AGRICULTURE: FARMERS’ SUICIDE - 2011 (January to December 2011)

Compiled By Human Rights Documentation∗

Indian Social Institute, Lodi Road, New Delhi – 110 003, (India)

Haryana farming move on to greener pastures Horticulture, floriculture, vegetable cultivation and fish farming — Haryana’s agricultural fields that contributed significantly to the country's Green Revolution are now gradually diversifying to newer areas. Farmers in the State, who are diversifying from the routine wheat-paddy cycle of crops, say they find the new farming activities more beneficial, especially in terms of the returns. “Horticulture crops, vegetables, flowers and fish farming are newer areas that Haryana farmers are getting into,” Dhanpat Singh, a farmer based near Kurukshetra town, 110 km from here, said. “The returns in these areas are much better and farmers do not have to wait endlessly to get their payments as most of the produce is sold to the organised sector like the hospitality industry,” he added. The farming community in Haryana is exploring newer activities even as the state and its neighbour Punjab remain the foodgrain states of the country, contributing over 70 per cent of the buffer stock of foodgrains, mainly wheat and rice, to the national kitty. Officials of the state’s horticulture department say the area under horticulture crops is increasing in Haryana. “The area under horticulture crops in Haryana has reached about 5.64 per cent of the total cropped area due to the state government's drive to motivate farmers to grow them in place of traditional crops,” a senior Horticulture Department official said here. During 2009-10, the area under vegetable cultivation touched 300,860 hectares and its production crossed the mark of 40 lakh tonnes. Apart from this, farmers are also taking keen interest in replacing their traditional crops by other commercial horticulture crops like flowers and spices. During the current financial year fruit production up to November of over 1.82 lakh tonnes had been achieved by bringing 2,685 hectares of additional area under fruit cultivation and the total area increased to 44,135 hectares. Over 18.04 lakh tonnes of vegetables were produced by bringing over 2.24 lakh hectares of area under vegetable cultivation. This year, 41,710 tonnes of spices were produced through cultivation over an area of 6,125 hectares. Medicinal plants and flowers were grown over an area of 750 hectares and 5,035 hectares respectively during the same period. This production is much higher than the present national growth rate of eight per cent. The state’s fisheries department has set itself a target of increasing fish productivity to 5,500 kg per hectare in 2010-11, officials of the department said here. “The fisheries department has implemented `50 lakh scheme to impart training and financial assistance to members belonging to the Scheduled Castes to enable them to take up fish farming,” said a fisheries department official said. Till November, nearly 13,620 hectares of water area had been brought under fish culture as against the target of 17,000 hectares for 2010-11. Fish production of 61,494 tonnes has been achieved during this period against the target of 93,940 tonnes for the whole year. Similarly, over 4,275 lakh fish seeds have been collected against the target of 4,250 lakh fish seeds, he added. (Pioneer, 03/01/2011)

Farmers' suicides reflective of death of rural bank ing HYDERABAD: Since the beginning of December last, 220 tenant farmers in the state have committed suicide or died of shock, crushed by mounting debts and loss of crops. Overall, the farmer death toll stands at a staggering 350-400. Though the fickle weather wreaked havoc, experts believe it's only partly to blame as several other factors have worked against the farming community. While economic expansion continues to bypass the farming community leaving them impoverished and in debt trap, subsidy cuts have made seed, fertilizer, pesticide and electricity more costly. "This desperation is shocking. It puts spotlight on the hardship and growing disparities among the farmers. The ryots feel squeezed as never before," V Vinod Goud, agriculture scientist, Icrisat, observed. New snazzy cars zoom by and cellphones ring loud in the cities and towns, but in the countryside where the farmers toil they hardly get bank loans. "Banks charge 7% interest for cars but take 12% and more on farm tractors. Little wonder 5% of ryot community in the last 3-4 years have shifted to other jobs," rued B Chandra Reddy, vice-president, AP Rythu Sangham (APRS). Though banks were supposed to lend term loans of Rs 54,050 crore to farmers, their target was slashed to Rs 15,652 crore. Curiously, banks do not lend to tenant farmers, while marginal farmers get a pittance. This dichotomy is seen more starkly in AP, which is

∗ This is a collection of previously published news and views from the print as well as the electronic media, whose reference marked at the end of each news items. Department of Documentation and Library (DDL) of the Indian Social Institute, New Delhi neither claims to the veracity of the facts in the news nor subscribes to the views expressed.

known as the rice bowl of the country. In East Godavari district where at least 60 suicides were reported in the past two months, a vast majority of the ryots own less than five acres of land. While 75 per cent of the farmers' earnings go into the hands of traders and middlemen, everything else they earn goes to moneylenders and pesticide dealers. "Our farmers get 1.67% subsidy whereas Pakistan offers 28% and China 39% to its farmers," Chandra Reddy revealed. He denied that failed crop alone sparked the suicide. He said unless state-owned banks raise lending to small farmers and extend loans to tenant farmers, the suicides won't stop. Experts said the government education programmes have failed, leaving the mostly illiterate farmers dependent on private moneylenders and unscrupulous pesticide dealers for advice on managing crops. Most importantly, the deaths reveal the collapse of the rural banking system. Short of cheap bank credit, farmers were forced to turn to moneylenders who charge 30-35 per cent interest Take the case of Regala Subbaiah, 27, a tenant farmer of Takkellapadu in Dachepalli mandal in Guntur. With little understanding of the risks involved, he blindly copied a neighbour who was earning handsomely from the white gold (cotton). He took five acres on lease and cultivated cotton in two acres, chilli in two and paddy in one acre by incurring a debt of Rs 1 lakh. He paid Rs 50,000 towards lease. But the dream quickly soured as the entire crop was destroyed in the rain. As his crops withered, Subbaiah's creditors came calling. In addition to pesticide dealers, some were fellow farmers who lent surplus cash at high interest. In all, he owed about Rs 1.5 lakh, with little prospect of earning anything this season. With no hope, he committed suicide by hanging himself on Dec. 24. The farmers took a huge gamble on cash rich crops following an excellent monsoon. Over the past five years, many have switched from growing food staples such as rice, lentils and peanuts to cotton, chilli, tobacco because of the fabulous profits with greater investments on fertilizers and pesticides. In the past year alone, the area under cotton cultivation had swelled by 50 per cent in Warangal district. Pesticide dealers swarm the villages, promising farmers miracle results and credit. "It's a vicious circle. If they abandon commercial crops, they are certain to have low returns and the only alternative will be to sell their land," a professor of Centre for Economic and Social Studies said. Chalapati Rao, agriculture official, said pesticide dealers thrived on farmers' ignorance and encouraged them to go in for cash crops. The vacant look on the face of Lavuri Bala, a marginal farmer of Bolligutta thanda in Damarcharla mandal in Nalgonda, said it all. He tried to commit suicide on Dec. 14 by consuming pesticide, but his family rushed him to the hospital in time. After 10 days of treatment, he's back. He incurred Rs 70,000 for pumpset and another Rs 10,000 loan to cultivate paddy in one acre. Bala, 38, already owed Rs 25,000 bank loan before the suicide attempt. His wife Padma ended her life last year over financial woes. As the demands for moratorium on loans, lowering of interest rates and ensuring minimum support price increase, farmers' sangham leaders claim the government package was a sham. "Even the paddy purchase centres are not willing to buy the wet stocks," said Jalagam Kumara Swamy of Bharatiya Kisan Sabha. Then what's the way-out for the distressed farmer? "The suicides highlight that the state needs to modernize agriculture on a priority. Educating ryots, supervision of technology, finance, investment and providing equitable markets hold key to their future," Vinod Goud opined. (TOI, 02/01/2011)

‘State Govt turns blind eye to farmer suicides’ The Bhadrak District Youth Congress has resorted to a relay hunger strike from Monday till the fulfillment of demands in favour of the State farmers under the leadership of former Minister Nalinikanta Mohanty. Mohanty alleged that both Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and his party Ministers have been ignoring the development of agriculture in the State and turning a blind eye to the suicides of over 3,000 farmers. While no compensation has been paid yet to the bereft family members, the Chief Minister has not even condoled their deaths. Due to the recent untimely rains, the paddy and other crops have been damaged extensively and during the one month, more than 13 farmers have further committed suicide. Instead of doing something to meet the calamity, the Chief Minister has been accusing the Centre for ignoring the demands of the State Government. The State Government should include seven more districts including Bhadrak in the list of the crop loss, Mohanty demanded. He also reiterated his party’s demands of waiving of agricultural loans up to `50,000 for each farmer, `10 lakh ex-gratia to the bereft family members of the deceased farmers, immediate payment of crop insurance indemnity, `20,000 per acre of irrigated land, `12,000 per acre of non-irrigated land and `50,000 for cash crop. The State Government should immediately meet the emergent situation from the State Calamity Fund. Youth Congress activists Badrinarayan Dhal, DCC President, District Mahila Congress president Tahera Khatoon, Town Congress

Committee president Suvendu Ray Mohapatra, Biswanath Nayak of the Block Congress Committee and other party followers have been participating. (Pioneer, 05/01/2011)

More facilities for sericulture farmers Sericulture farmers would get more facilities, including minimum support price for cocoons and financial and technical assistance for advanced cocoon production soon as the State Government sent proposals to the tune of Rs.11.6 crore under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana, said S. Dhanabalan, Deputy Director, Department of Sericulture, Madurai zone. He was presiding over a sericulture enlightenment programme organised by the Central Silk Board at Nochiodaipatti near here on Wednesday. The Centre has plans to offer minimum support price for cocoons. Area-specific programmes for sericulture for every district were also under progress. Offering farm equipment, popularising bio-control measures, subsidy for bio-fertilisers, disinfecting rearing cell and farm mechanisation were some major components of this programme, he added. About 8,277 acres was under sericulture cultivation engaging 3,820 farmers in nine southern districts. The department had disbursed 14.89 lakh of layings, including 7.45 lakh bivoltine varieties to farmers. Production of cocoon was 4.44 lakh kg in the zone so far, he added. Efforts were on to revive local reeling industries for utilisation of cocoon production within the district. Dindigul topped in the zone in bivoltine cocoon production, he added. In his special address, Central Sericulture Research Station Scientist, D. R. Balakrishna said full adoption of standardised technologies, including disinfecting rearing house and pruning, was essential to get better cocoon yield. Wider spacing, removal of weak shoot, drip irrigation and mechanisation were major technologies for mulberry cultivation. With standardisation of technologies, production of cocoon per 100 layings went up to 1,000 kg from just 60 kg, a decade ago. Tamil Nadu had been producing 25 per cent of the country's total bivoltine cocoon production. Bivoltine cocoon production was just two per cent one decade ago. Good quality single a cocoon should weigh two grams. At present, weight of cocoon was one or 1.2 grams only. Low weight cocoons would not fetch better price. Production of good mulberry leaves was essential for better yield. Feeding of mulberry leaf, each weighing around five grams, would help produce two-gram cocoon. Praising the excellent soil condition and ideal climate at Sanarpatti union, adoption standard technologies would enhance the profit of farmers of this area, he added. Sericulture Assistant Director, C. Sivasamy said demand for silk yarn was 25,000 tonnes whereas production was 15,000 tonnes only. Root rotting and labour shortage hit mulberry cultivation, said farmers. (Hindu, 06/01/2011)

Tribunal grants farmer Rs. 10,000 as maintenance ev ery month In its first order, the Gulbarga Subdivision, Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Tribunal, allowed a petition by a farmer, whose 10-acre land was acquired by the Government, to draw Rs. 10,000 every month from the Rs. 90 lakh he received as compensation. Chairman of the tribunal Sangappa H. Mallannavar, in his order passed on January 5, permitted Chennappa D. Khaba to draw Rs. 10,000 every month as maintenance till the disposal of the main petition. The tribunal passed this order under Section 5 of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007. Mr. Khaba's only source of income was the 10 acres of land in Kiranagi village in Gulbarga taluk, which was acquired by the Government for the proposed mega thermal power plant. However, before Mr. Khaba could receive the compensation, his daughter Shashikala Shivasharanappa Patil filed a suit in a local court for partition of the property and separate possession. A frail Mr. Khaba remarked, “I am ready to part with a portion of the compensation but my daughters and sons-in-law want everything.” The farmer, who is living in a rented house in Honnakiranagi village after selling his ancestral house at Kiranagi village, is living on loans taken from his friends. “Despite getting Rs. 90 lakh as compensation I was not in a position to use even a single paise due to the dispute,” said Mr. Khaba. (Hindu, 11/01/2011)

Debt-ridden farmer dies of heart attack BALASORE: A debt-ridden farmer of Tina village in Balasore district, who reportedly suffered crop loss due to unseasonal rain, allegedly died of a massive heart attack on Sunday. The district administration on Monday ordered a probe into the allegation. Sources said, Gopal Behera (52), a marginal farmer was under depression for the past one month after his crops got damaged in the rain. He was expecting a good harvest from fish farming as well. "But he didn't get returns as he had expected. He had taken loans of more than Rs 20,000 from two banks and a local cooperative society. He lost his mental balance after he suffered huge losses," said his wife Binodini. "He was crestfallen, when he saw the crops. His fish farming also yielded no result. He had spent so much on both. He could not bear the shock and collapsed. Though he was taken to the hospital, he could not survive the treatment," she said. Sarpanch Rabindra Mahakud said Behera had taken loans from Gramya bank and UCO bank. "He was enlisted under the BPL category. His income wasn't much and the little he could have made, he lost due to the rain. We suspect this must have led to his cardiac arrest. I request the government to provide financial assistance to his family," he said. Meanwhile, the administration has ordered a probe into the allegation.

"We have asked Remuna block development officer to visit the family and probe whether he died due to crop loss. The report is awaited," said ADM Sribatsa Jena. (TOI, 11/01/2011)

13 farmer suicides in New Year as cold wilts crop NAGPUR: The unusually cold winter in Vidarbha this year has taken its toll on the cotton crop too. Standing cotton crop in at least two lakh hectares in Vidarbha has been severely damaged by the cold wave that hit the region since January 2, the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti said even as it claimed that 13 farmers have committed suicide in the first nine days of the New Year. The latest victims of the unending suicide spree by farmers in Vidarbha were identified as Rameshwar and Babytai Pohekar of Tamaswadi in Amravati, Sunil Bhusari of Shendurjana in Washim, Dilip Belsare of Kawatha, Pramod Uike of Walki, Durpattabai Rathod of Bham, Avinash Wankhede of Asara and Prakash Pawar of Ajanti, Rahul Karthode of Kelzara (all six from Yavatmal district), Ravindra Kodape of Nandapur in Akola, Motiram Mohurle of Susand in Wardha, Kamalkar Sawarbandhe of Asegaon in Bhandara and Chotu Jabhorkar of Takalkheda in Amravati. "Reports of farmers being shocked by sudden wilting of standing crop of cotton within a night are pouring in for the last one week. The situation is alarming," said Kishore Tiwari of VJAS. "Farmers are unable to recover the heavy losses incurred in the capital intensive BT crop cultivation," he added. "After excessive rains in October, November dealt a heavy blow, the cold wave conditions worsened the situation. For the ninth consecutive year, the official statistics indicate that farmer suicide rate is highest in the cotton belt of Maharashtra," Tiwari said. (TOI, 11/01/2011)

Crops hit by frost, 5 farmers end lives BHOPAL: Their crops destroyed by frost between January 5 and 9, five farmers in Madhya Pradesh committed suicide while three are battling for their lives after consuming pesticide. The weather destroyed their standing crops of wheat, soyabean, gram, peas, opium and oranges in just five days. Their crops gone, farmers in the state, like their counterparts in Andhra Pradesh, also faced the prospect of defaulting on repayment of loan from banks and moneylenders. Temperatures dipped to a minimum of 2.3 degrees in Bhopal, 0.6 degrees in Mandla, 3.6 in Jabalpur, 2.9 in Gwalior, 1 degree in Rajgarh, Guna and Bundelkhand region, 0.3 in Sehore, making it the coldest winter in 30 years. Motiram Khode, a 60-year-old farmer in Pandhurna (near Nagpur) in Chhindwara district, consumed pesticides when he awoke one morning last week to find that the frost had destroyed his entire yield of oranges. Khode had taken a loan of Rs 90,000 against his farmer’s credit card from a local bank. Depressed, he consumed pesticide and was rushed to a hospital in a critical condition. After struggling for three days, Khode died on Monday. Triloki Joshi, a young farmer aged 27 and resident of Kanskhera village near Devri in Sagar district, was dejected after frost ruined the gram and peas crop standing on his eight-acre agricultural land. "The crop was growing beautifully. We were expecting a good harvest," Triloki's brother Jagannath Joshi told reporters. (TOI, 12/01/2011)

Gowda's homeland is land of farmers' suicide too BANGALORE: It's an irony of sorts. Mannina Maga (son of the soil) and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda's home district Hassan has emerged as the capital of farmers' suicides in Karnataka. Government statistics show that nearly 2,597 killed themselves between 2003 and 2010, making it the worst period for farmer suicides in the state. Among 30 districts from where suicides were reported, nearly 268 suicides were reported in Hassan alone followed by 196 in Bidar and 191 in Belgaum. The trend has, however, declined over the past few years, with 140 suicides reported in 2010-11 compared to 708 in 2003-04. While the lowest number of suicides were in Bangalore Urban (2), Udupi (5), Ramanagaram (6) and Chikkaballapur (3) districts, there have been no such cases in the newly-carved-out Yadgir district. GRIM NUMBERS 2003-04 - 708; 2004-05 - 271; 2005-06 - 63; 2006-07 - 346; 2007-08 - 342; 2008-09 - 337; 2009-10 - 290; 2010-11 - 140 (TOI, 12/01/2011)

7 farmers commit suicide in M.P. in one month Kanhaiya Patel (30) of Hata village in Damoh district committed suicide on Wednesday taking the total to

seven. He had taken an acre of land on lease and had a debt of Rs.20,000. After his entire arhar (pulses) crop failed, the landowner is reported to have said that if any compensation came by it would belong to him as the owner. Five of the seven suicides have occurred in Damoh district. The reasons include massive failure of the pulses crop, coupled with heavy institutional and non-institutional debts. However, Damoh Collector S.P. Singh Saluja told The Hindu: “The suicides were committed due to personal reasons and not debt; crop failure may have been a reason in some cases but for that surveys are being conducted and compensation will be paid for any crop failures we come across.” A large number of farmers staged a demonstration in front of the Collector's office on Tuesday demanding compensation for the failed crops. Uday Singh of Devran village, attempted to end his life by consuming pesticide on Monday. He is reported to be under a joint debt (with his four brothers) of Rs.1.06 lakh from a nationalised bank and a personal debt of Rs.30,000. “In this case, the suicide was attempted because of tension between Uday and his wife. Luckily, the poison intake was less and he survived,” said Damoh Superintendent of Police D.K. Arya. Denial mode While suicides continue to occur, the State government seems to be in a denial mode. Parliamentary Affairs Minister and government spokesman Narottam Mishra told journalists last week that no farmer in Madhya Pradesh had committed suicide owing to the burden of debt. Commenting on the death last week of a farmer, Shivprasad of Ichaavar tehsil in Sehore district, Mr. Mishra said he was well-to-do and must have committed suicide owing to personal reasons. Local newspapers reported that the farmer's family was under pressure to say that he was suffering from insanity and had therefore taken his life. The family confirmed the reports and said the authorities had taken away all loan documents from them. Triolki Joshi of Devri Tehsil in Sagar district, took his life on Monday. A note found on his person said he had consumed pesticide after the failure of pulses crop on his seven-acre land. Sagar Superintendent of Police V.S. Suryavanshi said: “The note is yet to be verified as it was not there during the panchnama.” A total of 12,455 farmers committed suicide in Madhya Pradesh from 2001 to 2009, according to the National Crime Records Bureau. Of them, 2, 296 were women, making it 18.43 per cent of the total suicides — the highest among all States. Madhya Pradesh follows Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Chhattisgarh in the infamous list of the “Big Five” — the five States with the highest incidence of farmer suicides. In 2009 alone, 1,395 farmers committed suicide in the State, taking the average farmer suicide that year to four a day. According to a 2003 household debt survey conducted by the National Sample Survey Organisation, the average individual farmer debt in Madhya Pradesh stood at Rs.14,218. The State Human Rights Commission has served notices to Collectors and Superintendents of Police of all districts to explain farmer suicides. (Hindu, 13/01/2011)

Penniless farmer ends life, father dies next day BHANDARA: The Harne family of Sangaon village in Bhandara district's Sakoli tehsil suffered a double tragedy in two days. On Tuesday, paddy farmer Hargovind Harne (45), heavily indebted and reeling under a severe crop loss, committed suicide. So utterly penniless had he become, that he bought the bottle of pesticide, which he gulped to end his life, on credit. Fate's second blow was cruelly swift: Hargovind's father Bajirao (70), too shocked to bear the loss, passed away on Wednesday night. Hargovind, a master's degree holder in arts, had six acres of fertile land. After investing almost Rs 1 lakh in paddy cultivation in the kharif season earlier this year, his crop suffered due to untimely rains. To make matters worse, paddy fetched abysmally low prices this year, denying Hargovind an opportunity to recoup at least some of his crop loss. His family members said he had loans worth Rs 3 lakh from the Vainganga Rural Bank, primary sale purchase cooperative society of the village and a private money lender. After the harvest, creditors started queuing up at Hargovind's door, pressuring him to pay up. "He tried to reason out with them but in vain. The mounting debt pushed him into depression," a relative said. On Tuesday, Hargovind bought on credit a bottle of pesticide from the agro service centre at the nearby Sangadi village. He returned home in the afternoon. Seeing that no one from his family was present, he consumed the poisonous pesticide. After some time, his younger brother came to the house and saw his brother in critical condition. He was rushed to the nearby hospital but had breathed his last before he could get medical attention. He left behind his wife, a daughter, three brothers and an aged father. His last rites were performed on Wednesday. On the same night, Hargovind's father Bajirao, unable to bear the loss of his son, too passed away. His cremation took place on Thursday. A grieving villager said, "Many villagers are in a similarly pathetic condition. Who knows if this is the beginning of a spate of suicides?" (TOI, 14/01/2011)

