Opposition lambasts Patel Govt over Bidar suicides

BANGALORE, March 11: The combined opposition in the Karnataka State Assembly on Tuesday scolded the J H Patel government for being ``irrespo...

BANGALORE, March 11: The combined opposition in the Karnataka State Assembly on Tuesday scolded the J H Patel government for being “irresponsible” and “anti-farmer,” even as Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party sought to move an adjournment motion over the spate of suicide deaths by farmers in Bidar and Gulbarga districts following the failure of the rabi crop.

Partly giving in to the demand, the state government announced a Corps of Detectives probe into the suicides. The probe team will submit a report to the government to enable it to pay compensation.

Meanwhile, leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge demanded that Rs 1 lakh be paid to each family as natural calamity relief. Had the government responded earlier to the severity of the problem faced by the farmers, the problem may not have escalated, he added. Now the government was trying to deny that the deaths were the result of the crop failure and related despondency among the farmers. This, when the district administration had alreadyacknowledged the cause of the deaths to be crop failure. An FIR to this effect had also been registered, he pointed out.

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He further demanded compensation of Rs 1000 per hectare for crop damage and action against those responsible for the substandard pesticides.

He said that in Bidar alone, out of 49,980 hectares under `thuvar’ cultivation, 40,984 hectares had been damaged. Of 35,850 hectares of jowar, 21,510 hectares had been damaged, and of 4,650 hectares of sunflower cultivation, 2,510 hectares had been ruined. In Gulbarga, of a total of 2,36,880 hectares of crop, 93,652 hectares had been destroyed at an estimated loss of Rs 125 crore.

BJP floor leader B S Yediyurappa demanded the resignation of the ministry.While the district administration denied on March 4 that the deaths were not due to crop failure, the district minister who visited the area said on March 7 that it was and promised compensation to the affected families. If the government had had any sense of responsibility they ought to havevisited the area soon after the elections. That ought to have been a priority for the cabinet, he said.

Demanding a compensation of Rs 1 lakh per family, he said that a sum of Rs 2000 per hectare must be paid to the affected farmers as distress relief. He accused the government of having betrayed the cause of the farmers whom they claimed to represent. He also wanted the government to effect closure of all the pesticide manufacturing plants responsible for the poor quality product.

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Vijaykumar Khandre, Congress legislator from the district also spoke in support of moving the motion.

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