Hyderabad: The Telangana government is waiting for collectors to file district-wise reports on the number of suicides committed by farmers.
Farmers associations and opposition parties say that over 500 farmers have ended their lives since Telangana state was formed on June 2 last year, due to crop failure on account of drought besides mounting debts. The government, however, puts the number of deaths at less than 70 since June last.
The government is expected to make a statement in the ongoing Budget Session of Legislative Assembly over farmers’ suicides and announce ex gratia that will be provided to the affected families.
Opposition parties have been demanding a debate on the issue and have been moving adjournment motions frequently, though the Speaker has been turning them down.
The government wants to take up the debate in the House only after it gets official reports from the collectors of the figure for a period of the last nine months.
Though the government had asked collectors to give these details during the previous Assembly session in November, they have not complied with the request.
The collectors have said that the inquiry needs to be conducted by a team of officials from the revenue and agriculture departments and the police.
The teams, who are to compile the details for the report, need to visit all the villages where deaths were reported, conduct the inquiry to establish whether it was a suicide committed on account of crop failure, debts or for personal reasons, and this would take time.
The collectors have not submitted the report so far. With the current financial year set to end in two weeks, the government wants to settle the compensation issue for affected families based on the reports submitted.