Farmer kills self in Sambalpur SAMBALPUR: A debt-ridden farmer committed suicide in Sambalpur district on Thursday. He is survived by his widow, four daughters and one son. Sixty-year-old Sukla Chhanda of Charpali village consumed pesticide. According to the police, Chhanda in his suicide note has stated that he took the step to get rid of the loan burden after severe crop damage. "We have seized a suicide note that described crop failure as the reason behind his suicide. We have registered a case and handed over the body to his relatives after autopsy. Chhanda consumed pesticide to kill himself," an officer of Burla police station said. The deceased was working as the panchayat secretary with Kardola gram panchayat for a long time. He had taken a loan of Rs five lakh from Utkal Gramya Bank to buy a tractor a few years ago. He had mortgaged 3.5 acres of land for it. According to Mishra, Chhanda had which he had in the bank for the tractor loan. He had also taken a crop loan of Rs 50,000 from the local co-operative society but due to severe crop damage he was unable to repay it. "Three of his daughters are married and he was planning to marry off his younger daughter. But was not pulling on well over the past few weeks because of heavy crop damage due to incessant rain," president of the local market yard Umesh Mishra said. (TOI, 14/01/2011)

Nitish Kumar condemns train-torching by villagers Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday reacted sharply to the torching of a passenger train by a mob of villagers in Aurangabad district, who were protesting against alleged non-payment of adequate compensation for land acquired for the 3,300-MW Nabinagar thermal power plant project. “I have asked for a full report on the incident. The only thing left to be done now is to verify the records again, though as per reports most of the land in that region is government land and no compensation is paid for acquiring government land,” said Mr. Kumar, speaking to reporters after the Chief Minister's Janata Durbar. Condemning the act of arson, Mr. Kumar stated that “while citizens had every right to make their case heard, they could not be permitted to damage public property in such an anarchic fashion.” Stating that it was a government project, he pointed out that the State was in dire need of electricity. “In case the project fails to take off, it will be a setback and Bihar and its people are bound to lose as a result.” The villagers on Saturday had stalled work on the project, demanding reassessment of arable land for compensation. However, the Chief Minister clarified that the furore was being caused by residents from only a couple of villages, who were clamouring for more compensation. “Some of the villagers had effected transactions even after the land had been taken over by the government. This has led to some people agitating for higher compensation rates,” Mr. Kumar noted. The Aurangabad District Collector had already repudiated such transactions and brought a civil suit against such people. “Compensation is never given for government land,” Mr. Kumar said. “Say if the floor rate is Rs.100 per acre of private land being acquired, the State government will give a compensation of Rs.240 per acre,” he said, implying that most of the villagers in the area had been adequately compensated for and the process was going on in other cases. The coal-based thermal power project, a joint venture of the Bihar government and the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), aims to alleviate the State's ever-surging power woes. The plant is to be set up on 2,832 acres and would have three units of 660 MW each to be built in the first phase at a cost exceeding Rs. 12,700 crore. As per NTPC sources, 1,871 acres of private land had been acquired only on paper. The demonstration had already delayed work for three days in an electricity-strapped Bihar, Mr. Kumar said. (Hindu, 18/01/2011)

1326 Indians die due to accidents, suicide every da y NEW DELHI: Every fifth person who killed himself in Maharashtra in 2009 was a farmer, recent suicide data says, nailing the state for most farm suicides for the tenth year in a row. Nationwide, 17,368 farmers killed themselves in 2009, 7% more than the count in 2008. The data is part of National Crime Records Bureau`s annual report of deaths and suicides across the country. Overall, India reported 418 accidental deaths a day in 2009. Road accidents killed 348 people a day; as many killed themselves daily for reasons ranging from illness to failure in love. The suicide count rose 1.7% compared to 2008 while accidental deaths, including those in road mishaps, increased by 7.3% over the last year. Around 1.27 lakh people committed suicide and 3.57 lakh died accidental deaths. Five states accounted for nearly two-thirds of all farm suicides in the country: Maharashtra (2,872), Andhra Pradesh (2,414), Karnataka (2,282), Chhattisgarh (1,802) and Madhya Pradesh (1,395). A total of 17,368 farmer suicides were reported in 2009. The figures almost doubled for Tamil Nadu, which reported 1,060 farmers` suicides in 2009, compared to 512 a year ago. While poverty remained among the most common reasons for committing suicide, poorer states such as Bihar, Orissa and Jharkhand reported far fewer suicides than

others. Bihar, for instance, reported 112 suicides while West Bengal reported most cases, 14,648. Orissa and Jharkhand reported 154 and 164 cases respectively. Bengal, along with four other states — Andhra Pradesh (14,500), Tamil Nadu (14,424), Maharashtra (14,300) and Karnataka (12,195) — accounted for more than 55% of the countrywide count. Delhi fared better, with 1,477 cases being reported in 2009. Uttar Pradesh reported a comparatively lower number of suicides, accounting for only 3.3% of the total cases. "A total of 223 males commit suicides per day in the country while the number for women is 125 out of which 69 are housewives," the records said. "Seventy-three people commit suicide on a single day due to illness while 10 are driven to suicide due to love affairs." Illness drove 21% of suicide victims while family problems was the reason cited in 21% of the cases. Around 68.7% of the 1.27 lakh people who committed suicide across the country were in their prime -- 15-44 years. "It is observed that social and economic causes have led most of the males to commit suicide whereas emotional and personal causes have mainly driven women to end their lives," the report said, adding the number of suicides due to unemployment and professional or career problems showed an increase of 18.8% and 15.1% respectively in 2009, when recession was just wearing off. Among cities, Bangalore (2,167), Chennai (1,412), Delhi (1,215) and Mumbai (1,051) together reported almost 43.3% of the total suicides in 35 big cities in the country. However, in terms of rate of rise in accidental deaths, the sharpest climb was in Pune. Road accidents accounted for 37.9% of accidental deaths, followed by poisoning (8%), railway accidents (7.8%), drowning (7.7%) and fire accidents (7%). (TOI, 18/01/2011)

8 MP farmers end lives in a month DAMOH: At 9pm on December 28, Nandaram Raikwa from Kuluwakala village walked into the fields behind his house with a can of kerosene. Standing there amid a totally destroyed crop of arhar lentils, he poured the fuel on his body and set himself alight. Hearing screams, villagers rescued him and doused the flames. They rushed the 25-year-old farmer to hospital; he died three days later. ''My son died before seeing the worst,'' said Nandaram's father Parikshat Raikwar (60). ''First, pests ate into the lentils. Then frost turned to ice on the standing crop that was ready to be harvested in a month,'' he explained. Eight farmers, including four in Damoh district in Bundelkhand region adjoining Uttar Pradesh, have committed suicide in a month in Madhya Pradesh. Damoh, Narsinghpur and Gadarwara are known for cultivation of good quality arhar lentils. But this year, the highways in Damoh run through fields of dried and blackened crops and grieving villages. ''The pests spread under frosty wet climate,'' Raikwar said. ''In late December, pests multiplied eating the crop, attacking one field after another. Nandaram sprayed pesticides three times, but to no avail,'' he added. Farmers who ended their lives had a common concern: repayment of loans they took from moneylenders. Nandaram was a landless farmer, he tilled 30 acre taken on contract from a rich land owner. Pushpendra Singh Hazari, a local Congress leader, is an influential farmer of Hata tehsil in Damoh. ''Rich landowners don't work on the fields anymore,'' Hazari told TOI. ''They give their land on contract to poor farmers on the assurance they will take 50% of the produce. Those committing suicide are either landless or marginal farmers who took heavy loans from unlicensed moneylenders. A lot of money is spent on seeds, pesticides and fertilizers. An amount is also paid to the landowner towards rent.'' Hazari said landless farmers depend on local sahukars for loans because banks do not lend them. Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has sent teams to probe the farmer suicides. Superintendent of police (Damoh) Dileep Arya said: ''The state government has instructed us to taken action against private moneylenders harassing farmers. But we can take action only after we receive complaints. Poor landless farmers don't complain against moneylenders because they are dependent on them.'' Police probe found rich farmers who no longer cultivate their own land do not bear the cost of ploughing, threshing or cutting. Nandaram had taken a tractor on rent for 40 hours. At the rate of Rs 400 per hour, he paid Rs 16,000 as tractor fee. He paid Rs 1.2 lakh as annual rent to the landowner who lives in Damoh town. ''He took a loan of Rs 2 lakh,'' his father said. ''My son was worried about repaying the loan.'' (TOI, 17/01/2011)

AP to develop 2.5 mn acre assigned land The Andhra Pradesh government is charting an action plan to develop 2.5 million acre of assigned land — belonging to SC, ST, and small and marginal farmers — under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (Nrega) scheme at a cost of around Rs 7,000 crore in the next two years. “The action plan is ready and work will commence on January 17, 2011. With this major initiative, barren and marginal land will become more productive and help in economic development of the farmers,” chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy said in a press release on Sunday. Directing chief secretary SV Prasad to focus on

this issue, Reddy asked district collectors to make all arrangements for the Rachchabanda programme, to be conducted between January 24 and February 12. “Distribution of temporary ration card coupons (over 500,000 new ration cards will be issued) should be taken care of during the programme,” he added. On the housing front, beneficiaries of the 470,000 houses started without sanction letters and which are at different stages of completion would be handed over the letters, and as far as possible, along with the first bill for basement level during the programme. “The officials should also prepare a plan of action for providing infrastructure facilities in Indiramma colonies to be provided at the earliest. All the pavala vaddi (25 paise interest) dues till March 2010 will also be cleared during the programme, besides providing additional 25 job days for those who have completed 100 job days under Nrega,” the chief minister said. The chief minister said all the works sanctioned under Rajiv Palle Bata and Nagara Bata would be taken up under a 100-day special development plan. Issue of ration cards, launch of a comprehensive package for weavers and 100 model schools, issue of Aadhaar cards in seven pilot districts and completion of 200,000 houses predominantly in SC/ST localities would also be part of the 100-day plan, Reddy said. (Business Standard, 17/01/2011)

Discretionary land powers not meant for the rich, s ays Supreme Court The Supreme Court on Tuesday disapproved of discretionary powers vested with State governments in land allotment. Such powers were intended to be used for the poor and not for the affluent and the politically well-connected, said a Bench of Justices G.S. Singhvi and A.K. Ganguly. Orders reserved The judges made this observation while reserving orders on a special leave petition questioning the allotment of land by the erstwhile BJP government in Madhya Pradesh in favour of a Trust named after the former party leader, Kushabhau Thakre. The petition by the Bhopal-based NGO, Akhil Bhartiya Upbhokta Congress, alleged that about 20 acres was allotted in 2004 by the Uma Bharti government in favour of the Trust, which has L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi as trustees, for Rs. 25 lakh, though the actual value was several crores. On Monday, senior counsel Ravi Shankar Prasad, appearing for the Madhya Pradesh government, defended the allotment to the Kushabhau Thakre Memorial Trust, saying if all discretionary allotments were to be scrapped, then the court should cancel allotment of all land made for top Congress leaders. “The Trust's objective is also laudable. The Trust has expressed an interest to build a training centre on the land.” During the resumed hearing on Tuesday, Justice Singhvi lamented the manner in which the executive had exercised the discretionary powers over the years. “Unfortunately, the beneficiaries by and large have been the affluent and not the poor. Those with access to power and the corridors of power have benefited.” When Mr. Prasad pointed out that poor people had benefited, Justice Singhvi observed: “Not for charity but for political purposes ahead of elections.” Expressing concern over the way the bureaucracy served the political masters, he said, “Our Babus have been trained in the best of the British traditions. They always serve their masters.” “Decline in institutions” Mr. Prasad did not agree with Justice Singhvi's observations and said, “There had been an all-round decline in institutions. Even this court is not what it was in the 1950s.” However, Justice Singhvi said the judiciary's lows were in 1976 and 1986, post-emergency, when it validated several wrong acts of the executive. Senior counsel Ranjit Kumar, appearing for the Trust, said all formalities and due procedure of law were complied with in land allotment. The Bench directed the State government to produce original files. (Hindu, 19/01/2011)

Farmers protest against land acquisition in Chhatti sgarh, 78 held RAIPUR: Seventy-eight farmers protesting against forcible acquisition of their land were arrested and several others lathicharged in Chhattisgarh's Janjgir Champa district late on Monday. The farmers are agitating against the state government forcibly acquiring their land for a 3600 mw power plant by Hyderabad-based firm KSK Energy Ventures Ltd. This is the second such flare up here within one month; 55 farmers were arrested on December 21. The farmers are upset with the government's attempts to buy land cheap for a Hyderabad company. The firm had earlier said it would acquire land on its own in its letter to the ministry of environment and forests, stating that it would acquire 2,050 acres of land through negotiations with farmers. The farmers say the company began buying land in four villages at Rs 1 lakh per acre, going up to Rs 23 lakh per acre. Suddenly, in September 2010, the farmers were served notice by the administration that the remaining land will be acquired by the government on behalf of the company. The land acquisition act 1894 empowers the government to acquire land for public purposes. Chhattisgarh's rate for single crop land is Rs 8 lakh per acre. "If my neighbour gets Rs 23 lakh for his land, why should I be forced to sell for less?'' asked Jawahar Dubey, an ex-MLA. ''The company has

fenced even unsold plots. Farmers are not allowed to access their own fields,'' said Ajay Negi, husband of a sarpanch. The district collector did not respond to calls seeking verification of farmers claims. An inspection report by a revenue official in August 2010, however, endorsed that the company had flattened boundaries of fields belonging to 11 farmers to build a road. Monday's protests threw up more evidence to back farmer claims. The farmers turned up at the site on Monday, invited by company managers for a formal demarcation of their fields. Demarcation is a process where the exact dimensions of land are mapped, a prerequisite for processing a legal deed of sale. But when 500 farmers turned up, the management got rattled. When the farmers refused to disperse, the police broke into a lathicharge. "The fact that farmland in the company's possession has still not been demarcated is proof that it has not been sold," said Arun Raina, a resident of Akaltara. KSK Energy's spokesperson, Rohit Raj Mathur, however, denied the company had illegally occupied farmland. "The Company currently is in possession of 1688 acres of total land...1175 acres of mutually negotiated land from private land owners and 513 acres of government land provided on lease. As far as balance land requirements, the Company has requested Industries Department to provide the same and is currently under processing," stated his emailed response. (TOI, 19/01/2011)

Haryana urges Centre to draft crop insurance policy Haryana Finance Minister Captain Ajay Singh Yadav on Wednesday urged the Central Government to immediately draft a comprehensive policy for insurance coverage of all important food crops and livestock needs with additional funding, start a technology mission on farm mechanisation and all districts of Haryana should be covered under National Food Security Mission. Captain Yadav, who was speaking in a meeting on pre-budget consultations held by Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee with Finance Ministers of States and UTs in New Delhi, said that methodology of calculating cost of cultivation being highly flawed and unscientific, it needs to be revised and the minimum support price (MSP) should be at least 50 per cent higher than the cost of cultivation as suggested by the Working Group on Agriculture Production. He stressed the need for a special package in the Union Budget of 2011-12 for conservation of soil and water. He said that weather-based crop insurance scheme should also be made affordable for the farmers. Norms of Calamity Relief Fund should be revised and the compensation for the loss of crops due to natural calamities like flood, drought, and frost should be enhanced to atleast Rs 25,000 per hectare. He said that the introduction of a Technology Mission on Farm Mechanisation was necessitated to ensure resilience in agriculture through precision farming and reduce dependence on labour. All types of tools, implements, machinery and equipments should be allowed to be freely imported without any import duty. He said that the efforts of the State in financial management have been well appreciated by the Planning Commission and various finance commissions. However, he added that major concerns of the States are not adequately addressed by Planning Commission while finalising State’s annual plan by way of financial support. He suggested that in case any State was not in line with the decision of Planning Commission, such issue might be referred to National Development Council for final decision. Also, the special Central assistance should be given in lump sum and the State should be free to formulate schemes against this allocation as per priorities and requirements. While drawing the attention of the Union Minister towards the loans raised by the State Government for the purposes of making procurement of foodgrains on behalf of Food Corporation of India being a special purpose loan with no linkage with the expenditure incurred by the State for its own purpose, he suggested that it should not be included while arriving at the figures of fiscal deficit. As ways and means of advances have remained almost unchanged since April 1, 2004, these facilities should be revised immediately and linked with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to be revised automatically twice a year. (Pioneer, 20/01/2011)

New land policy on anvil The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) is all set to introduce a new land policy on the model of public-private participation in land assembly, development, constructions, management and maintenance. The new land policy will make large-scale land acquisition redundant and introduce private players in the public infrastructure development sector. The policy is likely to be brought before the Authority meeting on Friday at Raj Niwas. The policy stipulates that a land owner, or a group of land owners or a private developer, will be “permitted to pool the land in an identified area or otherwise for unified planning and servicing”. The new policy will be boon for the private sector. The first land policy in Delhi ‘Large scale acquisition, development and disposal’ came in late 50s and modified from time to time in 60s. In the last 70 years, there are seven types of land in Delhi that include 24 old nazul estate like Paharganj, Darya

Ganj, Karol Bagh, Jhandewalan, Aliganj, Sadar Bazar; colonies developed by Delhi Improvement Trust (include Kamla Nagar, Jawahar Nagar, Shakti Nagar, Najafgarh, Motia Khan), development taken place under large scale acquisition, development and disposal, resettlement colonies and slum lands. “While planning of an area/pocket maximum attention may be given to environmental consideration without cutting trees, noise level of the airport. For all such plans no objection certificate should be taken from the Ministry of Environment,” the proposal said. The zonal development plan for west Delhi shows 1475 hectare land bounded by International airport in the north, NH-8 in the east, Delhi Haryana boundary in the south and Rewari railway station in the west. The new policy proposes only 605 hectare of land for urbanisable area and 870 hectare as green belt. According to new policy, the owners, who can hand the contract of the work to a private builder, will have to build roads and public infrastructure like arrangement for power and water supply, and EWS and LIG housing. “They will also hand over a portion of the developed land to the DDA. They get to keep and develop the rest of the land equitably among themselves as per the provision of the Master Plan for Delhi 2021,” it said. It further added that the DDA should prepare detailed plans of these areas and then start development with the help of largely from private sector, otherwise problem will not be solved. It would be pertinent to mention that the DDA had constructed only 3.5 lakhs flats in the last 40 years. It had developed 2,000 Cooperative Group Housing Societies and constructed 54,000 flats for them. Due to lack of housing, it is learnt that over 10 lakh people of Delhi are dependent upon nearby States. (Pioneer, 21/01/2011)

Farmer hangs self over crop loss BERHAMPUR: Crop failure has allegedly forced a farmer to commit suicide in Ganjam district. Sources said Ramaswamy Gouda (32) had hanged himself from a tree at Jagannath Pur village in Chikiti block on Wednesday. The farmer's father, Narasingh Gouda, said Ramaswamy had taken loans amounting to Rs 60,000 to cultivate paddy in three acres of land. He had assured his creditors to repay the loan after harvest. But untimely rain had damaged his crop. "Rama was mentally stressed for several days due to crop loss and debts. This may have forced him to take the extreme step," Narasingh said. "He did not return home on Tuesday night. It was only on Wednesday afternoon that we came to know about his death," he added. Sub-collector (Berhampur) Ajit Mishra said he has asked the tehsildar, district agriculture officer and police to conduct a joint inquiry into the matter. "The exact cause of suicide can be assessed only after we get the inquiry report," he added. With the latest incident, the number of alleged farmer suicides climbed to 15 in the past one-and-a-half months. The death came on the same day the National Human Rights Commission sought a report from the government on farmer suicide cases and their condition in Orissa. "The commission has received complaints of starvation deaths and farmers' suicides in the backward KBK (Kalahandi, Balangir and Koraput) region and has asked the state to take appropriate measures," NHRC chairperson K G Balakrishnan said. "We will continue to monitor the situation until the government submits a final report," he added. (TOI, 21/01/2011)

Rs 153.75L more relief for frost-hit farmers The State Government has allocated Rs 153.75 lakh for distribution of relief to farmers whose crops were recently damaged by severe cold and frost. Relief distribution is continuing in affected districts and additional funds are also being allocated to districts as per their need and demand. The State Government has reiterated that funds will not be a constraint for the disbursement of relief to the affected farmers. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is himself inspecting damaged crops in affected villages and talking to the farmers, which shows his determination and sensitivity toward the well being of farmers. He has assured the farmers that the State Government is with them at this hour of crisis and that they need not worry. A sum of Rs 500 crore has been set aside for providing immediate relief to affected farmers at the instructions of the Chief Minister, who has assured that if necessary more funds would be made available for the purpose. The survey and assessment of damaged crops is presently underway on a war footing and would be completed in a couple of days. Relief disbursement has already begun wherever it has been completed. The State Government is reviewing the situation on an every day basis and immediate allocations are being made to districts, in accordance with their proposals. So far, Rs 20 crore has been allocated to Bhopal, Rs 11.50 lakh to Umaria, Rs 10 crore to Sagar, Rs 9 crore to Indore, Rs 8.45 crore to Narsinghpur, Rs 6 crore to Satna, Rs 5.25 crore to Shahadol, Rs 5 crore each to Chhatarpur, Chhindwara and Panna, Rs 4 crore to Damoh and Rs 3 crore each to Rewa and Ashok Nagar districts. Funds have also been allotted to other affected districts. More compensation for vegetable growers Though havoc on crop is natural, its impact on the life of a farmer could be minimised

by the sensitivity of humans. A few weeks ago, farmers in the State suffered a severe jolt when their crops were destroyed by an extreme cold wave and frost, but the State Government stood by them in their hour of need. Apart from farmers, the vegetable growers are also heaving a sigh of relief after the State Government took favourable decisions in their interests. The vegetable growers of two-hectares, who are given Rs 8,000 per hectare on loss to vegetable, will now be helped with Rs 11,000 per hectare. The increased amount will help the farmers at the time of crop crisis. Besides, the vegetable growers who have more than two hectare land will also be benefited. The growers of this category were being given Rs 6,400 per hectare. Now, as per the new norms that came into effect on January 1, they will be given Rs 8,300 per hectare on loss. (Pioneer, 24/01/2011)

