Hyderabad: Maintaining that farmer suicides are an irrefutable fact, the Hyderabad High Court on Tuesday issued notices to Centre and the governments of AP and TS, the RBI, NABARD and other respondents on a PIL seeking to declare as illegal their failure to take measures to prevent such tragedies and not releasing adequate compensation to the victims.
A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice Shameem Akhter, while dealing with a PIL by Kolli Siva Rami Reddy, a farmer from Sakhamuru village in Tullur mandal of Guntur district, granted four weeks to the respondents to respond to the notices.
Mr Siva Rami Reddy, while appearing before the bench as a party in person brought to the notice of the court a recent statement of the agriculture minister of AP wherein he describes farmers as “impotent and drug addicts”.
While stating that the authorities, including ministers, instead of supporting farmers, insult them, he cautioned both states that lakhs of farmers may commit suicide in the coming days if they do not waive farm loans on an urgent basis.
Describing the plight of chilli farmers, Mr Siva Rami Reddy told the court that the price per quintal has now fallen to Rs 4,000 from Rs 12,000 and the farmer was unable to realize even half of the production cost and they are now left in the lurch with no support price mechanism.
He complained to the court in Guntur market yard, an ordinary clerk fixes the price of chilli in the market yard and dictates terms to the farmers while the state government remains a mute and helpless spectator.
The farmer alleged that ministers use market yards as their fiefdoms instead of converting them into places of support for the farmers.
Mr Siva Rami Reddy said that he believed only in courts and not in these governments. None of the leaders had come forward so far to give an assurance to farmers to the effect that they will free them from the debt burden, Mr Siva Rami Reddy said.
He said that banks showed no interest in recovering business and industrial loans worth '6 lakh-crore evaded by big people but adopted a coercive approach towards farmers for recovering small amounts they borrowed for farming.
The petitioner urged the court to direct the government to implement the recommendations of the Swaminathan Committee.
Sharath Kumar, counsel for TS and D. Ramesh, counsel for AP, pointed out that two PILs with regard to farmer suicides were already pending before the High Court.
When Mr Kumar tried to explain the steps taken by the TS government to grant ex-gratia to the families of farmers who committed suicide, the petitioner with anguish told counsel to first stop farmers from resorting to the extreme step.
