria block in rural Ranchi, one on 9 June and another on 15 June, due to debt burden.