Soraon block farmers protest against ADA ALLAHABAD: Farmers and women of Jurapur and Dando villages coming under the Soraon block of trans-Ganga area protested and raised slogans slogans against the Allahabad Development Authority against the plan of acquisition of their lands for developmental purposes. Speaking on the occasion, Congress leader and former MP Dharamraj Patel observed that the state government is consistently pursuing anti-farmers policy and it seems that it has failed to take any lesson from Tappal village of Aligarh and Kachri-Karchana area of Allahabad. Congress leaders have observed that the state government should acquire the land of the farmers with their consent by giving them proper compensation. If the farmers are not willing to give their lands, then the state government or ADA should withdraw. (TOI, 24/01/2011)

Assurances pour in for Kudubis MANGALORE: An interaction meet organized by Journalists' Study Centre with the elected representatives to discuss the plight of Kudubis affected by the setting up of MSEZ on Thursday ended with the tribals getting more assurances. The elected representatives invited for the interaction __ MP Nalin Kumar Kateel and Mulki-Moodbidri MLA Abhayachandra Jain __ stuck to their position of opposing the second phase expansion of MSEZ. Jain was of the opinion that the problems faced by the Kudubis should be resolved by the district administration with the district in-charge minister taking the lead. There is no question of allowing further acquisition of 2,035 acres of land for the second phase of MSEZ, he said citing the fact that no industries have yet become operational in the first phase for which the company (MSEZ Ltd) has already acquired 1,800-acres of land. Nalin said while he was personally not against the project, any move to acquire land for setting up industries has to be done in a congenial manner and not by force. The plight of Kudubis in Kudubi Padavu, whose land, the MP said, MSEZ officials forcibly acquired is pitiable. Failure on part of MSEZ officials to meet assurances given to people whose land they acquired has created a trust deficit among people and the company, Nalin averred. On the question of denotifying the 2,035-acres of land that the KIADB intends to acquire for the second phase, Nalin said the BJP has apprised CM B S Yeddyurappa to do so. "In a government set up, these things can not be done overnight and will take some time," he said. There is no question of allowing fresh acquisition of land. MSEZ must meet its promise of providing jobs to unemployed youths trained by them, Jain added. The Kudubis __ Giriya Gowda, Honnayya Gowda and others __ had just one prayer: give us justice. "The MSEZ authorities have levelled our land, filled our fields with soil, closed our wells," they said. Agriculture is the only profession that we know to survive on and it is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain our joint families with meagre income earned from manual labour, which sometimes we don't get, they noted. (TOI, 22/01/2011)

Panchayat against land acquisition ROHTAK: The voices of dissent on the issue of land acquisition are getting louder as farmers of many villages in the home district of CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, has warned authorities against stepping on their fields. A social panchayat of 14 villages was organized at Kheri Sadh on Saturday which decided to extend support to the agitating farmers of Baliana, Kharawar and Kheri Sadh. They had started a dharna against the government's acquisition bid this week. Haryana Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) had started the acquisition process of around 1,128 acres of land in these villages for extension project of the Modern Industrial Township (MIT) along the national highway No 10, adjoining Rohtak. Farmers in these villages were served notices under section 4 and 6 of the Land Acquisition Act. However, the land owners maintained that since the land was highly fertile and irrigation facilities too available in the region, it must not be used for industrialization. Moreover, residents are mostly dependent

of agriculture for their livelihood, they said. Satish Bhalauth, a farmer leader, alleged that indiscriminate acquisition of land could ruin them. "It's right time for the farmers to wake up to this issue for the betterment of their future generations as government is plundering their land to hand it over to industrial houses. Farmers ultimately would be at the mercy of these industrialists as they would have to work in their units as labourers," he said. Manoj Singh, a former sarpanch of Kheri Sadh, maintained that the panchayat has served an ultimatum to the government to withdraw the notices served on the farmers. (TOI, 30/01/2011)

Vedanta coalmine proposal fuels villagers' displace ment fears More than a thousand villagers from Chhattisgarh's coal-rich Raigarh district have expressed their opposition to a mine proposed by Vedanta Resources, a giant multinational. Vedanta, if granted clearance, hopes to mine four million tonnes of coal a year to fuel the expansion of its 810-MW captive power plant on the Bharat Aluminum Company (BALCO) premises in Korba, Chhattisgarh. Vedanta acquired a 51 per cent stake in BALCO in 2001, and the remaining 49 per cent is still owned by the Government of India. In its draft Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report, the company said coal was necessary to increase its power generation capacity from 810 to 1110 MW for enhancing BALCO's production. The company seeks to acquire 1,070 hectares of land, of which about 700 hectares is owned by farmers. At a mandatory public hearing held at Taraimar, villagers shouted anti-Vedanta slogans, broke down and appealed to the local administration to save their land. “I came here from Pakistan. Pandit Nehru gave me this land,” wept an old man Mandal, stressing that most of those who stood to lose their land were Bangladeshi refugees who had come to the undivided Madhya Pradesh since the 1960s. “We were kept in a refugee camp in Bengal for one year, before Nehru gave us 6 acres each in Raigarh,” said Mandal, as he mulled over the consequences of being displaced once more. “Money is just paper, it blows off the pavement,” said Sukamari Mondal, a resident of the project-affected Baisi colony settlement, explaining that monetary compensation was no substitute for her land. As per the 2006 Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) notification, the local administration must conduct public consultations to ascertain the concerns of people affected by large projects. At such gatherings, villagers are invited to discuss the potential environmental impact of projects. However, activists say, the hearings have become the sole avenue where villagers can formally register their protest, and so objections raised relate to the uncertainties of displacement, resettlement, employment and compensation rather than strictly environmental concerns. “I believe that companies should be asked to provide social impact assessments rather than EIAs,” said Raghuvir Pradhan, an activist with the Ekta Parishad. In his submission at the hearing, activist Ramesh Agarwal said the meeting was not conducted in accordance with the rules laid down in the MoEF notification. The district administration, however, assured the villagers that their concerns would be recorded and conveyed to the MoEF. (Hindu, 01/02/2011)

In rain-battered Adilabad, death stalks farmers With one cotton farmer committing suicide every alternate day, the district has become a virtual killing field for growers grappling with the socio-economic upheaval caused by crop failure this season. The current spate of suicides started at the beginning of the last quarter of 2010, when it became clear that the excessive rain irreparably damaged the crops. Dismal yields and mounting debts drove 30 farmers to death during this period. With 16 farmers ending their lives in January, the rate of suicide increased from one in three days to one every two days. The farmers' expectation that the situation would ease as the season progressed was belied once again. The promise of a better income drove more and more farmers to Bt cotton during the kharif season of 2010. In just one year, the area under cotton in the district increased from more than 2 lakh hectares to over 3 lakh hectares. Having worked as an agricultural labourer all his life, Sheikh Ramzan, 55, of Borigaon in Ichoda mandal began cultivating his five acres only in 2009. Little did he realise that his dream of becoming a farmer would be shattered by the unusually inclement weather. “He became progressively pensive as the spells of heavy rain kept destroying the crop,” recalls Ramzan's wife Aisha Bi, speaking of the weeks before the farmer committed suicide in January. “Instead of 25 quintals of cotton expected at the start of the season, he got only 1.5 quintal,” she says. Tallapalli Chinna Ganganna, a small farmer from Kapri in Jainad mandal, found himself at a loss, as the crop failed in the very first year he took to cultivation on his own. “He ran into debts amounting to Rs.1.3 lakh, half of which was spent on treatment of his wife who died in June,” says Sagudam Latchanna, a neighbour. Ganganna's orphaned daughter Sangeeta and son Shivanna abandoned their small house in the belief that it brought them ill luck. Living in a makeshift hut close by,

they now await the relief package from the government. The government goes about its laborious routine of offering monetary relief, but does hardly anything concrete to prevent suicides. The adverse weather conditions were characterised by spells of excessive rain between June-end and September-end: against the normal of 10 cm for the June-December period, the district received nearly 12 cm. While the investment went up by more than 30 per cent of the normal Rs. 10,000 an acre, the yield came down by 70 per cent. “No one ever lacks a good reason for suicide,” said Italian author Cesare Pavese as he attempted, perhaps, to justify the tendency. (Hindu, 02/02/2011)

Karmapa: Land deals may trigger fresh trouble At least two land deals — one at Rakkar (Sidhbari) and the other at Trilokpur in Jawali area of Kangra district — entered into by the trust of 17th Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje may trigger fresh troubles for the spiritual leader. Central and state agencies have spent the past three days compiling a list of ‘benami’ properties which have links with the Gyuto Monastery. According to sources, teams from the ED, RAW, I-T, IB and the state CID have identified half-a-dozen such properties, particularly land deals linked to the trust. The list on Wednesday reached different wings of the Union Ministries of Home and External Affairs, sources said. Documents reveal that the Sidhbari deal violated Section 118 of the HP Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, which debars non-Himachalis, including foreigners or NRIs, from buying any land in the state except in a case when approval has been granted by the state Cabinet. The property in question at Jawali in the name of Sewa Devi Negi, bought three years back, is under litigation. Monastery officials refused to comment on the list. (IE, 03/02/2011)

Govt's land acquisition quashed by high court CHANDIGARH: In a major setback to the real estate major DLF and Haryana government, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday quashed the acquisition of land by the state from farmers, which was later released to the private developer for a special economic zone (SEZ) in Silokhera village of Gurgaon. The SEZ was to come up on around 30 acres near Sector-30. The court has directed the government to remove any construction in the next six months that has been raised on the said land. While pronouncing the order, the HC also observed, It is not understandable why state is showering favours in favour of DLF and other private companies. Terming the act of the state government in execution of sale deed of the said land in favour of DLF as not legally permissible, the High Court also imposed a cost of Rs 2 lakh on DLF, Haryana government and two other private companies. The orders were passed by the division bench comprising Justice Jasbir Singh and Justice Rakesh Kumar Garg of the Punjab and Haryana High Court while allowing a petition filed by Harkishan, a resident of Mohammadpur Jharsa in Gurgaon and others. Petitioners had brought to the notice of the bench that Haryana government had first acquired a big chunk of land for the purpose of developing the land for residential and commercial areas in Sector 30, but later released it to private companies illegally. It was stated that the state government, in January 1989, issued a notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, to acquire 210.38 acres in Silokhera village and 5.2 acres in Sukhrali. In January 1990, the government under Section 6 of the Act issued a notification in which 169 acres in Silokhera and 2.13 acres in Sukhrali village were acquired. Then in September 1995, the state government released 30 acres of the acquired land in favour of M/s East India Hotels Limited under the garb of providing a hospital of 300 beds and other medical/educational facilities of the area. However, later the said land was illegally sold by M/s East India Hotels Limited to DLF Limited and Chandra Jyoti Developers Pvt Limited. Making allegations of nexus between the state government and the private companies, petitioners informed the Bench that the state government not only allowed such illegal transfer of land in April 2006 but also accorded all kind of facilities to these companies including the approval of setting up of SEZ on the said land by DLF. Accepting these contentions, the Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court quashed the acquisition process of the said land and directed the Haryana government to take possession of the land and allot it further for public purpose only. A DLF spokesperson said that they would not be able to comment until they get the copy of the order. (TOI, 04/02/2011)

Centre plans ‘Green India Mission’ Union Minister for Environment and Forest Jairam Ramesh said on Sunday that the Union government proposed to announce a "Green India Mission" shortly to increase the forest cover and quality of forests in the country. Inaugurating the Southern Forest Ministers' Conference here, the Minister said that formal approval for the project was expected on February 22 at a committee to be chaired by Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh. Mr. Ramesh said that the Mission would aim at improving the quality of five million hectares of degraded forests and bringing another five million hectares of non-forest areas under forest cover through social and farm forestry. He said that the Mission would be implemented with the participation of grama sabhas, women's self help groups and community organisations. A legal entity in the form of joint management committee would be formed for carrying out the programme. He said that the proportion of open degraded forests was as high as 40 per cent in South India. The same problem was also there in other States. Regeneration of these forests could not be attempted through traditional ways of protecting the forests from biotic interference. No government could keep men and cattle out of the forests of India. So, ways of regenerating forests, recognising biotic pressures, had to be devised. Along with that, the de-greening of India had to be stopped if afforestation programmes were to have any effect. "We cannot promote programmes that cause large scale deforestation." The Minister said that the government proposed to bring out a package for the Eastern Ghats, recognising the need for economic development of the local communities. The ecologically fragile areas of Western and Eastern Ghats were under great threat. A panel chaired by Madhav Gadgil had been appointed to draw up a strategy on development in ecologically fragile zones in the Western Ghats. There are areas where developmental activity should be permitted in a regulated manner and areas which should be fully protected on the ghats. While coal-based power projects were a great threat to Western Ghats, the Eastern Ghats faced pressures to open up for mining. Mr. Ramesh said that mangroves and wetlands were disappearing in all States, particularly the South Indian States. The Mangroves in South Indian States had shrunk to eight per cent over the past 25 to 30 years. There was need for renewed focus on regenerating the mangroves in the South. Mangroves should not be used for purposes other than intended. The proposal for cricket stadium in Kochi, Kerala, in an area with mangroves was a classic case. The question was whether cricket or protection of mangroves was important on the long run. He noted that the wetlands in Tamil Nadu were being cornered by the real estate business while pissiculture was destroying wetlands in Andhra Pradesh. "Wet lands are not waste lands. They performed ecologically a very important function and catered to the security of the local communities." Kerala Forest Minister Benoy Viswam presided and Karnataka Minister for Forests and Small Scale Industries C. H. Vijayashankar delivered the key note address. The conference will mainly deliberate on human-wild life conflict, best practices for conservation and emergent conservation challenges. (Hindu, 07/02/2011)

Police arrest three private money lenders in farmer suicide case A 32-year-old farmer committed suicide on Sunday allegedly after harassment by private money lenders. Sandeep Babasaheb Dhanavate, a small time cultivator from Rampurwadi village, 250 km. east of Pune, named three persons in his suicide note addressed to the Ahmednagar Superintendent of Police Krishna Prakash. The police arrested the three on the charge of abetment to suicide. Suresh Ashok Kudale, Ashok Ramchandra Kudale and Somnath Velangar, all residents of Rahata taluka in Ahmednagar district were accused by the farmer of threatening him. The deceased left behind two suicide notes, which were found in his pocket. According to inspector Suresh Warhade, the first note named the money lenders, while the second requested the police to take care of the family. Mr Warhade said Dhanavate has 3 acres of land. “After my death, the police should ensure the safety of my family members and protect them from threats,” the suicide note read. Dhanavate hanged himself from a neem tree near his house. He is survived by his wife and two children. Mr. Prakash told The Hindu: “I have instructed the Additional SP, Deputy SP and the inspector to conduct a thorough probe. Accordingly the trio were arrested on Monday.” Even as the suicide note stated that he was harassed because of his inability to repay the loan, the police claimed that no record of debt had been recovered either from the farmer or from the accused. “So far we have not collected any record which can prove that the farmer had taken loan from the accused. Our investigation is on,” Mr. Warhade said. All three accused were produced in the local court, which remanded them to five-day police custody. Even as the police refused to share the details citing that the case was under investigation, the locals said the accused money lenders charge as much as 25% interest from farmers. Ahmednagar Collector P. Anbalagan could not be reached. Agriculture Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil visited the victim's family and assured an impartial investigation. Meanwhile, residents of Rampurwadi which has a population of about 2000, called a Gram Sabha on Tuesday to discuss the issue. “We condemn the injustice meted out to the farmer,” Rampurwadi sarpanch Arvind Yelam told The Hindu. (Hindu, 08/02/2011)

Farmers' group to file PIL in SC against land acqui sition

GURGAON: While the state government is trying to acquire 1,800 acres of land near IMT as soon as possible, the industrialists and farmers from Manesar have come together and formed an organization for their legal battle against the government. The newly formed farmers' organization — Upjaoo Bhoomi Sanrakhsan Andolan (Fertile Land Conservation Movement) — with the support of the Industrial Welfare Association of Manesar will soon file a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court highlighting the issues such as environmental damage because of rapid industrialization of fertile land. In the unique case, both farmers and industrialists are going to court together against land acquisition by the government. The protesters have also questioned the speed with which the government is trying to finish the acquisition process. "Why is the government in such a hurry? If they are acquiring land for the cause of industrial development, then why are industrialists opposing it? Even some of the senior leaders from ruling party have protested acquisition of fertile land," said a farmed whose land is up for acquisition. Manesar is home to around seven water reservoirs which flow directly into the Sultanpur Lake via natural channels and conduits. But the protesters claim that the water flow to the lake has been disrupted due to the unplanned industrial development, which has formed a blockade and impedes the natural flow of water during the rains. "There used to be some more natural water bodies near IMT, but when the IMT was being developed, these were blindly removed," said a senior member of Manesar Industrial Welfare Association. The remaining seven water reservoirs lie on the foothills of Kaasan hill, which falls within the area which is up for acquisition. "The state should have left the foothills Kaasan untouched. The area should be declared an environmentally protected zone," said another industrialist in Manesar. Demands for an environmental impact study are also being made. "We want the HSIIDC to commission an independent environmental impact study for the whole 6,000 acres area in Manesar. Results of the study should be made public," he added. (TOI, 08/02/2011)

Sonia Gandhi asks banks to provide credit to farmer s at low rates Seeking to insulate small and marginal farmers from exploitation by moneylenders, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi today asked the banks to provide credit to farming community at lower rates of interest. Gandhi was speaking at the launch of Financial Inclusion campaign -- Swabhimaan -- of the government, that seeks to provide banking services to 73,000 villages with population of over 2,000 and open at least 5 crore new account by March 2012 under the campaign. "One of the most important objectives of the campaign will be to enable small and marginal farmers to obtain credit at lower rates from banks and other financial institutions so that they could be insulated from exploitation by moneylenders," Gandhi said. Speaking at the function, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said banking services would be rolled out in 20,000 villages this fiscal, but warned the banks against selecting wrong entities as their business correspondents -- persons acting as intermediaries between rural people and banks. "For the year 2010-11, we have set a target of roll out in 20,000 villages. I am confident that this target will be achieved," he said. Business correspondents (BCs) are the face of the banks and they should be conscious of reputational risks that could arise if the wrong kind of BCs, or those who are providing technology as backup, are selected. With agriculture poised to grow at 5.4% in the current fiscal compared to just 0.4% a year ago, Mukherjee said this was possible partly due to phenomenal growth in bank credit to the sector. "This is a big improvement and is partly due to the tremendous growth in bank credit to the agriculture sector which is expected to cross the target of Rs3,75,000 crore set for the year," he added. He, however, expressed concern that only about 38% of bank branches are in rural areas, providing coverage to 40% of the country's population. Besides, 51.4% of farmer households in the country are financially excluded from both formal and informal sources of credit. Gandhi appealed to the bankers to take up this task with a sense of responsibility and understanding and exercise courtesy and respect, specially to small borrowers. (DNA, 11/02/2011)

Social humiliation, isolation contributes to farmer s' suicide ALLAHABAD: The suicide committed by a 45-year-old Sikh-Jat farmer of Punjab (name concealed), was not only because of the debt he owed, but also a change to semi-urban lifestyle coupled with social humiliation and psychological isolation were some of the main causes, which force him to take this extreme step. A detailed study by psychologist of the Allahabad University has tried to ascertain the reasons behind such unfortunate step taken by many Sikh cultivators, in the last decade. The study carried out by Prof A Satyanarayan, K Chandraiah and Sanjay has tried to identify various reasons, which could have prompted the farmers, of one of the most prosperous state of the country, to choose suicide as the last resort. K Chandaiah concluded that the finding of the study would also serve many suggestive

measures to be taken by the government and loaning agencies. He said that most importantly the loaning agencies should take drastic steps to change the recovery policy, which should be based more on the season of crop harvesting rather then monthly instalments. It should be more humanistic in approach when dealing with the cultivators. Apart from it, the role of middlemen should be minimised, said Satyanarayan. Informing about the finding of the study, Prof A Satyanarayan said, Remaining in debt is nothing new for Indian cultivators who has been accustomed to live for ages in this trap, but the incidence of suicide has seldom been reported prior to 1984. Post 1984 has recorded a sudden increase in such incidents in Punjab, which has traditionally been considered as a prosperous state, which indicates that apart from money other factors are also responsible for compelling the cultivator to take this extreme step. He said, "The findings are based on interaction by 62 families of the farmers who had committed suicide and 50 non suicidal families, between the period from 1994 to 2002. We found that the families of the cultivator, who commits suicide, breaks down before he takes such step but that of a non-suicidal individual family remains intact." "We found that when the loan is to be taken the eldest male member, usually eldest brother, takes the responsibility. After the amount is received it is been spend on paying the broker, throwing party in the village, purchasing of luxury items. When time comes to repay the amount, which coincides with floods and crop failures, family members and friends show their inability to help the person in debt. It is followed by recovery notices and sometime even imprisonment of few days resulting in decline in his social status, which is of prime importance in the rural segment," Satyanarayan said. (TOI, 11/02/2011)

