Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan on Wednesday called the farmer who died by suicide in Alappuzha last week a victim of the neglect of the State government towards the farming sector.
The Opposition had raised the issue in the Assembly and outside, he told reporters after visiting the house of Prasad, the deceased farmer, in Alappuzha.
Mr. Satheesan said there was a crisis in the sector for six months as the government was not paying for paddy procurement. “It isn’t clear what strategy has been adopted by the government for paddy procurement. The banks provide loans on paddy receipt sheets (PRS), and if the loan isn’t repaid in three months, it is classified as NPA, and the borrower’s CIBIL score is lowered. Taking a loan on PRS becomes a personal liability of the farmer and with a lower CIBIL score, the farmer isn’t able to obtain another loan. But the government hasn’t tried to resolve this issue,” he said.
