Depressed over low wheat yield, farmer dies by suicide; 14th such death in Punjab in April

Manjit owned a small piece of land and had taken 18 acres on contract basis. He owed Rs 17 lakh to banks. Manjit is survived by his wife and two sons, his brother Sarabjit said and demanded that the state government give a suitable compensation.

As per the data compiled by BKU Ugrahan, 14 farmers have died by suicide in different parts of Punjab.

Shingara Singh Maan, vice president, BKU Ugrahan, said, “Farmer Randhir Singh of Bhagivander village in Talwandi Sabo constituency of Bathinda district was found dead in the village pond on April 21. He was facing financial crisis due to low wheat yield.”

Prior to that, on April 20, farmer Jaspal Singh, a resident of Maiserkhana village in Bathinda, killed himself by jumping in front of a train. He toom the extreme step as he was unable to repay a loan of Rs 9 lakh that his family had taken from a private bank.

The same day, Gurdeep Singh (28) of Mansa Khurd village in Bathinda allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a tubewell motor room. He was a marginal farmer with two acres land and had taken six acres on lease. Gurdeep had an outstanding loan of around Rs 3.25 lakh.

On April 18, Ramandeep Singh (38) of Bajak village in the same district died at a private hospital where he was under treatment. He had allegedly consumed pesticide on April 14 due to mental stress over low yield of wheat, as per his family.

Notably, wheat growers in Punjab have witnessed a drop in yield and shrivelled grains because of the early onset of heatwave. The low yield of wheat crop has come as double whammy for many farmers in the cotton belt of whose crop was affected due to pink bollworm attack.

The farm suicides, meanwhile, have upped the political heat in the state with former Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu targeting the ruling Aam Aadmi Party reminding it of its pre-poll promises. Sidhu, who on Friday visited families of two suicide victims in Bathinda villages, reminded AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal of his pre-election speech when the Delhi CM had said that “no farmer in Punjab will commit suicide after April 1”, if his party was voted to power.

Interacting with farmers under a party initiative – ‘Kisana naal Kejriwal di galbaat’ — in Punjab last year, Kejriwal had said “After April 1, 2022, no farmers or farm labourers in Punjab will die by suicide due to crop failure. This is my promise and Kejriwal does what he says”.

He had also promised that “by April 30, crop loss compensation will be credited to the account of each affected farmer and labourer; we will make agriculture a profession of dignity. We will make it profitable”.

On Saturday, Sidhu lashed out at the AAP conevenor asking him to stop lying. “Seven farmers committed suicide in one district alone, imagine farmers’ plight in 28 districts. Have you visited one family? Where is your responsibility and & concern for Punjab now? Where is promised compensation to farmers? Practice what you preach ,” the Congress leader said in a tweet.

Despite @ArvindKejriwal jis guarantee that no farmer will commit suicide in Punjab after AAP assumes power, 7 farmers have committed suicide in Bathinda District alone. This yr crop yield is >30% low, on top of that govt is preparing to arrest 2000 farmers for loan defaults… pic.twitter.com/rFugcvuo6o

— Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) April 22, 2022

The former PCC chief said that farmers are going through an unprecedented crisis. “Yields are down, input costs have increased multifold and (there has been ) no change in the MSP. Farmers are committing suicide. Policy change is required,” he said in another tweet.

Farmers are going through unprecedented crisis. Yields are down, input costs have increased multifold & no change in MSP. Farmers committing suicide. Policy change is required. I urge Govt to keep their promise & give 1cr compensation to kin of farmers who hv committed suicide. pic.twitter.com/6stf1GRPMe

— Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) April 22, 2022

“I don’t want to point fingers at anyone but…I want to remind the AAP government…They had made tall promises before forming the government. Kejriwal claimed of giving Rs 1 crore compensation to each farmer in Delhi, so let AAP give even 50 per cent of what they give in Delhi to Punjab,” he said.

Earlier, after visiting the family of Jaspal Singh, Sidhu said that the farmer committed suicide due to low crop yield. “10 yrs ago his elder brother had committed suicide due to crop loss because of fake pesticide. Urge Punjab government to give compensation to their father. There is no bigger burden than death of two sons,” Sidhu had said in a tweet Friday.

Darshan Singh Maiserkhana, a neighbour of Jaspal Singh confirmed as much. “Jaspal is younger son of Balwinder Singh. His other son had committed suicide in 2012 when he was in his mid 20s and now Jaspal too has killed himself. The family had taken a loan of Rs 9 lakh from a private bank and was not able to pay it back. The entire village is in a state of shock,” said Darshan Singh.

He added that the family had 12 acres where they grow cotton and wheat. They suffered loss when their cotton crop was affected in pink bollworm attack and now the wheat crop too has been damaged due to the unexpected heatwave.

Earlier, sharing a video of his visit to another family, Sidhu said that the farmer who committed suicide had been been farming on 10 acres of land of which he had taken six acres on lease. The farmer had suffered loss in cotton season and his wheat yield too was low. Sidhu said the farmer took the extreme step after failing to pay the rent for leased land. The farmer, he said, had paid for the education of his elder brother who is “double MA, MPhil & NET pass, yet unemployed”.

“That’s why I say policy driven complete system overhaul is the only way for Punjab’s resurrection,” Sidhu added.

Meanwhile, Harjinder Baggi, Bathinda unit president of BKU Ugrahan, said that the government needs to speak on the issue to stop farmers from committing suicide.