Farmers to get loan at 1% from April 1 The State Government is running many schemes for the welfare of common people. In an effort to make the agrarian sector a profitable business, the State Government has decided to provide agricultural loan at the rate of one per cent to the farmers from next fiscal, that is, April 1, 2011. Public Health Engineering and Cooperative Minister Gaurishankar Bisen informed this at the foundation stone-laying of a high school and dedication of water tap project ceremony at Bisoni village. The Chief Minister had announced this water tap project during his Jandharshan at the demand of villagers of Bisoni village. Addressing the gathering, Bisen said the State Government was making all efforts to expand infrastructural development of schools in order to reach required standard of education. It was very difficult job to ensure high school at Bisoni village. In this budget of the State Government, permissions were accorded to open 200 new high schools, and Bisoni is one of them. A sum of Rs 58 lakh has been sanctioned for the construction of high school building, which will be ready in a year. Bisen said the Lanji area would not be deprived of benefits of development. A bridge will be erected over Bagh River on Lanji-Amgaon road. No one had thought that Kadta-Sarra Road would complete. But it became possible, due to will power of the State Government. Talking about water tap project, the Minister said the Gram Panchayat should extend help in smooth functioning of this project. Besides, villagers should also participate in development. It should be ensured that the electricity bills and water cess are paid on time so as to maintain this project. The Minister advised the villagers to provide water tap connection to each houses and water cess should be recovered by forming a committee of women members of the villages. Madhya Pradesh is the only State in the country where agricultural loan is being provided at one per cent rate. Earlier, farmers were being given loan at the rate of three per cent. As from the next financial year, the State Government will provide loan at the lowest rate. The farmers who pay Kharif loan till March 15 and Rabi loan till June 15 will be provided loan at the rate of one per cent from next year. Referring to electricity crisis, the Minister said power generation is being increased in the State. The State Government will be able to ensure 20 hours electricity to the farmers till 2013. The work for feeder diversification between village and agriculture land for maximum power to farmers is on war-footing. A total of Rs 5,500 crore is being spent for this project. The Minister assured the farmers of making efforts at administrative level to ensure power at least 10 hours in Lanji area. A sum of Rs 19.50 lakh has been sanctioned for water tap connection project at Bisoni village. A water tank of one lakh 20 litres capacity to the tune of Rs 11.25 lakh has been constructed at the village. Now, water will be supplied to each and every house by laying water pipelines. (Pioneer, 21/02/2011)

Twin challenges in agriculture The major challenge in the agriculture and food sector is to increase production and productivity (yield per hectare) so as to provide all citizens with food security and to contain domestic food inflation that has remained high for an entire year till November-December last when it peaked. It is expected that the

outlay for food and public distribution will reflect enhanced food subsidy to meet the requirements under the proposed National Food Security Bill if only to display the government's intent of giving citizens food security. The food subsidy now stands at about Rs. 82,000 crore, including the Rs.12,000 crore “carried forward” from the previous year. This is expected to go up substantially, if wheat and rice are to be made available to Public Distribution System beneficiaries at Rs. 2 and Rs. 3 a kg. There is no official word yet on the number of beneficiaries, but the government will have to make a much higher food subsidy allocation. In fact, the allocation might have a clue to the government's intentions. That the government has been unable to rein in price rise is obvious from the increase in onion prices in December. Responses to such situations have mostly been ad hoc: when onion prices zoomed to Rs.80 a kg, there was a hasty announcement on the setting up of vegetable clusters around cities. Again when foodgrains were damaged because they were kept in open-air cap-and-plinth storage, the government declared that storage and warehousing capacity would be enhanced, but there was no adequate financial support. For that, the government wants the private sector to come forward. Therefore, in this year's budget, the Finance Minister is expected to allocate adequate funds for enhancing storage capacity. As per one assessment, about Rs.4,000 crore is required for creating the storage capacity needed to store grain under the food security bill. At the same time, money would have to be set aside for the proposed vegetable clusters. This will be in addition to the demand for farmers' markets that sell perishables directly to consumers without the licensee or the ‘cartelised system' of artiyas in mandis set up under the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee Act. The onion crisis exposed the role of the middlemen as never before. Even when prices have fallen to Rs.4 to Rs.8 a kg at the traditional growing centres in Nashik in Maharashtra, the consumers are still paying up to Rs.25 a kg. As the number of farmers who committed suicide increased last year, making farming remunerative also needs attention. There is no solution yet to the high input costs, pressure on land and water and farmers' borrowings from the informal sector. There is a pressing demand to lower the interest on farm credit to four per cent. In this final year of the 11th Plan, the government is expected work towards consolidation of the Agriculture Ministry's flagship programmes for enhancing farm growth. The Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna, the National Food Security Mission, the National Horticulture Mission, the Integrated Scheme of Pulses, Oilseeds and Maize and the Technology Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture in North-East and Himalayan States have started showing results: the farm growth expected to increase from 0.2 per cent last year to 5.6 per cent this year. However, much of it is projected to come from the dairy, fishery and horticulture sector rather than from foodgrains. With 60 per cent farming centred in rain-fed areas that dependent on monsoon, it is imperative that higher investment be made to bring more areas under irrigation. Linked to this is the crop insurance scheme, which, even after several years, remains at the experimental stage in a few districts and covering a few crops. This needs to be strengthened to adequately compensate rain-fed farmers for losses from the vagaries of weather. There should be higher investment in improved assessment of weather and crop conditions for timely action and management of markets. At the same time, the allocation for agriculture research and development has to be enhanced to increase grain productivity and tackle the challenges of climate change. (Hindu, 23/02/2011)

Over 8,000 farmers ended lives in MP: Govt Bhopal: Presenting a grim piece of statistics, the Madhya Pradesh Government on Tuesday said that total of 8,298 farmers committed suicide between 2004 and 2009 in the State. In a written reply to Congress MLA Arif Aqueel’s question, state Home Minister Umashanker Gupta informed the State Assembly that 8,298 farmers committed suicide in this period. The year-wise figures of farmers’ suicides, as provided by the Minister, are: 1638 in 2004, 1248 in 2005, 1375 in 2006, 1263 in 2007, 1379 in 2008 and 1395 in 2009. The Home Minister said that four farmers committed suicide in Balaghat, Damoh, Sagar and Chhindwara districts since July 2010. The reply does not have comprehensive figure for the year 2010. Reasons behind these suicides have not been analysed yet, Gupta said. (Pioneer, 23/02/2011)

Gujarat farmer suicide case: 5 policemen suspended The district chief of Gandhidham police has suspended one PSI and four police constables in the Rapar farmer suicide case and an FIR has been filed against them. Jabrabhai Gadhavi of Dawari village in Rapar had committed self-immolation on the premises of the taluka mamlatdar in Rapar in full public view on Monday morning. "Yes this (the suspension of the policemen) is our first step and further investigation has been launched against them by our investigation officer," Chirag Koradia, superintendent of Gandhidham police district told DNA on Tuesday. The revenue department suspended the female talathi

of Dawari village on Tuesday after an inquiry was ordered by Anjar sub-divisional magistrate Ranjitkumar Singh. "We have suspended the talati. But we have not suspended Rapar mamlatdar Anirudhsinh Jhala and have only transferred him," Singh said. When asked if the deceased was an activist and had applied for information for 400 acres of common village land used for grazing cows and not for his own land, Singh replied, "No, there was no RTI on the 400 acres of land. There are three entries which refer to only 12 acres of land belonging to the deceased." Devdat Gadhavi, nephew of the deceased, in an exclusive talk with this paper on Tuesday, confirmed this that his uncle had sought information about 12 acres of his land which was illegally sold off by some people two years ago. He said they received the body of his uncle late at night on Monday and performed his last rites in the wee hours of Tuesday morning. "Before my uncle committed suicide, his younger brother Mavdan had urged the police present there to stop the self-immolation, but none came forward. Not only this, my younger uncle was also prevented by the police to go near my uncle's burning body. The Rapar mamlatdar was a mere spectator to this ghastly incident," he said, adding that so far not a single official had been arrested. "While we do not know where the mamlatdar is now, but the suspended Rapar PSI Parmar is now in Gandhidham and we fear that he might destroy all the evidence in the case." he added. He said the issue was old one and two months ago when Jabrabhai had met the district collector he had asked the Rapar mamlatdar to provide him with the information he had sought under RTI. He also said that two days ago when his uncle had met the mamlatdar and told him that he would commit self-immolation, the mamlatdar had allegedly told him to do as he wished. (DNA, 24/02/2011)

Haryana FM reiterates support for farmers on land a cquisition in Rewari CHANDIGARH: Refusing to budge from his stand in the face of chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda`s "varying views" on the land acquisition policy, Haryana finance minister Ajay Singh, on Thursday reiterated that he would continue to support the farmers on the matter of land acquisition in district Rewari. "Let either the farmers be 25% stakeholders in the industries coming up at the proposed land or let the entire 464 acres of land remain as agriculture land only", the minister said. Interacting with mediapersons in Panchkula, he asserted that he had high regard for the chief minister but the farmers` cause was his priority. "The CM is head of our team but I wish he would redesign or amend the policy after taking into consideration the suggestions given by us,`` Ajay added. He was the first to `revolt` against land acquisition in Rewari, but denied that there was any bickering within the party on the issue. Referring to Haryana`s budget, he praised the CM`s assertion that it is going to be an " aam-adami friendly budget." Ajay Singh and the CM have been at loggerheads on the issue of acquisition of 496 acres of land in Rewari district for an industrial estate. Ajay had recently praised UP CM Mayawati for land acquisition policy and Gujarat chief minister Narender Modi for the agriculture policy in their respective states. (TOI, 25/02/2011)

“Farmer suicide is not the crisis, it is the outcom e” Even though West Bengal is one of the only three States in the country that has seen a decline in the rates of farmer suicides over the last 15 years, the situation in the State as in the rest of the country is precarious, renowned journalist and Ramon Magsaysay awardee P. Sainath said here on Monday. According to the records of the National Crime Records Bureau, West Bengal reported an annual average of 1,454 farmer suicides between 1995 and 1999, 1,200 in the next five years, and 1,014 in the subsequent five years, Mr. Sainath said. Kerala and Karnataka are the only other States to have reported a significant decrease in deaths for the same period. Emphasising that “the farmer suicide is not the farm crisis, it is the outcome of the crisis,” Mr. Sainath said that West Bengal will also have to be cautious as “it is in a very fragile situation” and in no way isolated from the agrarian crisis. He also pointed to the vast land used for cultivation of tea, a cash-crop that is going to be at the mercy of global prices. “We have undergoing the largest catastrophe of our Independent history – the suicides of nearly a quarter of a million farmers since 1995. We are talking of the largest recorded rate of suicides in human history,” Mr. Sainath said at the “Third Michael Sprinkler Lecture” organised by the Institute of Development Studies Kolkata. He pointed out that eastern India as a whole had fared better in the agrarian crisis compared to the Western States. These States have better water supply and more farmers here have continued producing food crops instead of cash crops, he said. Mr. Sainath said that in the five States that account for two-thirds of the total farmer suicides in the country – Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh – the situation was much worse in the regions that mainly produce cash crops. Asked to comment on the budget allocation of Rs. 400 crore in subsequent years to bring the

Green Revolution to the Eastern States, Mr. Sainath said that even though there was need to improve productivity, “the East should not import problems that it has on a smaller scale.” He cautioned against following “the Punjab model” in the region as “following the practices of corporate-led agriculture will be a death warrant for the farmers.” Punjab is plagued with problems of a depleting water table and its ground water is being poisoned, he added. (Hindu, 08/03/2011)

‘Those who frame farm policies should know what agr iculture is' H.B. Walikar, Vice-Chancellor of Karnatak University, has said that as long as the farmers and educated people hesitated to send their children to agricultural institutions for education, it would be difficult for them to find contentment in agriculture. He was inaugurating the ‘Rabi Kisan Mela' organised at the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Dharwad, on Monday. Around 5,000 farmers and extension workers of the university participated in the mela. Prof. Walikar said that it was essential that those who framed agricultural policies and schemes should possess experience and expertise in agriculture. “Only then will it be possible to find solutions to the problems being faced by the agricultural sector,” he said. He said that UAS, Dharwad, had been organising farmer-friendly programmes. It was commendable that for the first time an event like Rabi Kisan Mela to sensitise farmers on the latest technologies had been organised by the university. K.P. Muralidharan, chairman of the Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank, listed out various schemes aimed at giving assistance to farmers and said that as long as the beneficiaries ensured timely repayment of the loans there would be no problem in extending more assistance to them. Dharwad Gurunath Odugoudar, former member of the Board of Regents of the UAS, said there was need for organising more such demonstrations on improving the farm practices related to dry-land cultivation. Presiding over the function, Vice-Chancellor of UAS, R.R. Hanchinal, hoped that the mela would be of great help in creating awareness among farmers on the best practices to be followed. New technologies should to be adopted in the cultivation of rabi crops such as wheat, sunflower, maize, jowar and others, he said. Apart from the local farmers, as many as 15 agricultural scientists from Afghanistan and Israel participated in the kisan mela. Agricultural scientists and experts from different parts of the country interacted with the local farmers and answered questions on various issues. (Hindu, 08/03/2011)

Land acquisition: Supreme Court bats for aam aadmi In a ruling that questions the state’s sovereign right to acquire land for ‘public purpose’, the Supreme Court on Monday ruled that any attempt by the state to acquire land for a ‘public purpose’ under the colonial era Land Acquisition Act, that is then handed over to benefit a particular group of people or to serve a particular interest at the cost of the interest of a large section of people, especially the aam aadmi, “defeats the very concept of public purpose”. In such circumstances, courts can and must quash the acquisition order, a bench of justices GS Singhvi and AK Ganguly said while scrapping the Uttar Pradesh government’s acquisition of fertile land belonging to a group of farmers for the construction of district jails at Shahjahanpur, Azamgarh, Jaunpur and Moradabad. The acquisition had been ordered by the then UP chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav. The ruling says that courts must examine the legality of acquisition very carefully when “little Indians lose their small property in the name of mindless acquisition” at the instance of the state. The ruling assumes significance in view of the fact that the State often uses the Land Acquisition Act to acquire land for ‘public purpose’ that is later handed over to influential individuals or companies for their private benefit. This has especially been seen with regard to Special Economic Zones (SEZs). The application of the concept of ‘public purpose’ “must be consistent with the constitutional ethos” and especially with Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles in the Indian Constitution, the court said. Recently, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi had met Prime Minister Singh to draw his attention to the misuse of the land acquisition law by Mulayam Singh Yadav’s successor, Mayawati, and sought suitable amendment in the law. The Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill, 2007, that seeks to bring changes in the controversial Land Acquisition Act, is being withheld because of strong opposition by railways minister Mamata Banerjee, who heads the Trinamool Congress, a key UPA ally. The bill redefines “public purpose” as land acquired for defence purposes, infrastructure projects or for any project useful to the general public. As per the bill, a social impact assessment study must be conducted for any acquisition that may result in large-scale displacement. (DNA, 09/03/2011)

Withdraw nod for field trials of Bt maize in Bihar, GEAC told Even as the moratorium on commercialisation of Bt brinjal stands, Union Environment and Forests Minister Jairam Ramesh has asked the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) to immediately

withdraw its permission to Monsanto for field trials of Bt maize in Bihar. Bt brinjal was the first, and maize is the second food crop for which the GEAC has given permission for field trials in India. Mr. Ramesh's intervention came after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar told him personally that he was “opposed” to field trials of Bt maize — a food crop — in Bihar as he was not aware of the risks involved and wanted the GEAC to withdraw its permission. In a letter to the GEAC chief on March 5, Mr. Ramesh said: “Bihar CM's phone call reinforces my belief that biotech regulation, particularly in the field of agriculture, cannot be a purely scientific enterprise… There are political considerations that will come into play and I use that term in its best people-oriented sense. Regulation in telecom or insurance cannot be equated with regulation in food crop-oriented biotechnology.” In a significant move, the Minister has asked the GEAC to give a State government at least one month to agree or disagree on field trials for genetically-modified (GM) crops, given the fact that agriculture is a State subject. In fact, ideally, prior approval of the State concerned should be taken before allowing such trials. The GEAC, in December 2010, gave permission for field trials of BRL-II of Bt corn developed by Monsanto at five locations for rabi 2011 — Bihar (two locations), Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh — and at nine locations for kharif 2011 — Bihar (two locations), Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. Corn is considered an extremely important crop in Bihar. India accounts for about 3 per cent of world maize production. Bihar accounts for 10 per cent, after Andhra Pradesh (17 per cent), Rajasthan (14 per cent) and Madhya Pradesh (12 per cent). ‘Absolutely shocking' Reacting to the permission given for Bt maize trials, Suman Sahai of Gene Campaign, who was awarded Padma Shri this year, said: “This is absolutely shocking, coming as it does under the shadow of the review of Bt brinjal, the first food crop to be introduced in India. It is deceitful.” Kavita Kuruganti of Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture expressed concern that “regulators and the government were not heeding democratic and scientific voices about safety aspects of GM crops.” Bharatiya Kisan Union general secretary Yudhvir Singh said: “Permission has been given surreptitiously. This is not right. We strongly oppose it. The permission should be withdrawn for all States, not just Bihar.” (Hindu, 09/03/2011)

Direct cash subsidy on fertilisers through UID numb ers The transfer of direct cash subsidies in fertilizers, as announced by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in the Union Budget, will be through the Unique Identification (UID) numbers of the farmers. Along with the committee headed by Unique Identification Authority of India chairman Nandan Nilekani, the Fertiliser Ministry has firmed up the plan and is working to set up the necessary framework. A Ministry official, privy of the two meetings held by the committee, told The Pioneer that cash subsidies in fertiliser will be given through UID. “The State Governments would become registrar of UID and allocate UIDs to the identified farmers. The farmers will be given a smart card which they will need to swipe on the hand-hold device with the fertiliser retailer. The device will record the data on the smart card online and the subsidy money would be transferred into the farmer’s bank account.” The onus of identifying the farmers would remain with State Governments. The plan follows Mukherjee’s announcement that the Government will move towards direct transfer of cash subsidy on kerosene, LPG and fertilizers to stop leakage. With a deadline for March 2012 set, the Government has set up a task force headed by Nilekani to work out the modalities for the proposed system of direct transfer of subsidy. At present, the Government gives subsidies to the companies to keep fertiliser prices in the reach of farmers. However, this is leading to black marketing of fertilisers and subsidy is not reaching the targeted group. The Government has online records of sale and purchase up to the companies and wholesalers’ levels only. Thereafter, the movement of fertiliser is not known. The Ministry has a software called Fertliser Monitoring System on which it keeps sale and purchase records of the fertiliser from companies to wholesalers level. “The idea is to check the movement of fertiliser till the last mile. Until and unless the end-user (farmer) is not identified, black marketing can’t be stopped,” added the official. But the issue of diversion still remains. A farmer may buy more than he requires. “Once the system is in place and the farmers are identified, the Government can think of quantity restrictions,” the official maintained. The Ministry will roll out the plan in three phases. In the first phase, which it hopes to complete by December, it is developing a centralised online monitoring system and has already started compiling online database of companies to wholesalers’ level. In the second phase, it will enable online transaction up to retailers’ level and in the third phase it will enable online transaction up to farmers’ level. “Once this is done, we will know who is buying how much,” elaborated the official. On the haziness of “who is a farmer” (there are many people who cultivate land on lease and don’t have land in their name), he said anybody who does farming will be entitled to the subsidies – the lessor and the lessee both. Fertiliser subsidies run very high. The revised budget estimate

for fertiliser stands at Rs 55,000 crore for the current year. At present the Government gives a subsidy of Rs 87 per kg on urea. After the onset of nutrient based subsidy from 2010 April, the subsidy on nitrogen (N) is fixed at Rs 23.22 a kg, on phosphorus (P) at Rs 26.27 a kg, on potash (K) at Rs 24.48 a kg and on sulphur (S) at Rs 1.78 a kg. In complex fertilisers, the subsidy is calculated on the basis of the percentage of these nutrients contained in it. (Pioneer, 22/03/2011)

Zero interest loans for Maharashtra farmers In his maiden budget as Finance Minister, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar today proposed a scheme to make available crop loans to farmers at reduced rate of interest. Farmers who repay their crop loan within the stipulated period will get loan up to Rs 50,000 at zero rate of interest and will get loan above Rs 50,000 and upto Rs 3 lakh at 2 per cent rate of interest, Mr. Pawar informed the Assembly. For payment of interest subsidy under this scheme a provision of Rs 84.28 crore is proposed for the year 2011-12. To make available fertilisers on time to the farmers, State Government is implementing since last three years scheme of maintaining buffer stock of fertilisers. This scheme will be continued for next kharif season also. An amount of Rs 51.50 crore has been provided for this scheme. There are about 31 lakh agricultural pumps in the State and to increase the agricultural income of farmers, subsidy is provided in electricity supplied to the agricultural pumps. A subsidy Rs 2,500 crore is proposed for the year 2011-12 for the scheme, he said. During the year 2010-11, Mahavitaran would be providing electricity connections to 2,75,000 agricultural pumps. Efforts are being made to reach the stage of ‘Electricity Connection on Demand’ from April, 2011. To speed up programme of electrification of agricultural pumps and to remove the backlog of electrification of Agricultural pumps, a provision of Rs 80 crore is proposed for the year 2011-12, he said. (Hindu, 24/03/2011)

Clear public lands, Supreme Court tells states The Supreme Court has directed all state governments, the Centre and Union Territories to evict illegal encroachers from public lands in villages across the country and restore them to village bodies. It said the land mafia, in connivance with the political leadership and revenue officials, has deprived the poor of land meant for schools, ponds, dispensaries and community services. A bench of justices Markandey Katju and Gyan Sudha Misra directed chief secretaries of all the states to file their responses by first week of May of steps they had taken to implement its directive. Expressing concern over the “blatant illegalities” perpetrated in the villages, the judges directed the authorities to raze all constructions, including private houses, built on illegally occupied public land. Declaring Gram Sabha as the owner of the land, the judges refused to regularise the “illegalities’’ because it was Gram Sabha land for the common use of villagers. It lambasted the Punjab government for its letter of September 2007 that permitted regularization of massive chunks of land in different villages. In case such orders were passed by any other state government, they must be “ignored” as they are illegal, the judges ruled. Giving the genesis of the concept of village land, the bench said “We wish to say that our ancestors were not fools. They knew there might be droughts or water shortages in some years for some or the other reason, and water was also required for cattle to drink and bathe in,’’ the court said, adding that making landfills of ponds and erecting buildings on vacant public land, villagers facemany problems including water shortage.“The time has come when these malpractices must stop,’’ the bench said. (DNA, 02/05/2011)

