Comments on: Of farmer suicides and questions not asked….

By: Abhishek

Abhishek — Fri, 15 May 2009 08:34:35 +0000

@ Kaushik
I get your point about lack of development. Having said that, crop has been going unsold and rotting in godowns since ages. Why then are suicides a recent phenomenon?

By: Kaushik

Kaushik — Fri, 15 May 2009 06:57:02 +0000

I have severe doubts about the news of 8% growth story reaching the farmers. Most of those who committ suicides comes from abjectly poor areas that have no access to electricity or other basic facilities.

In Andhra Pradesh, at least, a majority of the farmer suicides are due to the fact that several of their crops go unsold and rot in godowns.

let us also not ignore the fact that GDP is a very very misleading figure – it gives only an OVERALL picture of the economy, and not the micro picture.

without going into arguments like “the rich are getting richer, and poor are getting poor” – it is to be mentoned that the development programs have not reached succesfully to the grassroots.

Overarching national policies do not cater to local variations in climate, rainfall, economy, even society. The 60,000 crore loan waiver has a number of flaws, like the NREGA. The 10 paisa reaching the needy out of 1Re argument is still very very relevant.

Microfinance has been analysed and looked at from very macro perspective – most of the analyses are carried out by visiting the taluka HOs, and not to the actual receipents. So w enever get to know their effectiveness.

the 15 paisa reahcing out of 1 re argument is still very valid

By: Akhil Phirani

Akhil Phirani — Fri, 15 May 2009 06:27:37 +0000

It reminds me of a documentary I watched sometime back, one of the farmers said they were given cows by local authorities to prop up their alternative income but they had to spend more money on feeding the cow than they earned from it. Another case in point was how the government compensation under the much publicized 60,000 crore package bypassed many farmers who had bigger but unproductive areas of land. Perhaps government officials could’ve been more sensible while designing any relief measures before putting money into something that does not help the situation……….

By: Abhishek

Abhishek — Fri, 15 May 2009 04:05:25 +0000

@ maximus
That’s an interesting point and something that I kind of alluded to. Are people relatively happier in adverse circumstances when everybody around them faces equally adverse circumstances than when their own situation is better than their previous state, but others are more better off? In other words, do we feel happier when others are equally unhappy?

By: sunil

sunil — Fri, 15 May 2009 03:58:20 +0000

Its interesting that you speak about the social needs issue. When it comes to suicides there have been examples (quoted by leading magazines of our country) that many farmers lose lot of money through gambling. Another significant loan that farmers are unable to repay are daughters’ dowries.

One more thing about the desire to improve the social class. I think the increasing penetration of technology is actually causing the desire to rise faster. New technology is invariably aspirational, and the onset of a swathe of it should be looked into as a cause

By: maximus

maximus — Thu, 14 May 2009 18:05:16 +0000

Good points. I think the whole village social structure also has changed. People might have become more individualistic.
There might be a case where some people are able to use the bank loans and reach a better social standard while others are denied access to it, leading to the discontent you are pointing out. Many reasons but no answers.