Shivanand Patil, Karnataka’s minister for sugarcane development and APMC (agricultural produce market committees), has found himself embroiled in a controversy after he said that farmer suicides had risen after the state government increased compensation for the families of the deceased. After his statement elicited sharp reactions from farmer organisations, Patil said he did not suggest that farmers were resorting to suicide for compensation. “I did not make any statement to hurt the sentiments of farmers,” he said, adding that he was merely advising the media to wait for forensic science laboratory reports before reporting on farmer suicides. While addressing the media at Haveri, Patil said Tuesday, “Earlier the compensation (for the family of farmers who commit suicide) was Rs 2 lakh, but following the recommendations by the Veeresh committee, it was increased to Rs 5 lakh. But farmer deaths including those attributable to heart attacks or love failures were presented as farmers suicides to claim compensation. The government is ready to provide compensation for genuine cases.” “In the district, in 2022-23, 33 farmer suicides were reported but it increased to 122 in 2023-24,” Patel said. Asked about the 53 cases in which compensation is pending, the minister said the government was in the process of distributing the damages. He also said it was wrong to report farmers' natural deaths as suicides. The Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha and the Hasiru Sene condemned the minister’s statement and demanded his resignation. “We are ready to pay Rs 50 lakh compensation to you family, will you die by suicide?” asked Mallikarjun Ballari, general secretary of the Sangha. The Opposition BJP’s farmer wing has planned protests in all taluks and districts on Friday. State BJP vice-president B Y Vijayendra attacked the Congress for its “anti-farmer policies”. “The minister claims that farmers die by suicide for the sake of compensation. He should apologise for the statement he made,” the MLA told reporters. The BJP leader also alleged that the Congress government had resorted to destroying farmers’ lives in order to implement the party’s poll guarantees. What do the numbers say? Farmer suicides in the state have crossed 2,000 in the past three years. According to the agriculture department, in 2020-21, 855 farmer suicides were reported, 917 in 2021-22 and about 310 in 2022-23. About 295 applications for compensation have been rejected by the government.