No sale permit for millers who refuse MSP to farmer s The government has decided not to permit rice millers to sell rice to Food Corporation of India (FCI) under the present levy policy if they fail to pay stipulated minimum support price to the farmers on procurement of their rabi paddy. It will not also allow such millers to undertake rice sales within the State or outside as punishment for non-payment of MSP. Disclosing this to reporters here on Monday, Civil Supplies Minister D. Sridhar Babu said once the sales were stopped thus, the miller would not be able to survive in the business. He said vigilance teams had been deployed at the district and mandal levels to keep a watch on the millers and bring to the government's notice any attempt by them to refuse the MSP. Joint Collectors would take action against them immediately. Mr. Sridhar Babu said payment of the MSP at Rs 1,030 per quintal for “A” grade paddy and Rs 1,000 for other varieties, was mandatory on the part of the purchase centres opened by the millers, Indira Kranti Pathakam self-help groups of women, FCI and Civil Supplies Corporation. He said Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy would insist on the Centre conceding the State's plea to allow rice exports, at the meeting with Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee during his visit to New Delhi on May 6 and 7. (Hindu, 03/05/2011)

Be strict in land allotment: APIIC The Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC), which has begun resuming land from companies and developers that have violated the conditions for allotment, has recommended to the government not to encourage private developers hereafter seeking land in the name of facilitating industrial development. The Corporation had reviewed the status of land allotments issued over 2,000 notices in the last two years, including 16 major companies and cancelled land given to five of them so far. They include Caparo Engineering (2,000 acres for automobile unit in Naidupet), Unitech Ltd (1,750 acres for developing Vizag knowledge city), Moser Baer Energy Ltd (100 acres), Real Grihanirman (65 acres for Technology Park in Hindupur), Airliquide India Holdings Pvt.Ltd. (Kakinada). Several more are under scrutiny. Normally, a project should commence within two years and a sale deed executed only after commercial production begins, an official said. The Corporation had issued notices to companies/developers that did not meet norms. In some cases, one-year extension is given after collecting a two per cent levy on the market price after examining the responses and material evidence. But allotments were cancelled in cases where the land had been kept idle. No monitoring Admitting that a strict monitoring of utilisation of land had been lacking in the last few years, the sources said that the corporation started the evaluation exercise during the last two years with more companies seeking land. Significantly, the bulk land allotments given to developers for setting up industrial parks/SEZs remained largely unutilised such as Fab City, Unitech, Hyderabad Economic City in 3,000 acres near Sultanpur in Medak, Science City in Anantapur. On the contrary, 80 per cent of land given to industrial unit holders ranging from as small as 1,000 sq.mt was developed to some extent. The Corporation also realised that bringing in private developers did not in any way serve the industrialisation cause. When it is the Corporation's responsibility to develop land for setting up industries, why should it abdicate its responsibility and make land more expensive for the unit holder, a top official said. With several Fortune 500 companies eyeing the State seriously, there is good possibility of at least a score of them zeroing in on AP, an official said. (Hindu, 04/05/2011)

Farmers’ agitation spreads to Agra, Aligarh The farmers' agitation in Uttar Pradesh over land acquisition spread to Agra and Aligarh on Sunday. Saturday witnessed clashes between farmers and police at Bhatta-Parsaul village in Greater Noida and the death toll in the violence went up to four on Sunday. Two policemen and a farmer were killed on Saturday. Meanwhile, the State government, in a bid to play down the episode, denied that the incidents were related to land acquisition. A government spokesman claimed that land acquisition at Bhatta-Parsaul, which was part of the “normal development process,” began in March 2009 and ended in July 2010. “No dispute” Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh said, “Even compensation amounting to about Rs. 300 crore for about 450 hectares of land was settled; there was no dispute.” With the Opposition parties launching an onslaught on the issue, Chief Minister, Mayawati has blamed them for “misleading the gullible” farmers into creating a law and order situation. The government said the media and the Opposition had got their facts wrong. They were creating misconceptions about the causes of Saturday's violence in Greater Noida, it alleged. The government reaction came after Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Ajit Singh and about 500 party workers were stopped from going to Bhatta-Parsaul and subsequently arrested on Sunday, and farmers' violence was reported from Agra and Aligarh. Mr. Ajit Singh was later released. Anti-socials blamed At a hurriedly arranged press conference, the Cabinet Secretary accused anti-social elements of inciting the farmers to resort to violence and arson. Three UPSRTC employees were taken hostage by the villagers and the administration, but police exercised great restraint in dealing with the situation. The transport employees were called by the villagers for developing a bus route, he said. Reward announced Confirming the death toll at four, the Cabinet Secretary said 22 persons were arrested and a reward of Rs. 50,000 was announced for information on the whereabouts of farmers' leader Manveer Singh Tewatia. As for the dharna at Bhatta-Parsaul, he said it was to protest the delay in the development process. He admitted that land for the Yamuna Expressway project was acquired in the village. “But land for the project was taken much beyond these villages,” he noted. Violence was reported from Chaugan village in Agra and Ghagholi village at Tappal in Aligarh district, where farmers torched a camp office of the builder of the expressway project. A generator and a machine, reportedly belonging to the developer, were destroyed. Reports said four policemen and some farmers were injured in a clash in the Etmadpur police station area in Agra. There were no casualties. The Cabinet Secretary said the Agra incident was not related to land acquisition. “In fact, it was the fallout

of a dispute over building the terrace of a temple in the area.” (Hindu, 09/07/2011)

Whether sale of trees is agricultural income Q: During the current financial year, I have sold trees from my land which is situated beyond municipal limits for a total value of Rs.25 lakh. Part of the trees was grown without any aid. Besides these receipts, I have income from business, which is subject to audit under Sec. 44AB. I am advised that I have to pay tax on the income from the sale proceeds of trees grown without aid as income from long-term capital gains, the other portion being exempt as agricultural income. For the portion of income to be treated as long-term capital gains only the expenditure incurred on sale is admissible. I am also advised to include the income liable for capital gains for purposes of payment of advance tax. Since I have not maintained any accounts for the maintenance of land, namely, salary for watchman, irrigation expenses for a portion of trees which include installation of motor pump and electricity charges, am I not entitled to claim these in computing the income to be taxed under capital gains or agricultural income? Kindly advise whether I can get any tax exemption on the sale proceeds of trees.

A: The advice that sale proceeds should be split up as between those trees which were grown without aid and those trees which were grown by him is based on the classification in respect of sale proceeds of spontaneous growth in a forest area which had been held to be non-agricultural income following the decision in Raja Mustafa Ali Khan v CIT (1948) 16 ITR 330 (PC). This decision could have no application where regular operations are carried even in respect of forest trees as decided in Vikram Deo Varma, Maharaja of Jeypore v CIT (1956) 29 ITR 76 (Ori). Merely because some trees were already there in the reader's farm, without his having grown them, such trees are no different from other trees in the farm. Some trees like shade trees as for coffee plantation or trees used for horticulture or rubber trees used for slaughter tapping may be capital assets because they are grown for their yield of agricultural income so that they retain the character of capital assets irrespective of the fact that whether such trees were grown by them or not as decided in State of Kerala v Karimtharuvi Tea Estate Ltd. (1966) 60 ITR 275 (SC). But all trees need not be capital assets where trees are grown for timber as in the case of a casuarina plantation, where such trees are cut and sold. Income therefrom will have the character of agricultural income. In fact, there is a difference between trees cut along with the roots and trees which have a stump after cutting for re-generation. It is only in the former case, it could be a capital receipt and in the latter instance of sale of trunks, it could well be an instance of agricultural income as decided in A. K. T. K. M. Vishnudatta Anthrajanam v C. Ag. I.T.(1970) 78 ITR 58 (SC). Even assuming that the trees that are sold have been cut along with the roots without any scope for re-generation, there is no reason why such income from trees should not be treated as agricultural income, because the Supreme Court in Navinchandra Mafatlal v CIT (1954) 26 ITR 758 (SC) has decided that capital gains is also a species of income. It follows that there is no reason why agricultural capital gains should not be exempt as agricultural income under the definition of agricultural income under Sec. 10(1) of the Income-tax Act in a wider sense than what is understood under Sec. 2(1A) of the Income-tax Act. In fact, agricultural land is understood in a wider sense for wealth tax purposes except where such income is deemed as urban land because of its location in the town with a population exceeding 10,000 or it is in a notified periphery. It may be noted that there is also a constitutional limitation for taxing agricultural income. From the above discussion, it follows that if the tree trunks are cut and sold with stumps intact with scope for regeneration, the receipt would be agricultural income. If not, it could be sale of capital asset. But as yet, there is no direct decision from the apex court as to their liability for capital gains tax. However, the Supreme Court in Kalpetta Estates Ltd. v CIT (1996) 221 ITR 601 (SC) held that the receipt from the sale of old rubber trees, admittedly capital assets, would not be taxable since the cost of growing and maintaining them may well exceed the sale price. Such cost would ordinarily form part of current revenue expenditure so that this inference may be questioned with reference to facts in other cases. In fact, the High Court in Emerald Valley Estates Ltd. v CIT (1996) 222 ITR 799 (Kar) found that in the absence of extent of capital expenditure on them, there could be liability for capital gains. But the High Court did not have the benefit of the decision in Kalpetta Estates' case (supra). But in both cases, the argument that agricultural capital gains are also agricultural income, so as to be exempt, was not taken. But there is an alternative argument as was found in CIT v Suman Tea and Plywood Industries Pvt. Ltd. (1997) 226 ITR 34 (Cal), where it was held that there could be no capital gains on sale of tea bushes as no capital cost was incurred on them so that such sale without any cost should avoid capital gains following the rationale of the decision in CIT v B.C. Srinivasa Setty (1981) 128 ITR 294 (SC). It may be seen from the available

precedents that there is a case for a claim for non-liability on sale of trees in the facts of the reader's case. (Hindu, 09/05/2011)

Medha favours dialogue Social activist Medha Patkar on Monday expressed her support for the farmers' agitation against land acquisition in Uttar Pradesh, saying that the serving of “private purposes in the name of public purpose” was the trigger for the unrest. Indicating that she would join the movement in Noida, Ms. Patkar said the agitating farmers must be called for dialogue that should be decisive. “Till then, there should be a moratorium on the construction of the Yamuna Expressway,” she said. The farmers are demanding not just enhanced compensation for the land taken to construct the 165-km Yamuna Expressway between New Delhi and Agra, but also a share in the adjoining developed area. “Land acquisition has become a critical issue. It has become a move to serve private purposes by diverting agricultural land for industrial purposes. The rights of rural people are sacrificed in the name of development, and every time there is state repression, farmers agitate as there is no channel for redressal of their grievances,” Ms. Patkar said while addressing a press conference here with farmers of Kanjhawala in the National Capital Region of Delhi. Asserting that amendment of the Land Acquisition Act was not a “magical solution” to the problem, she favoured repeal of the archaic Act. “The farmers of Noida, Aligarh, Nandigram, Jagatsinhpur and the Narmada Valley have all raised questions regarding the purpose which indicates private interest when politicians too behave like profiteers. The time has come not for amending the Land Acquisition Act but to repeal it. Local communities [gram sabhas] should get primacy for planning development,” she said. “This is yet another challenge for the UPA government. If people can protest against corruption, they can also raise their voice against looting of natural resources,” she added. Ms. Patkar said the government must halt forcible acquisition of land and eviction of people from land, water, forests, rivers and seashores or for aquatic wealth and minerals. (Hindu, 10/05/2011)

Get Land Acquisition Bill ready, Manmohan tells Des hmukh Supplementing political offensive with a dose of administrative endeavour, in the build-up to the next round of Assembly elections, focussed on Uttar Pradesh, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has asked Union Minister for Rural Development Vilasrao Deshmukh to finalise at the earliest the two amended Bills on land acquisition and rehabilitation and resettlement. Confirming Dr. Singh's directive, Mr. Deshmukh told The Hindu that he had conveyed his readiness with the Bills and would approach the Cabinet at the earliest, possibly at its next meeting, to complete all formalities for their introduction in the next session of Parliament commencing on July 12. Dr. Singh issued the directive in the wake of the turmoil in Greater Noida, even as Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi visited anguished farmers on Wednesday. The Rural Development Ministry has decided to amend the Land Acquisition Bill and the Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, both of which, despite their introduction in Parliament, have remained stalled in the face of opposition, also from within the United Progressive Alliance. The Ministry has decided to redefine “public purpose” following a controversy raised in several quarters and allow the States to exercise their discretion on the mode and quantum of acquisition of land, which, in any case, is a State subject. Mr. Deshmukh said his Ministry redefined “public purpose” to include concerns expressed by a cross-section of society. As for the opposition to the provision that the State governments would be required to acquire 30 per cent of the land needed by a private player after he acquires 70 per cent of it himself, Mr. Deshmukh said the States would be allowed to decide on this issue. While the government will acquire land for itself when required, where the private sector intends acquiring land for its own project or setting up a special economic zone, the State governments are allowed to set the conditions. The Centre intends putting in place just a general guideline and the minimum amount payable to farmers for the land. The States are free to raise the base levels and see if they should play a role in land acquisition. Mr. Deshmukh stressed that the option was being kept open because no one particular model would suit two States alike; much would depend on the development quotient of the State. While some States might feel comfortable with acquiring even 50 per cent of the land for private players, others might want to avoid the exercise altogether. Some might keep their involvement to the bare minimum. Mr. Deshmukh expressed the hope that Railway Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee would agree to the new proposals. Similarly, he said, he was in close touch with the National Advisory Council, headed by Sonia Gandhi. Mr. Deshmukh said he had, however, overruled the objections raised by the Panchayati Raj Ministry, which portfolio also he holds. The Panchayati Raj Department maintained that the provisions of the Land Acquisition Bill violated the Constitution as it negated the role of Gram Sabhas. Mr. Deshmukh

said it was not possible to accommodate all views and the only way out was to accept common suggestions. Ruling out the possibility of providing land in return for land, he said the government would ensure that private players provided employment to the displaced in case industrial units were set up, or, if land was commercially developed, 12.5 per cent of the developed site was given to the farmer to pursue a business of his liking. (Hindu, 12/05/2011)

Rahul rides pillion on motorcycle to reach trouble- hit U.P. villages Riding pillion on a motorcycle, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi managed to give the Noida district administration the slip to reach Bhatta-Parsaul villages in Greater Noida around daybreak on Wednesday. Accompanied by AICC general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Digvijay Singh, Mr. Gandhi's unannounced foray into the villages, which were affected by violence recently, not only caught the district administration off-guard, but also caused embarrassment in the government circles here. Mr. Gandhi, Mr. Singh and other Congressmen staged an “indefinite” dharna in Parsaul village in support of the farmers' demands for better compensation for the land acquired for development and Yamuna Expressway projects. Mr. Gandhi has reportedly said that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati should talk with farmers. Information about the Congress general secretary's presence in the village was received by the Home Department here after he had reached Bhatta-Parsaul. Home Secretary Deepak Kumar said the information was received at 8 a.m. According to reports, the Amethi MP arrived in Bhatta-Parsaul around 5.30 a.m. and it was only after he interacted with farmers that the police deployed in the villages came to know about his presence. No ban orders Curiously, ban orders, which were imposed in Greater Noida in the wake of the clash between farmers and police that claimed four lives and left many injured, were not enforced on Wednesday. “Prohibitory orders under Section 144 were lifted on Tuesday and were not reinforced,” the Home Secretary told reporters. About the “security breach” by Mr. Gandhi, he said if there was any violation, the matter would be taken up by the security wing of the district administration and Special Protection Group. Mr. Kumar admitted that the Additional District Magistrate and the Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Noida had met Mr. Gandhi, but failed to give any details regarding the outcome of the meeting. Only recently, the State government had passed an administrative order making it difficult to obtain permission for staging dharna, demonstration and other forms of public protest. “The district administration would look into this aspect,” Mr. Kumar said. Condemning the Mayawati government for the police action against farmers, Mr. Gandhi was reportedly categorical that land from farmers should not be acquired at prices below the existing market rates. The Congress had demanded a judicial probe into the incidents in Bhatta-Parsaul villages. Mr. Gandhi's “successful” entry into Bhatta-Parsaul comes close on the heels of attempts by Rashtriya Lok Dal president Ajit Singh; the former Bharatiya Janata Party president, Rajnath Singh; and Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Shivpal Singh Yadav at reaching the village. These leaders were detained by the police. Mr. Gandhi on Wednesday night stayed at the house in Noida of Rampal, a farmer who is demanding enhanced compensation for land acquired by the government for a road project. Mr. Digvijay Singh, Raj Babbar and Rita Bahuguna Joshi also stayed with him. Adding to the woes of security personnel, there was no electricity in the area. Mr. Singh said Mr. Gandhi would not leave the place until the demands of the farmers were met and this was communicated to the State government. When Sub Divisional Magistrate of the area met Mr. Gandhi to know what his demands were, he refused to talk to the SDM and said the government was aware of the farmers' demands, Mr. Singh said. (Hindu, 12/05/2011)

Allahabad High Court sets aside acquisition of land In a major embarrassment to the Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh, the Allahabad High Court on Thursday set aside notifications issued for acquisition of more than 100 hectares of land in Gautam Buddh Nagar district for “planned industrial development” in Greater Noida. A Division Bench comprising Justice Sunil Ambawani and Justice Kashi Nath Pandey, while allowing several writ petitions filed by residents of Shahberi village in the district, said the entire action of acquiring the land was a “colourable exercise of powers” and ordered return of the land to their owners. The Bench set aside two notifications issued by the State government on 10.06.2009 and 09.11.2009 for acquiring the land. In the notification dated 10.06.2009, the State government had proposed “to acquire a total area of 156.93 hectares of land in the village,” while the one dated 09.11.2009, published in the official gazette, had “declared the acquisition of land.” “The Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority [GNOIDA] was fully aware and was planning to use the land in village Shahberi and neighbouring villages for multi-storey housing complexes to be developed by builders on relaxed conditions.” The court noted with concern “that on one

hand, a request was made for acquiring the land for public purpose for planned industrial development, and on the other hand, a few days before the proposals were put up before the State government for issuing notification [dated 09.11.2009]... the GNOIDA, without informing the State government, held the Board's meeting for converting the land use for residential purposes to lease off the land to builders for housing complexes for earning profits.” “The land is proposed to be acquired at the rate of about Rs.850 a square metre and to be given, within a month, to the builders at Rs.10,000 per square metre, and that too on payment of 5 per cent of the price, on allotment,” the court said. Quashing the notifications issued by the government and “all consequential actions taken by GNOIDA,” the court ordered “the respondents will hand over the possession of the land back to the land owners.” (Hindu, 13/05/2011)

Proposed land law should be pro-farmer: Nitish, Aji t Singh Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Rashtriya Lok Dal president Ajit Singh on Thursday called for protecting farmers' interests in the Land Acquisition Bill that Union Minister of Rural Development Vilasrao Deshmukh intends to seal after a meeting with stakeholders on May 20. Mr. Kumar and Mr. Singh separately called on Mr. Deshmukh, who assured them that the two bills pertaining to land acquisition, rehabilitation and resettlement would be farmer-friendly. He has called a consultation meeting of stakeholders on May 20 before approaching the Union Cabinet and introducing the two amended bills in Parliament, which commences its monsoon session on July 2. Mr. Kumar opposed acquisition of land against farmers' will and suggested that they be made partners and stakeholders in the commercially-developed plots. Besides, the payment of compensation should be more than the market rate for the land being acquired. Stressing that times had changed, Mr. Kumar said a sense of food security was attached to land, and, hence, farmers were willing to sacrifice their lives but not their lands. He said they also felt cheated at parting with the land for a song, particularly when they witness the same piece of land commanding astronomical value once developed. Mr. Singh, accompanied by his son and party MP Jayant Chaudhary, also said that compensation should be based on potential and current market value of the land being acquired. Mr. Singh had called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday on the same issue. While demanding that the new law be applicable to all matters of land acquisition in progress currently, Mr. Singh said that the “public purpose” of acquiring land should be well-defined to avoid misuse by the States, and acquisition by the State should be limited to 10-15 percent of the requirement of the private project. (Hindu, 13/05/2011)

Irate farmers burn paddy stocks Hundreds of farmers staged a dharna and blocked vehicular traffic at rice-rich Karamchedu in Prakasam district on Thursday in protest against falling price for paddy in the wake of accumulating stocks. A police team led by Karamchedu Sub-Inspector Syed Jilani took into custody 50 farmers led by U. Rataiah and cleared the traffic jam following the two-hour-long stir. Farmers assembled at the Kalavai Centre in Karamchedu in the morning and raised slogans seeking remunerative price for their produce with the price of a 75-kg bag falling to as low as Rs. 550. They burnt some paddy stocks as a mark of protest against the over four lakh bags of paddy of 75 kg each lying idle in their ‘puri', traditional storage device, for more than two years now. Kamamuri canal distributory committee former chairman Jagarlamudi Anil Babu said the Centre should take into consideration inclusion of 50 per cent as profit to farmers after calculation of the cost of production as recommended by agriculture scientist M. S. Swaminathan. “This is only the beginning. Peasants have lost patience. We will not relent till justice is done to us,” he said. While fresh paddy is purchased at Rs. 730 a bag of 75 kg, none of the traders showed any interest in lifting the old stocks, the farmers lamented. They wanted the Centre to allow export of fine variety of BPT rice to create buoyancy in the domestic market. “If the present situation continues, we will have no option but to switch to other crops,” he said. (Hindu, 13/05/2011)

