Paddy farmers in the State are seething in anger and despair following the reported suicide of K.G. Prasad, a paddy farmer and district leader of the Karshaka Morcha at Thakazhy, Alappuzha. The voice clip of a telephonic conversation that Prasad had with his friend hours before his death is being circulated widely across social media groups.
Farmers are of the view that Prasad became the victim of government injustice meted out to the entire farmer community in the State. According to them, he was the victim of an “insincere and flawed procurement policy adopted by the State government”.
Most groups of farmers on Saturday said the government was responsible for Prasad’s death. The government forcibly made him a debtor, and made it impossible for him to take any more loans, they said.
“No other government in the world has behaved so meanly and irresponsibly towards the farmers. Our government made all the farmers debtors, irrespective of their financial status. When the governments elsewhere are trying to save the farmers, our government is hell-bent on pushing the farmers into debts,” said Pandiyode Prabhakaran, general secretary of the National Farmers Protection Committee (NFPC).
He said it was a classic case of a farmer being victimised by the government’s flawed policy. The State government had invited criticism from various corners for paying the farmers for the paddy procured from them by way of bank loans. “The government may repay the loans but all other worries that accompany loans are being faced by the poor farmers,” said Mr. Prabhakaran.
He said the government was so insincere that it never cared for the paddy farmers. “Let the government offer its employees their salary by way of loans as given to the farmers. The government killed Prasad,” Mr. Prabhakaran said, warning that there could be more farmer tragedies.
Muthalamthodu Mani, Desiya Karshaka Samajam (DKS) general secretary and Rashtriya Kisan Maha Sangh (RKMS) State vice chairman, said that the government could never absolve itself of the responsibility for the farmer’s death. “Farmers are so desperate that they are even thinking about stopping agriculture,” said Mr. Mani.
He said the government’s attitude to the farmers had reflected in the recent statement by Fisheries Minister Saji Cherian that rice would come to Kerala from Tamil Nadu. “When governments try to achieve food self-sufficiency, the Kerala government is proving time and again its dependency on others,” said Mr. Mani.
He warned that the State would realise the real value of its farmers when other States would stop giving food-grains. “It is suicidal. We are inviting a big trouble by increasing our dependency on others,” he said.