War over land To get the monkey off his back, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has promised us an amended Land Acquisition Act. India deserves better than a foolish rehash (prsindia.org/ uploads/media/ Land%20Acquisition/ 1197003952_Land_20Acq.pdf). The original was enacted 117 years ago. The context of eminent domain, enshrined in the principle that private land will be taken over by the colonial masters only for public purposes, has undergone a sea change. Today, the land being acquired (read grabbed) is seldom developed by the State. Under the public-private-partnership model, the State is only an abettor. It grabs land at throw-away prices, settled out of specious data; sells out just as cheap to its

favourite cartel; and then looks the other way when there’s huge appreciation in prices. The farmer and her tenants are left on the streets with neither jobs nor equity. The proposed amendments will accentuate this war for land. Here’s why: The LA Act had defined ‘public purpose’ in Section 3(l) under eight points including improvement of village sites; development of town and rural areas; land for the landless or people staying in natural calamity affected areas; and those affected by development projects. In the amendments suggested, these beneficial, pro-poor and pro-rural areas points have made way for a strategic and infrastructure-related rationale. Also, for any project of general public use (not public purpose) undertaken by ‘a person’ for which he has purchased or negotiated to purchase 70 per cent of the required land, the remaining 30 per cent is proposed to be acquired by the State. The definition of ‘person’ obviously includes a company, an association of persons, and a body of persons whether incorporated or not. What’s proposed gives a free hand to the state in acquiring whatever land it likes. A bare reading of the proposed amendment does not clarify whether the amendment will supersede and/or over-ride state laws on land ceiling. Today, a company as a legal entity can purchase land up to the ceiling limit but it has no right to cross the limit. The amendment as drafted seems to give it that right.If the State has to acquire 30 per cent of the land, it should have a right to know whether the project is crucial for the country. Without the provision of preliminary scrutiny, a cartel can hussle the State to procure for it the remaining 30 per cent through law. Is the idea to move from the concept of public purpose to the concept of private purpose for making profit? The reasonable assumption here is that the two are contradictory. By the proposed amendment, the State seems to be handing over the entire development portfolio to the private sector. The fall out is sure to violate the spirit of Directive Principles of State Policy. The amending Bill has precious little on the concept of compensation. Land continues to be treated as an item of property unmindful of the dangers in ignoring that land is a productive asset which gives livelihood to many persons other than the owner. From a Government of bleeding hearts, I see little in the proposal for the Scheduled Tribes. As if to invite the naxals, the bill contradicts protections available under Fifth Schedule where the Governor can negate the harmful effect of any law on STs; the Extension of Panchayats to the Scheduled Area Act keeping in mind the tribal tradition; the Samtha judgement in 1997 on the right of the tribals over minerals and other natural resources; and the ST and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Rights) Act 2006. Also, there’s no exit. Land might have been acquired for a project, but it stays that way if the project gets dropped. There’s no lesson taken where 750 acres of prime land in Hooghly has stayed with the Birlas since the 1950s. In all these years, the company could not use more than 300 acres. Shouldn’t the proposed law return the acquired land to the original owners? The Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy of 2007 mentions the principle of three ‘minima’: (i) minimise displacement; (ii) minimise acquisition and (iii) minimise diversion of agricultural land for non-agricultural use. The proposed amendment does not contain these principles. It leaves too much on the doorstep of the Scrutiny Committee. (Pioneer, 18/05/2011)

Debt-ridden farmer kills self in UP Unable to repay bank loan, a farmer in the backward and poverty-stricken Banda district in the Bundelkhand region in Uttar Pradesh immolated himself on Wednesday night. The victim, forty-year-old Pramod Tewari, had taken the bank loan to purchase a tractor. Around 22 years ago Udai Tewari, the elder brother of Pramod, had also set himself ablaze allegedly after being hounded by the bank from which he had taken a loan and had failed to repay. Pramod had bought a tractor around three years ago with the loan taken from a public sector bank. Pramod, who owned a few acres of agricultural land, had hoped to increase the production of food grains with its help and augment his income, his son Satyendra said. Recurring droughts in Bundelkhand, however, dashed all his hopes and he defaulted on the bank installment, he said adding that his father had to sell some of the land to make two ends meet. The bank, in the meantime, had sent several notices to Pramod and threatened to attach the land, sending the hapless farmer into deep depression. (Deccan Herald, 20/05/2011)

Relief on market value basis: SC Even as the Bhatta Parsaul land acquisition controversy refuses to die down, the Supreme Court has laid down guidelines for fixing of the compensation to the farmers preferably on the basis of hard evidence about the market value of their land rather than the “guesstimated” price. The methodology of guesswork

though was an accepted norm in the law to decide the award in cases like insurance, taxation and accident claims but its application in the land cases has to be with far greater care and caution otherwise any acquisition based on “guesstimated” price might result in injustice, a bench of Justices A.K. Gangulay and Swatanter Kumar held. “Guesswork has to be used with greater element of caution and within the determinants of the law declared by legislature or by the courts from time to time... whatever methods of determining the compensation is applied, its result should always be reasonable, just and fair as that is the purpose sought to be achieved under the scheme of the Land Acquisition Act,” the top court said. “For attaining that purpose, application of some guesswork may be necessary but this principle would have hardly any application in case of no evidence, in other words, where the parties have not brought on record any evidence, then compensation cannot merely be decided on the basis of imagination and conjuncture,” the bench held while emphasising on fixing the award as far as possible on the basis of revenue evidence available on the market value of the land. The court said the guesswork could only be resorted to in a situation where the evidence produced by farmers as well as the government were not “sufficient” to determine the award with “exactitude”. “All guesstimated compensation has to be reasonable and should have a connection to the data on record produced by the parties by way of evidence,” the court said. But it was made clear that the entire exercise of awarding of the compensation has to be in conformity with Sections 23 and 24 of Land Acquisition Act, which emphasises more on fixing of the award on the basis of the market value at the time of publication of acquisition notification by the authorities. The ruling came on acquisition of land by the UP government way back in 1991-92 for projects in Dehra Dun before creation of Uttarakhand and the SC had framed four questions for determining the issue. These include; whether belting system would apply to club together all types of acquired land for deciding the award, what should be the just and fair market value of the land on the date of notification, whether any deduction is allowed from the fixed award for a land of lesser market value and what other added benefit could be given to the farmers. At the same time, court cautioned against fixation of the compensation on the bases of “orchestrated” market value with the farmers resorting to registration of sale deeds at a price much higher than the actual prevailing rates just before acquisition notification is issued in anticipation that their land would be falling within the project area. (AA, 22/05/2011)

Accept people`s verdict: Binayak KALYANI: Forced land acquisition is bound to give rise to a tectonic movement that will ultimately overthrow the oppressor, feels health and human rights activist Binayak Sen. Though he categorically distances himself from Bengal politics, saying he doesn`t belong here, Sen admitted that the political change that Bengal has witnessed after 34 years has its roots in forcible land acquisition, calling it one of the worst forms of coercion. The words Singur and Nandigram are being associated across the country as people`s movements in the face of state-sponsored coercion and terror. "As a human rights worker, I have been opposing forced land acquisition across the country. This involves state-backed violence that needs to be condemned. I am happy that the people of Bengal have been able to finally express their choice in a relatively peaceful atmosphere," Sen said, returning from South Korea where he was awarded the prestigious Gwangju Prize for Human Rights. The award was established to celebrate the spirit of the Gwangju Uprising in which people took up arms against a military dictatorship. Sen is taking a short break at his Kalyani residence, where his mother lives, before returning to Delhi and his place of work in Chhattisgarh. He was imprisoned by the Chhattisgarh government on charges of sedition and was released by the Supreme Court on bail. Sen preferred to maintain silence on Maoism for the time being. On the Maoist problem dogging Jangalmahal, he said, "Maoism is a phenomenon that cannot be discussed in such a short realm. It is not that I am not aware of the goings-on in Bengal, but I do not wish to discuss them just yet." He maintained he was opposed to the violence and killing of innocent lives in Bengal, be it by a state-backed agency or "non-state actors". "I keep close ties with the human rights workers of Bengal and through them I get to know about the sufferings of the people here. But as I don`t work in this region, such information is only second-hand." As he is primarily a health worker, working among tribals and poverty-stricken people of Chhattisgarh, TOI asked him for a prescription for the health infrastructure here. "It would be difficult to comment as I have never stayed here. However, this is again one area from where discontent starts building up. Every citizen has the right to live a healthy life and the right to work. Every state should ensure this," he said. The central government has selected Sen to be part of the Planning Commission`s steering committee on health. "A meeting will be held on May 26. I will attend it and see what the Centre wants from me so that I can plan accordingly. It is too premature to say

anything now." After attending the steering committee meeting on May 26, he will move to Raipur and submit his passport to court on May 27. (TOI, 23/05/2011)

NAC to discuss land acquisition, relief and rehabil itation Heading the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC)'s agenda on Wednesday will be land acquisition, relief and rehabilitation. On the table will be a detailed note prepared by the Working Group (WG) on land acquisition that not only goes beyond the pending government Bills on the subject, but also recommends that the two be merged into a single National Development, Acquisition, Displacement and Rehabilitation Act. The NAC sources told The Hindu that Wednesday's discussion will first try and resolve the differences within the WG on the issue. These relate to the role of the government in land acquisition. One view is that the government must be proactive when the land to be acquired belongs to the poor and vulnerable; the other view is that it should be left to market forces, with the government playing a regulatory role. The Council, however, hopes to achieve a consensus on Wednesday, so that Ms Gandhi's promise at the United Progressive Alliance celebration dinner on May 22 to bring the Bill on land acquisition to Parliament in the next session can be kept. The other three issues relate to reform of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), a follow up on an earlier attempt to push the government to end the scourge of manual scavenging, and legal rights for street vendors. On manual scavenging, the NAC appears disappointed: The NAC sources said that despite a letter written by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Ms. Gandhi that manual scavenging had been tackled, the feedback the council had received was that it still existed in many places. The NAC therefore now wants joint surveys to be conducted to establish that manual scavenging has, indeed, ended, and will also press for a strong law to deal with it. The NAC will also propose a law for the Protection of Livelihood Rights and Social Security of Street Vendors, as they number about 10 million across the country. The NAC note points out that while the National Policy on Street Vendors has provided some relief, it is rarely implemented because it lacks legal enforceability, and therefore the urgent need for a law. The sources added that it was likely that two more Working Groups might be set up – one on gender and the sex ratio, and another on rights for Dalits, that would include a look at the Special Component Plan as well as implementation of the SC/ST Atrocity Act. The need for a WG on gender and the sex ratio was acute, the NAC sources said, as the 2011 Census revealed that there were 7.1 million fewer girls than boys aged 0-6 years, a substantial increase in the gap of 6 million fewer girls recorded in the 2001 census and 4.2 million fewer girls recorded in the 1991 census. As for the disagreement on land acquisition among the among the WG members -- Harsh Mander, Aruna Roy and N.C. Saxena, it centres round one major issue. Dr. Saxena feels the government should acquire land for private companies as otherwise, they would exploit unorganised, small and particularly tribal cultivators and pay them a pittance, depriving them of R&R benefits. The alternate view is for-profit private companies must work within the market, and pay enough to land-holders for them to voluntarily sell their land, thus preventing unnecessary displacement. As for exploitation, it should be addressed by strict State regulation of this interface. (Hindu, 25/05/2011)

Land acquisition: Farmers clash with police in Bika ner BIKANER: Farmers agitation against land acquisition in Kolayat in Bikaner district started on a violent note on Tuesday when thousands of protestors clashed with police and smashed a couple of government vehicles. The farmers led by local MLA and former minister Devi Singh Bhati were demanding better compensation for their lands acquired by the state government and a rehabilitation package on the lines of that given by the neighbouring Haryana government. " Rajasthan government is applying the land acquisition Act that was framed by the British for colonial India to axe the farmers' interests. This will not be tolerated," the legislator said addressing the peasants' Maha Padav (mass gathering) at Kolayat. The state government initiated a process to acquire nearly 8000 bigha of agricultural land in six villages of Kolayat tehsil in February this year. The land is to be handed over to the Neyveli Lignite Corporation Limited and a Hyderabad-based private company for a thermal power plant. To protest against the government thousands of people, including farmers, labourers, women and BJP workers started assembling outside the Kolayat tehsil office since early Tuesday. Braving the scorching heat, the protestors were pouring in at the Maha Padav site travelling in buses, jeeps, tractors and other vehicles from all over the district. They shouted slogans against the Ashok Gehlot-government, terming it "anti-farmer". State BJP general secretary Satish Punia, Ratangarh MLA Rajkumar Rinwa, Khajuwala MLA Vishwa Nath, Bikaner West MLA Gopal Joshi and other BJP leaders were present. Heavy security arrangements were in place to manage the crowd but clashes broke out when some agitators attacked

the district police's vehicles, including the "Riot Control Vehicles". The police in turn used mild lathicharge to control the mob. Meanwhile, MLA Bhati asked the agitators to maintain peace. He alleged that some police officers were trying to disturb the agitation at the instance of the state government. Superintendent of police Habib Khan and other senior administration officials reached there after the clashes started. (TOI, 25/05/2011)

Land: NAC recommends compensation six times the reg istered value The Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) decided on Wednesday to propose to the government that compensation for those whose land is acquired for public purposes — such as a dam, irrigation project or military installation — will be six times the registered sale deed value, including solatium. It will also recommend that those whose livelihood and shelter are adversely affected because of acquisition for any public purpose are also brought under the protection of this law. These include agricultural workers, artisans, fisher-folk and forest-gatherers. Government protection Meanwhile, though no decision was taken on acquisition of land for private purposes, the NAC, sources said, was veering around to a consensus that such transactions — provided they displaced more than 400 households — would have to be done under the protection of the government, with the latter acquiring all 100 per cent of the land. The logic for this is threefold: one, if the government does not intervene in such cases, the poor and vulnerable could be exploited by big buyers; two, those displaced in such cases would not be entitled to the relief and rehabilitation package that the government will give those displaced by projects with a public purpose; and three, those who lose livelihoods and shelter would be totally beggared. However, as this — government intervention in acquiring of land for private purposes — involves complicated legal issues, the NAC has asked the Working Group which prepared the discussion note for Wednesday's meeting to do some more work on this. The WG is headed by Harsh Mander and its two other members are Aruna Roy and N.C. Saxena. Unlike in the case of food security and communal violence, the NAC will only make a set of recommendations for government on land acquisition — it will not be drafting a law, the sources said. The NAC also decided to recommend a single National Development, Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation Act, rather than the two separate pending government Bills, the Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill 2009 (LAA 2009) and Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill, 2009 (R&R 2009). The Council also stressed that that all possible options of more barren, less fertile and waste lands are explored before acquiring agriculture land. It should also comprehensively define project affected persons/families, and provide for a just, timely compensation, resettlement and rehabilitation package through a humane, participatory, informed, consultative and transparent process. The NAC felt that those who have government assigned land (beneficiaries of government pattas) will also be entitled to the same compensation. The option will also be offered to those who lose land to receive all or part of their compensation in the form of annuities. If land is acquired for a public purpose and not used within five years, private property that was acquired should be returned to its original owners. Panel mooted The NAC recommended the setting up of a National Commission for Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation (NCLRR) with powers to supervise, and exercise oversight over land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation. Those who attended the meeting included Narendra Jadhav, Pramod Tandon, Jean Dreze, N C Saxena, Madhav Gadgil, Aruna Roy, Anu Aga, Shiva Kumar, Deep Joshi, Farah Naqvi, Harsh Mander and Mirai Chatterjee. (Hindu, 26/05/2011)

Weather-based crop insurance to provide better reli ef to ryots The Agriculture Insurance Company of India Ltd (AIC) has decided to introduce Weather-Based Crop Insurance Scheme (WBCIS) for groundnut crop in four Rayalaseema districts from Kharif-2011 to provide better benefits to the farmers covered. As feared by the insurance planners, the over enthusiasm of politicians to ensure short-term benefits to the farming community in drought-prone districts like Anantapur, the National Agriculture Insurance Scheme (NAIS) has been reduced to a scheme of little use since the insurance claims for groundnut under it have come down drastically for kharif-2010. In spite of warnings from the agriculture and revenue authorities, including the district Collectors, the NAIS was allowed to be misused, particularly in districts like Anantapur, by projecting higher crop coverage and lower yield than actual area and yield since kharif-2000. The idea was to help farmers who have availed crop loan but failed to cultivate the crop to get insurance benefit. However, the regular ‘assessment' of lower yield has done more damage than good to farmer in the long run as the crop loss (of groundnut) is estimated on the basis of 60 per cent of the average yield during the last five years. As a result, the insurance claims for the groundnut crop loss suffered in kharif-2010 are learnt to be very low. “Politicians

have realised the problem and started pressing for the introduction of WBCIS since last year as the NAIS will make no sense for districts like Anantapur anymore,” an officer said. Meanwhile, Deputy General Manager of AIC, P. Nagarjun, toldThe Hindu here on Tuesday that farmers covered under WBCIS would have higher chances of getting benefits as they would be paid compensation (for groundnut) for deficit or excessive rainfall and relative humidity in the classified weather cycles and dry spells beyond 14 days during the crop period. The WBCIS would be implemented in 14 districts for 2011-12 agriculture year covering five plantation crops (sweetlime, orange, mango, oilpalm and banana-fruit), two vegetables (tomato and brinjal) and three commercial crops (cotton, groundnut, red chilli). (Hindu, 27/05/2011)

SC throws cold water on Ganguly’s school dream Cricketer Sourav Ganguly was made to eat a humble pie on Thursday after the Supreme Court set aside his upcoming ambitious international school project occupying prime land at Kolkata’s Salt Lake, given to him by the Left Front Government in February 2009 at a throwaway price. The land in question measuring 63 cottah or 4,250 square metres (just over one acre) situated at CA-222, Sector I in Salt Lake had run into controversy after residents of the area along with NGO Humanity challenged the discretionary allotment of land worth Rs 45 crore at a petty Rs 63 lakh only. To support this fact, the petitioners presented a document showing Government valuation of the plot in question at approximately Rs 44.9 crores. But a day after the allotment to Ganguly was made the Government clandestinely issued a notification fixing Rs 1 lakh per cottah as premium for institutional land. A Bench of Justices GS Singhvi and AK Ganguly, who were irked by the severe irregularities committed by the State Government in granting “out-of-turn” allotment to the ace cricketer, quashed the February 17, 2009 order granting allotment of land to Ganguly and directed handing back possession of the land to the Government within two weeks. Even the Government was directed to refund the money paid by Ganguly two weeks thereafter. According to advocate Deba Prasad Mukherjee, who appeared for NGO Humanity, it became essential to contest the allotment due to the “exception” made for Ganguly in violation of all norms and procedures. There was no advertisement prior to the allotment which weighed with the Court. The plot in question was earmarked for college, but the master plan was amended after Ganguly expressed his interest to set up a co-educational english medium school with a focus on sports. Ganguly had initially participated in an open advertisement for opening a school and was allotted about 50 cottah land (approx 3,600 square metre) at BF-158, Sector I, Salt Lake. But mindful of the Indian Council of Secondary Education (ICSE) regulations granting affiliation to schools with over one acre land, when Ganguly requested for a larger plot on January 19, 2009, the State in less than 30 days allocated the larger plot in exchange. Here again, a violation occurred as the plot could be given to a society alone. The Court, sensing the hurry on part of the State to accommodate Ganguly’s request, felt that the fresh allotment was a new allotment and required fresh advertisement. For this reason it felt appropriate to quash the lease deed entered by the Government and Ganguly. Further, the bench even examined the petitioner’s contention on how Ganguly overstepped the Urban Land Ceiling Act provision which does not permit an individual to hold land in excess of 500 square metres. At the relevant date of allotment (February 17, 2009), Ganguly not only obtained the one-acre plot, he even held on to the previous allotment, despite the fresh allotment being made strictly on the condition of surrender of the first lease deed. (Pioneer, 27/05/2011)

LIC to disburse land compensation to farmers After burning its fingers over the distribution of compensation for farmers’ land acquired for development projects, the State Government has decided to outsource the disbursal to the State-run Life Insurance Company (LIC). The State Government received a lone bid from the LIC on Thursday, which showed its willingness to take the onerous job of distributing the compensation. Industrial Development Commissioner (IDC) VN Garg told The Pioneer that as the State Government had received only one bid and that the final decision on this issue would be taken on Friday. “LIC is the only front-runner and now we have to look at the modalities to see how the lone bidder could be given this job,” he said. The last nine months have been torrid for the State Government, first in Tappal (Aligarh) in August last year and now in Bhatta-Parsaul (Gautam Budh Nagar) over compensation of land acquired for either construction of Yamuna Expressway or extension of Greater Noida. The State Government, on September 3, 2010, even brought a new Rehabilitation Policy ensuring a better compensation to the farmers. But distribution of compensation remained the knotty question. Under the R&R policy, the Government had favoured outsourcing this tedious work. Initially five private banks had shown interest to take up the job but as they

failed to meet the Government requirement, the Department of Industrial Development decided to invite bid for this process. (Pioneer, 27/05/2011)

Now, dalit farmers accuse Gujarata government of la nd grabbing Dalit farmers of Dhanala village of Dhandhuka taluka have accused the state government of grabbing their agricultural land. Around 300 people will submit their representation to the district collector of Ahmedabad on Tuesday. According to the statement issued by the farmers, the state government in 1953 had allotted 536.62 acres land to 35 scheduled caste families of Dhanala village for their livelihood. However, the deputy collector of Dholka forcibly filled up the fake possession rights from the farmers. Moreover, the deputy collector issued a new order on December 21, 2010 which reduced their land from 15 acres to just 3 acres. The officials of revenue department forged a fake order dated April 30, 1963 stating that the land was acquired by getting approvals of the owners at that time. The farmers in their statement also stated that four of the farmers who had claimed to give their consent, had died before 1963. The farmers have filed 24 petitions in the High Court that ordered the district collector of Ahmedabad for detailed inquiry into the order. (DNA, 31/05/2011)

Crop rots, farmer kills himself Burdwan, May 30: A debt-ridden sharecropper hanged himself early today after most of his paddy crop rotted on the field because of heavy rain for 15 days, the first case of farmer suicide since the new government took charge. Water had accumulated in 29-year-old Sujan Ghosh’s 10-bigha plot before the farmer could tie around 80 per cent of his harvested crop in bundles and take it to the barn. “Sujan could not remove the crop as there was no letup in the rain,” the farmer’s elder brother Bikash said. “After the rain stopped, Sujan went to the field and found his crop had rotted,” Bikash added. “He was depressed for the past four days. He told me he did not know how he would repay his debts,” Sujan’s wife Jhuma said. Bikash said Sujan already borrowed Rs 45,000 and had no money to buy or even rent a pump to draw the water out of the field. Joint block development officer Subrata Mullick said it was “difficult” for the administration to offer help in “isolated cases” like these. “If several farmers approach us with the same problem, we can definitely do something,” he said. Sujan’s family members said he had not sought the administration’s help. Mullick said if the farmer’s family approached the administration, “we will see if compensation can be paid”. (Telegraph, 31/05/2011)

Farmer, wife commit suicide PRATTIPADU (GUNTUR): Mounting debts and crop failure forced a farmer to commit suicide along with his wife in Guntur district on Wednesday. The couple ended their lives by hanging themselves at Jonamchundur village in Prattipadu mandal. They got married only a year ago. Incidentally, June 2 is their first marriage anniversary. Utukuri Chandriah, 22, and wife Suneeta went to the field in the morning and did not return home till late in the afternoon. Locals were shocked when they found the bodies hanging from two trees in the field and alerted the police. The parents and relatives wailed inconsolably and told the police that they did not find any specific reason that could have forced the couple to take the extreme step. However, locals said mounting debts of Chandraiah following the failure of his cotton crop forced him to commit suicide along with his wife. Sources said he lost the crop due to unseasonal rains. The cops shifted the bodies to hospital for an autopsy. (TOI, 02/06/2011)

Mayawati announces new Land Acquisition Policy Having had to face a series of farmers' protests and flak from Opposition parties over acquisition of land for development and expressway projects in Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Mayawati on Thursday announced that all future land transactions would be clinched directly between the farmers and the private developers by adopting a “consensual approach”. “The role of the government now would be that of a facilitator only, limited to issuing a notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894,” the Chief Minister said announcing the new Land Acquisition Policy of the State. This is the second such policy to be announced by the Mayawati regime in the past nine months; the earlier policy was declared on September 3, 2010 The new policy will be implemented with prospective effect and will not apply to the acquisition of land made under the earlier policy. The announcement of the new policy followed a “kisan panchayat” addressed by the Chief Minister on Thursday. The panchayat was attended by farmers' representatives from Bharatiya Kisan Union, including its general secretary Rakesh Tikait, and those from Tappal and Bhatta and Parsaul. Ms. Mayawati said the new policy had been framed after elaborate discussions with the farmers' representatives. “The new policy will be implemented with prospective effect, but any further suggestions made by the farmers will be added by issuing separate GOs,” Ms. Mayawati told reporters. Describing the new policy, Ms. Mayawati claimed it would be better than the “proposed land acquisition policy of the UPA government”. She said the land acquisition policy would be

raised by the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in the monsoon session of the Lok Sabha and if the Centre's policy was not announced the BSP would gherao Parliament. The new Land Acquisition Policy has been divided into three parts. The first part deals with direct transfer of land from farmers to private developers, with the State (district administration) playing the role of facilitator. The policy states that the land acquisition package will be prepared only after the terms and conditions have been approved by 70 per cent of the farmers whose land is to be acquired for the project. If 70 per cent of the farmers do not agree, the project proposal will be reconsidered. The farmers have been given the option of taking 16 per cent of the land developed for the project along with annuity at the rate of Rs.23,000 per acre for 33 years. The farmers can also opt for cash component in lieu of a portion of the 16 per cent developed land. The annuity rate has been increased from Rs.20,000 to Rs.23,000 per acre with an annual increase of Rs.800 per acre. Farmers who wish to forgo annuity will be entitled to a rehabilitation grant at the rate of Rs.2.76 lakh per acre. The rehabilitation grant in the September 2010 policy was at the rate of Rs.2.40 lakh per acre. According to the second part of the policy, farmers whose agricultural land has been acquired for building State highways and canals will be entitled to all the benefits accruing under the State's Relief and Rehabilitation Policy, 2010. Apart from the rehabilitation grant, 25 per cent shares of the developer company will be allotted to the farmer and one member of each farmer's family will be given a job in the company. In the third part of the policy where land has been acquired by the development authorities under the master plan, the deal will be executed only abiding by the terms of agreement through a consensual approach. (Hindu, 03/06/2011)

Concern at forcible land acquisition Drawing attention to the situation in Jagatsinghpur district of Orissa where villagers are peacefully opposing forcible acquisition of their private and forest land by the Orissa Government for South Korean steel major Posco's project, a report titled “Tearing through the water landscape: Evaluating the environmental and social consequences of Psco project in Orissa, India” was released here on Tuesday. “People have been against industrialisation of their land since November 2005. Their voices have been regularly crushed. On June 3, the local police went around announcing that no voices against the authorities would be tolerated,” said National Forum of Forest People and Forest Workers member Mamata Das. The Orissa Government approved the project's environment and CRZ clearances on January 31 and forest clearance on May 2. “Over 70 per cent of the land being cleared is forest land,” said co-author of the study Leo F. Saldanha. “What happened at the Ramlila grounds was a crackdown of democracy, but the situation in Jagatsinghpur is a severe instance of people resisting…corporate plunder of our country's resources,” said Communist Party of India (Marxist- Leninist) Liberation central committee member Kavita Krishnan. “All [government] activities have been designed in such a way that Posco makes maximum benefits and the locals get nothing,” saidCampaign for Survival and Dignitymember Shankar Gopalakrishnan, adding that the government had facilitated the SEZ extensions granted to Posco. Andhra Pradesh Communist Party of India secretary Sudhakar Reddy questioned clearances granted to the steel major for its ambitious project. The representatives of various organisations supporting the movement spearheaded by Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti demanded that the Orissa Government immediately withdraw its police operations and forcible acquisition of land for Posco. They also demanded that the Central Bureau of Investigation expand the scope of its investigation to include former Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests A. Raja and that the Posco project be scrapped since its primary beneficiaries are American financiers who are primary stakeholders of the South Korea-based Posco. The report, put together by Environment Support Group, intends to appreciate the full consequences of the Posco investment in India. It is co-authored by Leo Saldanha and Bhargavi Rao. (Hindu, 08/06/2011)

SC: Don’t render farmers landless

As the acquisition of land for development purposes has embroiled in major political controversies in different states, the Supreme Court has stressed that the government should give preference to the policy of “land-for-land” to ensure that no farmers, especially the tribals, were rendered landless. “In the process of development, the state (government) cannot be permitted to displace tribal people, a vulnerable section of our society, suffering from poverty and ignorance, without taking appropriate remedial measures of rehabilitation,” a bench of Justices J.M. Panchal, Deepak Verma and B.S. Chauhan said. The top court laid the guidelines for the Centre and the state governments while discussing in great length the theory of “land-for-land”, which, the bench said, should form the basis for acquisition of any land from the poor farmers, especially the tribals whose displacement without proper rehabilitation will prove disastrous for their very existence. “This court (SC) is not oblivious of the fact that social and economic reasons had caused disaffection, and thus, the tribal areas are today in the grip of extremism, as the tribal youth have become easy prey to the extremist propaganda,” the top court observed. While dealing with the contentious issue, the top court took into consideration the “doctrine” that all the “major sons” of a farmer has the right to own a piece of land. The top court took note of the fact that the country’s entire agriculture system was based on this doctrine and if a son of a farmer was “denied” the right to own the land, it would amount to his “hostile discrimination”. The top court observations came in a recent judgment on the cross appeals related to the acquisition of land, rehabilitation package, land-for-land, and cash compensation to the farmers displaced due to the construction of a series of projects on Narmada river in Madhya Pradesh. The court said the issue of compensation could not be decided strictly on the basis of the Narmada Water Dispute Tribunal Award for the simple reasons that the tribunal was constituted under the provisions of the Inter-State Water Dispute Act as its purpose was entirely different because the interests of three stakeholder states — Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra — were involved in the mega-project. “Our Constitution requires removal of economic inequalities and provides for provision of facilities and opportunities for a decent standard of living and protection of economic interests of the weaker segments of the society and in particular the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes,” the top court said. (AA, 09/08/2011)

Ordinance issued to reclaim and return disputed Sin gur land to owners The West Bengal Government on Thursday issued an ordinance that will enable it to reclaim 400 acres of disputed land (out of 997.11 acres) alleged to have been acquired at Singur from farmers against their wishes to set up the Tata Motors small car project, since relocated. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the Governor had signed the ordinance and that the 400 acres would be returned to the owners. “As for the remaining land that had been acquired, the options are open. It will be set aside for a public purpose which could mean the Tata Group setting up industry there if they so choose to,” she said. “In the event of the Tatas wanting to be compensated without going in for industry on the remaining [approximately] 600 acres, we will have no objection to providing them compensation according to law and through the appointment of an arbitrator,” the Chief Minister said.‘Not aware' However, a Tata Motors spokesperson said: “We are not aware of such a development and we do not want to make any comment unless we have studied the ordinance.” “I am very happy [with the development] and may today be declared Singur Day….The Governor has signed the ordinance,” a beaming Ms. Banerjee said pointing out that a promise made to the farmers whose plots had been acquired against their wishes, that the land would be returned to them, was being fulfilled. The State Government had taken the decision at its first Cabinet meeting to return the 400 acres to “unwilling farmers,” she said. “The ordinance will be passed in the Assembly when it is in session,” the Chief Minister said. Ms. Banerjee was in the forefront of a movement against what she claimed was forcible acquisition of land at Singur. It finally led to Tata Motors deciding to pull out its Nano project from there in October 2008. The agitation she led there was a high point in her political ascendancy even as the debate over acquisition of farmland for industry became a major political issue and contributed to her Trinamool Congress' resounding success in the recent Assembly elections. (Hindu, 10/06/2011)

Increase involvement of beneficiaries under Forest Act: CS Chief secretary Bijoy Patnaik on Thursday asked the district collectors to increase the involvement of the beneficiaries under the Forest Right Act-2006 by convergence of different poverty eradication, livelihood related and land based capacity building programmes. While reviewing the implementation of the Forest Right Act-2006 through video conferencing with the collectors of all districts in the State secretariat Patnaik directed them to dispose off all pending cases relating to the claims of individual rights by end of

July, 2011. According to official sources, the chief secretary had advised the collectors to cover all land title holder under the Act in development of land through NREGS, subsidy based horticultural activities, cash crops and watershed schemes. According to sources, Odisha is ranked no-1 in the national level in the implementation of the FRA-2006 and distribution of land titles to the tribal forest dwellers. Up to May, 2011 2,76,587 individual claims have been approved and out of them 2,70,119 families have been distributed the land titles conforming their right over the land, it said. Similarly 16,977 families belonging to primitive tribal community have also been distrusted the land titles. Out of theses beneficiaries 53,946 families have been covered under different poverty irradiation programmes, the sources said. The chief secretary, it said, directed the collectors to intensify convergence of different programmes at field level so as to provide sustainable livelihood to theses beneficiaries. Among others, secretary ST and SC and minority welfare department Santosh Sarangi secretary revenue and disaster management RK Sharma, director SC and ST development Sanjeeb Chadha participated in this discussion with collectors. (Pioneer, 10/06/2011)

Ministry gives short shrift to NAC recommendations With the Ministry of Rural Development scurrying to give final touches to the Land Acquisition Bill and the Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill, it seems set to give short shrift to the recommendations of the National Advisory Council headed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Rural Development Minister Vilas Rao Deshmukh said that he found the NAC’s recommendations good and agreeable in principle, but his ministry had no time left to incorporate the major changes the panel sought in the twin Bills. Sources, however, said that several top officials in the Ministry, which would soon forward the draft legislation to the Ministry of Law and Justice for vetting, had serious reservations about the NAC’s recommendations on the proposed Bills. The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries also opposed the NAC’s suggestions on the two Bills, particularly the panel’s recommendation that only the Central and state governments should acquire land for private projects of public purpose with prior consent of 70 per cent of the project-affected people. The government is set to introduce the Bills in Parliament during the monsoon session in July. Deshmukh indicated that the Government’s draft of the new Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill would retain the provisions to allow private industry to purchase 70 per cent of the land needed for a plant directly from the land-owners and get the rest to be acquired by the government. The NAC pointed out that if the private industry was allowed to get land directly from the landowners, it might leave scope for the land mafia to exploit poor people, particularly in tribal areas, and would also deprive them of rehabilitation and resettlement rights to be guaranteed by the law for acquisitions by government. The Gandhi-led panel argued that only the Government should acquire the entire plot of land required for any “public purposes”. Deshmukh said that the proposal to allow only the government to acquire 100 per cent plot of land for private projects too had its “own share of opposition”. He was apparently referring to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who wants the government to leave it to the industry to acquire either the entire plot of land required for a project or at least most of it at market rate. Banerjee’s All India Trinamool Congress, a constituent of the ruling UPA, had in 2009 prevented the Congress-led government from introducing the twin Bills in Parliament. The NAC, the UPA government’s interface with civil society, wants the government to repeal the Land Acquisition Act of 1894 instead of amending it. It suggested that the government should merge the proposed Land Acquisition Bill and the Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill into a consolidated Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill. Separate bills But the Ministry of Rural Development seems set to move ahead with two separate Bills, which might be presented before the Union Cabinet for approval towards the end of this month or early next month. The advisory panel recommended that compensation for those who would lose land should be six times the registered sale deed value, including solatium. It also suggested that the agricultural workers, fisher-folks, artisans and forest gathers, who might not own the land, but were dependent on it for livelihood, should also be given compensation at the rate of 10 days of minimum wages per month for 33 years. The Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill, 2007 and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2009 were passed by the Lok Sabha on February 25, 2009. The twin Bills however could not be passed in the Rajya Sabha and eventually lapsed with the dissolution of the 14th Lok Sabha. (Deccan Herald. 13/06/2011)

Farmers divided over Haryana’s 1st nuclear plant FATEHABAD: Farmers of Gorakhpur and adjoining villages are divided over the issue of the Haryana government acquiring 1,500 acres of prime agricultural land for the 2,800 mw nuclear project, the first in

the state. While most senior farmers are on relay dharna for several months taking a maximalist position of not giving their land away, the younger ones have formed their own samiti setting down outlandish, even if negotiable, demands in return of their land. Gorakhpur is just around 250 km away from Delhi. Any degeneration of their protest into violence — as has happened in Jaitapur, Maharashtra — could spell a first rate crisis for the government. In this dusty rural hinterland, young, aggressive farmers want a deal. But the older farmers are unrelenting. These greying harvesters began their protest on July 29 last year after the Haryana government imposed Section IV of the Land Acquisition Act, underlining the urgency with which the Haryana government wanted to press on with the project. ''This is a fertile belt. We grow three crops annually. Although the costs have increased, we've been able to sustain ourselves. Why is the government in a hurry to snatch our land?'' asked Hans Raj (60), leader of Kisan Sangharsh Samiti spearheading the group. Meanwhile, the pro-land acquisition outfit, Parmanu Sanyantra Lagao Samiti, comprising younger farmers, has laid down its demands: Rs 50 lakh per acre compensation; Rs 42,000 annual royalty with an increment of Rs 1,500 every year on the purchased land for 33 years; a Central or state government job to a member each of the affected family; and, exemption in registration of land bought anywhere in the country. ''Our compensation demand was accepted in principle,'' claims Suneet Kumar (31), a Samiti member. ''We are eagerly waiting for the notification for monetary compensation,'' said Rajbeer Singh, another Samiti member. While many in Gorakhpur village call the ''bargaining'' as greed overcoming common sense, most agree that the friction is on account of the absence of a clear land acquisition policy. ''The government is trying to evolve a consensus,'' said Fatehabad deputy commissioner Vijay Singh Dahiya. According to Dahiya, about 700 out of 847 farmers have accepted land acquisition. While Dahiya says consent for about 1,313 acres was given by Gorakhpur farmers, he admits there are 191 objections from them. Farmers reject these figures. (TOI, 13/06/2011)

A loan battle to remain alive BANDA: Rising debt and increasing poverty: that is the story of the average farmer in Uttar Pradesh's Bundelkhand region. Yet, official records maintain there is no starvation or debt-related deaths in any one of the seven districts. In Banda alone, the total outstanding agricultural loan as on March 31, 2011, was Rs 740.36 crore. Over one lakh beneficiaries of the loaned amount were small and marginal farmers, who could not repay Rs 453 crore to banks till March 2011. In neighbouring districts Jalaun, Lalitpur, Jhansi, Hamirpur, Mahoba and Chitrakoot, the situation is just as bad. Jalaun and Jhansi districts recorded the highest outstanding loans amounts in Bundelkhand at Rs 866.15 crore and Rs 776 crore. Local bankers suggest debts in Bundelkhand are rising because the Centre has issued notices to banks to "saturate" villages with Kisan Credit Cards by June 30, 2011. "We are following orders. But what this region really needs are a set of effective, robust poverty alleviation schemes. Credit is only a short term solution," a senior official of a region rural bank in Banda, said. With poor productivity and water woes, the saga of bad loans continues. Between 2010 and 2011, Bundelkhand's debt has shot up by 21%. And more farmers are getting caught in the debt trap each day. An activist in Mahoba, Pankaj Srivastava, said, "There are villages in this district where the extent of indebtedness is over 95%. In some cases, just one or two farmer families have escaped the debt trap." Inability to repay bank loans, farmers claim, is only a part of their problems. Farmers across Bundelkhand also allege "bank's people" routinely use coercive measures to recover money or take away movable assets like tractors. Anant Ram, an 80-year old resident of Mahoba's Saalat village in Charkhari block, said: "I sold my house to buy a tractor. In June 2006, I repaid a part of the 2.5 lakh I had borrowed from the bank. In August, I paid another instalment. But my tractor was taken away forcefully. In May 2007, when I asked the bank to return my tractor, they asked for Rs 50,000. I sold the jewellery in the house to pay this amount, but the tractor was still not returned." With help from a local activist, Ram filed a writ petition in the district court, challenging the bank's forceful acquisition of his tractor. In response, the court acknowledged that the bank "forcefully acquired the tractor and sold it on March 13, 07" adding that "The entire process was not in accordance with law". The court also adjudged that no recovery would be made by the bank until further orders. Despite stay orders though, in March 2010, Ram was issued another recovery certificate by the lending bank. Bankers, however, are not convinced. Lead district manager for all Banda-based banks, A K Dixit said: "These allegations of banks harassing people to recover money are entirely baseless." (TOI, 14/06/2011)

Singur Bill passed amid Opposition walkout The West Bengal Assembly on Tuesday passed by voice vote the Singur Land Rehabilitation and

Development Bill, 2011, even as the Opposition led by Sura Kanta Mishra of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), staged a walkout saying that they could not accept a Bill which would grant only leaseholds and not ownerships, create a divide among farmers and may run counter to existing legislations. He also raised a point-of-order saying that none of the legal points raised had been answered. The Tatas later issued a statement saying that they were studying the Bill and would take appropriate steps. The Bill was passed after a two-hour long debate in which Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also spoke. The discussion saw acrimonious scenes with the Treasury Benches noisily interrupting the Opposition speakers and the Government Chief Whip Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay being hard put to control the ruling alliance legislators. The visitors' galleries were full with a large presence of ‘Singur farmers.' Sending her greetings to the agitators who had opposed the acquisition of land for the Tata Motors Ltd project, Ms. Banerjee said that this was a historic day. “This Bill is for meting out justice to people who have been wronged.” She denied any attempt to create a rift between willing and unwilling farmers, saying that this was something done by the previous regime. Responding to the Opposition's point that the Bill should have been moved by the Land department and not the Industry department, Ms. Banerjee said: “Our priority is not technicalities, but practical necessities.” On the cautionary advice offered by the former Land and Land Reforms Minister, Abdur Rezzak Mollah, that the government in its rush to return land at Singur may find itself ensnared in complications, Ms. Banerjee said: “Every minute is important. Too much time has been lost in West Bengal and the State is now lagging behind in every sector.” She, however, said that constructive suggestions from the Opposition were welcome. To the Opposition advice urging the government to be on guard against bureaucrats who often mislead, Ms. Banerjee said that she would continue to depend on her bureaucrats. “I do not think they will mislead us,” she said, adding in jest that bureaucrats have sent the government on leave, as have people, and the Left should just enjoy their ‘holiday.' Reacting to the suggestion that the present legislation may run counter to the 1894 Land Acquisition Act, the Chief Minister said that (the Central Act) was a draconian law, of which her party had sought a rectification. She said that an expert committee had been constituted to suggest a land policy for West Bengal, adding that barring explicit urgencies, her government would not acquire land. “This Bill [Singur Bill] will show the way to the world,” she said, describing the day as a victory day for the Singur farmers. Among the Treasury Bench speakers were Singur MLA Rabindranath Bhattacharya who is the Minister for School Education. (Hindu, 15/06/2011)

All-party meet soon on new land allotment policy The government is close to finalising the new land allotment policy-2011 to check indiscriminate allotment of land to applicants approaching authorities under the guise of development and social welfare projects in future. The thrust of the new policy, to be in place within two months, will be to ensure judicious allotment and effective utilisation of the land for development or welfare projects within the stipulated time and without deviating from the stated purpose and conditions. Discussions The empowered committee headed by the Chief Commissioner of Land Administration to formulate the policy had been holding discussions for the last two months with secretaries of various departments involved in allotting land. It has recently sent the draft policy with new guidelines and norms to the district Collectors and secretaries for their feed back before June 20 meeting. After incorporating any new suggestions, the government will hold a meeting with all political parties before announcing the final policy. “The process is expected to take one to one-and-a-half month,” sources said. Draft policy The committee earlier in its several rounds of meetings with the departments and agencies such as industries, energy, IT, tourism, education, housing etc., impressed upon them to re-visit their existing norms and guidelines for allotting land to various organisations and institutions. It wanted them to come out with fundamental principles to allot judicious extent of land, depending on the nature of the project. The departments got back and submitted their proposals that were incorporated in the draft policy. A prominent feature of the draft policy is creation of Unified Land Management Authority (ULMA) vested with not only recommending land allotment but also monitoring the utilisation for the stated purpose, and resumption of land in case of violation of the conditions. The resumed lands would be with the government and the information in the land bank would be updated. The ULMA would have a separate budget to manage and protect the land bank, by fencing or constructing the compound wall and for ensuring legal protections of all government lands under litigation. Other features The other features include share for the government in commercial enterprises, earmarking a portion of large extent of lands exceeding100 acres in urban areas and 500 acres in rural areas to meet future needs of government and public purposes like education, police stations, related government offices etc. Comprehensive R&R plans, ensuring environmental and zonal regulation

compliance before land allotment itself are other features. (Hindu, 15/06/2011)

HC notice to Centre, state over Bundelkhand suicide s ALLAHABAD: Taking cognizance of TOI reports highlighting the plight of farmers in Bundelkhand and the alarming spurt in suicides in the region, the Allahabad high court on Wednesday directed the central and state governments to submit a status report before it by July 15. The bench of Justice Sunil Ambwani and Justice Sabhajeet Yadav also issued directives to the state government, nationalised, private and cooperative banks and Khadi Gramodyog Development Board not to take coercive steps to recover farm loans in the Bundelkhand region till July 15. The judges directed the central and state governments to get reports from all hospitals, blocks and police stations about each suicide committed in the region. The government was also directed to submit a detailed report of studies conducted on causes of such deaths and steps being initiated to provide relief to farmers. The bench directed the UP chief secretary to submit a report to the court, detailing the total rural indebtedness of the area. Though figures were hard to collect, TOI found that 519 people committed suicide in the first five months of this year, an alarming rise over the previous two years when 583 suicides were recorded over 12 months in 2010 and 568 in 2009. Fixing July 15 as the next hearing date, the court directed the central and state governments to also inform it about the measures taken for the development of the area, irrigation facilities, the status of public distribution system (PDS) and other welfare schemes. The government will also inform the court about steps it has taken to provide debt relief to the farmers in the region. (TOI, 16/06/2011)

Farmers may get back land if projects don't take of f in five years The Union Ministry of Rural Development has eventually finalised the revised draft of the bills on land acquisition and rehabilitation and resettlement, which promise to return land to the farmer if a proposed project fails to come up within five years of acquisition. Minister for Rural Development Vilasrao Deshmukh told The Hindu that the Land Acquisition Bill and the Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill were sent to the Ministry of Law for its approval. Mr. Deshmukh expects to put the bills for the Cabinet's consideration within a fortnight. He expressed confidence that they would be introduced during the monsoon session of Parliament. Mr. Deshmukh said the priority was to secure the interests of farmers. Land acquired by the government would be returned if a project failed to take off within five years of the acquisition. Hitherto, the States retained the land and were free to use it for any other purpose. The new provision would be applicable even in the case of private enterprise-sponsored projects if part of a land was acquired by the State. At present, private players retain the land, if it is not used for the project, for other uses. Even in cases where more land was acquired than used for the project, the excess portion would be returned to farmers. Moreover, if private players sought government help for land acquisition, they would be required to abide by the rehabilitation and resettlement provisions. Mr. Deshmukh, however, feared that those who directly negotiated the sale of their land with private players may demand the same package of relief as extended to those whose land was acquired by the government. Private players would be expected to employ each family whose land was acquired or Rs. 5 lakh as compensation. (Hindu, 17/06/2011)

Food corps, mafia bleeding farmers The Government’s bid to benefit farmers by way of a minimum support price (MSP) has come a cropper. The agrarian community in Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh has dubbed it a ‘farce’. Deep-rooted corruption in Government corporations is not just forcing the farmers to sell wheat in the open market but also at prices less than the MSP. While the wheat MSP announced by the Centre is `1,120, besides the bonus of `50 per quintal, farmers are compelled to sell their produce at `100 below the MSP. The Pioneer took stock of the ground situation in Uttar Pradesh and made detailed telephonic inquiries in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh for comparative analyses. Intriguingly, they all have a similar tale to tell — the strong nexus among Government’s procurement officials, big traders and patwaris (village land record-keepers); the tiresome process involved in selling their produce to Food Corporation of India (FCI) or State agencies like Pradesh Cooperative Federation (PCF) and Regional Controller of Food (RCF), and above all, the compulsion of a “mandatory commission” ranging between `50 and `70 to Government officials. At Sitapur, PCF and RCF offices remain closed most days even as there is a buzzing activity in Krishi Utpadan Mandi Samiti, housed in the same complex as the two State agencies. Rajaram, a farmer from Machereta village, who was sorting his wheat heap in the mandi samiti complex told The Pioneer that the rate of wheat is `1,070-1,080 per quintal. Some fellow farmers who

gathered around chipped in to narrate how the cumbersome selling process involving FCI leaves them with no option but to sell their produce in the mandi samiti — a storehouse where lots of foodgrains lie in open covered by thin plastic sheets. “Normally, officials are absent. Even when they are present, they dilly-dally taking our wheat. They keep us waiting the entire day on some pretext or the other only to ask to come the next day. The process continues till we pay them the commission. Otherwise, they reject our wheat citing it to be of poor quality,” they say. FCI has payment issues also. “Though they give payment cheques immediately after the clearance of grains, it takes many days to encash it as most of the times there is no money in their account (FCI). It’s the second round of harassment, as we have to go to bank every other day,” Rajaram adds. Mandi samiti inspector Ashok Kumar Gupta, however, tries to put the blame on the farmers. “We ask them to sell their produce to PCF, RCF or FCI, but they prefer selling it in the open market, saying it’s easier.” Artiyas give cash and don’t make them wait for 2-3 days which jacks their logistics cost, the farmers point out. It’s past 9 in the morning but none of the officials at the Sitapur FCI centre is present. Government rules mandate that FCI procurement centres start functioning from 8 am. Quite surprisingly, there is not a single tractor around but some trucks are definitely lined up. Farmers bring their produce on tractors. A truck driver waiting outside and a few other people inform the trucks belong to traders. Vir Pratap Singh, a farmers’ representative from Unnao, informs that traders are going to villages and buying wheat at cheaper prices and then selling it to Government agencies like FCI. “Traders in collusion with patwaris manage to produce a copy of the farmer’s farad (land record document) and by showing it in mandis are able to avail the MSP plus bonus. With no photograph affixed to verify, it’s an easy ball game for them,” he details the modus operandi. Some 70-odd km away in Lakhimpur Kheri in eastern UP, Surjanlal Verma, a farmers’ representative, reveals how the PDS grain is re-sold to FCI by the fair price shop dealers. RCF officials at Lakhimpur refuse to talk. All they would say is “Procurement is not happening because of the rain”. However, the same rain did not stop farmers from queuing up in mandi samiti. Ram Kewal, a farmer who was selling his wheat to an artiya, narrates the same problems as farmers of Sitapur. Here too the rate is Rs 1,070-1,080. The procurement incharge at FCI Lakhimpur, Ajit Singh, claims there is no payment problem. “Our account is in SBI bank. If the farmers have an account in some other bank it may take a day or two in clearance, otherwise there is no issue with payment,” he counters. He also denies any harassment on pretext of quality. “We are procuring 1000-1,200 quintal grain per day,” he claims. A cross-check of the situation in Bihar, AP and MP too reveals a sorry state of affairs. Kaushal Kishore Jha, a farmers’ representative from Samstipur in Bihar, informs they are forced to pay a commission of Rs 50-70 per quintal to FCI officials. His counterpart from Jabalpur in MP, KK Agarwal, who has 200 acres land in Siroha, didn’t sell his wheat and has stored it in the hope of better prices some time later. Agarwal says that in MP farmers are forced to sell wheat at even lesser price than anywhere else due to problem of storage as the godowns are overflowing. Farmers sold wheat at Rs 900-1000/quintal. MP procured 40 lakh tonnes of wheat in this season and almost 50 per cent wheat is lying in open at pity of God. In AP, hundreds of farmers have gone on a crop holiday to protest the myth of MSP. P Chengal Reddy, secretary general, Consortium of Indian Farmers Associations, claims there is an anti-Congress wave in the State against its farm policies. AP had 25-30 per cent more paddy this year and since the Government warehouses were already overflowing with 80 MT grain in stores, farmers were turned away from Government procurement agencies which lead to distress sale by farmers. Farmers in Andhra are selling rice at Rs 850 against MSP of Rs 1,030. Reddy accuses the Government of ignoring farmers’ interests by not allowing export. Farmers from across the India have been demanding the Government to lift the ban on wheat and rice export. The Agriculture Ministry too supports the farmers’ demand, but the Food Ministry which has the duty of implementing the upcoming Food Security Bill as and when it becomes an Act is not willing to take any chance and therefore there is no consensus on this in the Government. To stop distress sale and wastage of grain lying in open, chairman of Bharat Krishak Samaj Ajay Jakhar recently wrote to the Prime Minister to lift the export ban on wheat and rice. (Pioneer, 20/06/2011)

Mamata to use 1895 Raj law to return land Trinamul Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal has “discovered” a century-old act that it hopes will help it if it wants to return government-acquired land to the original owner. The not-so-well-known Government Grants Act, 1895, empowers the state to return any piece of land acquired in the past, but which still remains in its possession, to any person or organisation. The Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act of 2011 granted the state government the power to reclaim the

entire 1,000 acres of Tata Motors’ defunct project land in Singur; of this, 400 acres would be returned to the farmers who had unwillingly parted with their land. But this is a one-off bill that cannot be applied to any other similar case. “Originally, the state government had planned to bring an amendment to the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, to find a way to return land it once acquired to the original owners. However, later we found the Government Grants Act, 1895, which also met our objective and so now the idea to bring the amendment to the Land Acquisition Act has been scrapped,” West Bengal law minister Malay Ghatak said. The Government Grants Act, 1895, will, however, apply only to those government-acquired lands that it had acquired but not allotted to any individual, company or organisation, and which still remain in its possession. “If the government decides to return the land to the erstwhile owners, it can do so through the provisions of the Government Grants Act,” Mr Ghatak elaborated. A minister in Ms Banerjee’s Cabinet claimed that with the help of the Government Grants Act, the state government can return 350 acres at Bolpur to the original owners. The state government had acquired the land under the provisions of the Land n Turn to Page 3 Acquisition Act, 1894, to set up an industrial park. However, the project is yet to come up and the entire land has been lying with the West Bengal Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation for several years. A senior official who handles land issues in the commerce and industries department, however, expressed scepticism at the efficacy of this act. “In the Land Acquisition Act, it is clearly mentioned that the acquired land can only be used for the specified public purpose or for any other public purpose. If the land cannot be used for a public purpose, then it would have to be auctioned and the proceeds used only for a public purpose,” the official elaborated. (AA, 22/06/2011)

Court: No coercive steps to recover farm loans What Rahul Gandhi and his fellow Congress man Digvijay Singh could not achieve politically for the impoverished farmers of Bundelkhand in Uttar Pradesh, a court whip has made it happen. The Allahabad high court has taken a serious view of the fate of thousands of farmers who are under heavy bank loans as they neither can repay the money nor feed their children. With the sole idea to stop recurrence of suicides by farmers, a bench of justices Sunil Ambwani and Sabhajeet Yadav has directed the Maywati government, all nationalised banks and financial institutions that have advanced loans to the farmers, and the Khadi Gramudhyog Development Board that promotes the Gandhian principles not to “take any coercive steps” to recover the outstanding agricultural loans from farmers. This order has been passed “to avoid any such incident to take place in the region’’. The judges will hear the suo motu matter on July 15. Terming it as ‘Farmers’ Suicide in Bundelkhand Region of the State of Uttar Pradesh’’, judges had taken cognizance of the uncontested media reports saying that in 2009 at least 568 farmers had committed suicide in Bundelkhand. Last year, this number increased further to 583. And in the last five months, 519 farmers have already died under unnatural circumstances. Bundelkhand region includes Banda, Hamirpur, Jhansi, Lalitpur, Mahoba, Chitrakoot and Jalaun districts. According to the Banda District Hospital, it recorded about 330 cases of suicide between January and May this year. This region in particular is suffering from acute drought conditions, and for many seasons the crops have failed resulting in rising debts. Quoting the media reports, the judges said as against 2010, when the total outstanding of bank farm loans stood at Rs3613.22 crore, in 2011 the outstanding bank farm loans stand at Rs4370.32 crore in this region. “We are deeply pained and anguished over the conditions in the Bundelkhand’’, judges said. (DNA, 22/06/2011)

Orissa suspends land acquisition indefinitely Even as the Orissa government suspended land acquisition for the proposed mega steel plant of Posco in this seaside block in Jagatsinghpur district for an indefinite period on Tuesday, senior leaders of the Communist Party of India and Communist Party of India (Marxist) expressed their solidarity with the villagers opposing the venture. Veteran CPI MP Gurudas Dasgupta and senior CPI(M) MP Basudev Acharya demanded that the Naveen Patnaik government stop forceful land acquisition for Posco and withdraw armed policemen from the locality without delay. They also assured the agitators that they would take up their demands in Parliament next month. They were addressing the gathering near Gobindpur village where the agitators, including many women and children, have formed a human barricade to block the entry of government officials and police for demolishing their betel vineyards and acquire land. Although the State government announced a halt in land acquisition in view of the growing support for the agitation from different parties, including the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party, during the past few days, Mr. Dasgupta and Mr. Acharya urged the agitating villagers to continue with their resistance till the State government announced shifting of the project from the area. Extending their

support to the agitation being spearheaded by the Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti, both the leaders said they had not come as party leaders. They had come to express solidarity on behalf of the people of the country. “The Naveen Patnaik government wants to sell Orissa to Posco in lieu of the huge amounts of money it received from that company,” alleged Mr. Dasgupta, while blaming Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for not visiting the area to talk to the agitating villagers as he had promised last year. The former legislator and senior Congress leader Umesh Swain too addressed the agitating villagers whose numbers swelled during the day with hundreds of people from nearby Nuagaon village joining the protest. There was a loud cheer from the crowd when the leaders extended their support to the agitation. Sangram Samiti president Abhay Sahu announced that they would observe Wednesday as Black Day as it was on June 22 in 2005 that the State government had signed the memorandum of understanding with Posco for the establishment of the proposed steel plant. (Hindu, 22/06/2011)

Serve notice on WB Govt first: Court Tata Motors on Wednesday moved the Calcutta High Court challenging the Singur Land Rehabilitation Bill and prayed for a status quo and appointment of a receiver for the “subject property”. Refusing to hear the petition ex-parte the court fixed Thursday as the next date of hearing. Justice Soumitra Pal directed the petitioner’s advocate Samaraditya Pal to serve a notice on the State Government before praying for further orders. This, even as scores of villagers gave vent to their pent up anger storming the Nano site on Wednesday noon and making off with whatever properties they could lay their hands on. The petitioners had prayed for an interim order citing law and order situation at the site but as State Advocate General Anindya Mitra said enough police force was deployed at the site “the learned court did not pass any interim order and would hear the petition at 2 pm on Thursday,” senior counsel and Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Bannerjee said. Pal, the counsel Tatas, earlier prayed for the relief on grounds of illegality and unconstitutionality of the new Act reclaiming the Tata Motors’ land from the company for distributing among the ‘unwilling’ farmers. The Trinamool Congress Government earlier passed the new Land Rehabilitation Act to return the “forcibly” acquired agricultural lands to the farmers of Singur. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had earlier promised before the State elections that she would return 400 acres of land forcibly taken from the unwilling farmers. The Tatas contended that the new Act was not only ultra vires the Constitution but also illegal as it challenged a Central Act on the same matter. Subsequently a senior Tata official said as the matter came under concurrent list the Central law should prevail in case of a conflict between the two statutes rejecting the contention that Tamil Nadu Government had returned acquired land in a similar manner. He said the Tamil Nadu Government had only amended the Central Act but the Bengal Government went for a new law. The flash point came when the State Government on Tuesday pasted a notice on the gates of Nano plant at Singur declaring the land had been vested in the State Government, and asking the Tatas and all concerned to withdraw from the site. Interestingly, the Government notice came barely 15 minutes after the Tata notice which in a bid to preempt any Government action requested all concerned to inform the Tata authorities at least 5 hours in advance as none of the officials stayed in the night at the site. Senior police officers including Hooghly SP and DIG Z Hassan visited the site in the noon to ascertain the situation after news of loot came in, district administration said. At Singur, hundreds of unwilling farmers thronged the Tata gates with supreme “faith in our Didi” and utmost confidence that “we will get back our land.” Binapani Samanta of Beraberi said, “We know that Didi will do whatever she can for us. We will get back our land.” When asked as to what they felt about the legal battle ensuing between the two parties Tapan Manna of Singher Bheri said “the Government had offered to compensate the Tatas but the way they are trying to delay the process our hatred will grow for them.” (Pioneer, 23/06/2011)

Protest over forcible acquisition of Mansa land MANSA: A day after police lahicharge, landowners and activists of farmer organizations held protest rally at Mansa on Wednesday opposing the forcible acquisition of their land for a proposed power plant. On Tuesday, amid protests, the state government had took the possession of 880 acres of land after sealing entry and exit points to three villages. The government had taken possession for Peona power, a subsidiary of India Bulls, which is to set up 7,000 crore power plant at the land spanning over villages Gobindpura, Sirsiwala, Jalbehra. Hundreds of activists and landowners along with their family members accused the state government of using power in taking possession of land without their consent. Showcasing complete solidarity with aggrieved landowners, the farmer organization BKU Ugrahan threatened to intensify the struggle if the state government went ahead with construction activity at the

land forcibly occupied without consent of farmers. "The farmers will not allow any activity on the land forcibly taken away, if the authorities fail to return it to landowners as the authorities have assured," said BKU Ugrahan state president Joginder Singh Ugrahan. He said, if the state government is making claims of not acquiring any land without consent, then why it is taking it forcibly when landowners were against parting with their land. Mansa DC Ravinder Singh said the authorities have not assured to return any land. He said starting any activity is the sole prerogative of the power company as land is being handing over to a company. BKU Ekta district president Ram Singh Bhainibhaga said farmers owning 166 acres out of 880 acres did not want to give their land to the state government at any cost. (TOI, 23/06/2011)

Haryana Governor supports direct purchase of land b y investors Haryana Governor Jagannath Pahadia on Sunday supported the West Bengal government’s decision to let investors purchase land directly from land-owners instead of the government acquiring land on their behalf. “I am not thorough about Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s decision, but she has come to this position through long struggle. She must have taken the right decision, considering the interest of common people,” Mr. Pahadia said. Mr. Pahadia stressed on the need for corporate social responsibility among private investors, while advocating greater participation by them in the country’s economic development. “Sustainable and inclusive economic growth is vital for a country’s development which is impossible without efficient private sector participation or adequate access to financial and non-financial services,” Mr. Pahadia said. The governor was speaking at an interactive session on ’Corporate Social Responsibility - New Dimensions’ at the Merchants’ Chamber of Commerce. He said that unorganised workers should have greater access to social protection so that they could cope better with risk and avoid slipping into extreme poverty. He also urged for creation of opportunities for weaker and smaller sections of trade and industry to achieve economic growth and national prosperity. Mr. Pahadia also reminded listeners of how development of community awareness of businesses being held responsible for their actions was growing through access to education and dialogue. “The traditional concept of community social responsibility is being challenged by creation of the more community-conscious shared value concept and several companies are refining their collaboration with stakeholders accordingly,” he said. (Hindu, 27/06/2011)

Farmer ended his life in Banda for loan repayment Depressed with regular notices for repayment of loan a farmer ended his life in Banda on Saturday night. A case was registered in this regard by the police and body was send for post-mortem examination. Reports said that one Shyam Singh, a native of Gajpatipur hamlet of Bhadosa in Banda was found hanging with the ceiling of his room on Saturday night. His mother who was a widow claimed that she took a loan of Rs 41,000 from a bank against their field few years back. She said that due to poor crop they were again forced to take money to continue farming hence her son Shyam Singh took loan of Rs 20,000. She further said that as they failed to repay it, the bank was giving them notices and even threatened to seize their land so after going under depression her son Shyam Singh committed suicide. Meanwhile, a women was killed over a petty dispute in Ferojabad while in Ambedkarnagar, family members and friends of a patient ransacked District Hospital on Sunday afternoon. In first case reported from Ferojabad, one Balbir Singh, a native of Mehra hamlet of Sikohabad was having regular conflict with his wife Ritin Yadav over household affair. On Sunday morning also, the couple scuffled and when Balbir started assaulting Ritin, one neighbourhood lady, identified as Brijesh Singh rushed to rescue her. Agitated with Brijesh’s move, Balbir took out his licence gun and shot her dead on the spot. He later escaped to evade arrest. A case was registered in this regard. In Ambedkarnagar, one Mujeeb Alam, a native of Tanda who was admitted at District Hospital died on Sunday afternoon. His brother Mohamed Ahmed, and other relatives and friends alleged that the death occurred due to negligence of the doctors. They first raised slogan and later when the hospital staff tried to push them away, they went on rampage damaging the hospital furniture. They also pelted stones in which window glasses and some vehicles parked outside were damaged. The Hospital superintendent later summoned heavy police force who used mild force to chase away trouble shooters. A case was registered in this regard but no one was arrested so far. (Pioneer, 27/06/2011)

Supreme Court slams U.P. over land issue The Supreme Court on Monday criticised the Uttar Pradesh government for acquiring prime agricultural land to build luxury flats in Greater Noida and questioned the invoking of an urgency clause that bars

farmers from raising objections. It noted it would step in to prevent “more Nandigrams.” “Whose residential use are these flats for? Who is building them? What are the prices? We want to go into details of the case. This urgency clause is not automatically invoked.... We do not want more Nandigrams in all States,” a Bench of Justices P. Sathasivam and A.K. Patnaik said. The court said it would not like a situation similar to Nandigaram in West Bengal, where such steps to acquire land by invoking an urgency clause led to large scale protests and violence. “We will not keep our eyes closed. You take it [agricultural land] from one side and give it to the other. This has to go and if it does not go, this court will step in to ensure that. It is development of one section of society only,” it said. The Bench made the observations while hearing petitions filed by the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority and real estate developers and builders, including Supertech and Amrapali, challenging the Allahabad High Court order that quashed the notifications for land acquisition in Greater Noida. The apex court expressed its annoyance over the invocation of the urgency clause for taking over the land on which high–cost residential flats were being constructed. Without issuing any notice, it posted the matter for detailed hearing on July 5. The Bench came out with the comments after it was informed that the High Court had quashed the notification based on the contention that the agricultural land was initially acquired for industrial purpose at a cheap price but was later “swapped” and transferred to builders for residential use. Counsel for Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority contended that the acquisition was part of its “well known” 2021 plan, called the Industrial Development Plan. It was a generic term that included commercial and residential use, he said. The Bench, however, asked the Authority as to whether efforts were made at all by it to find any other land which is not in agricultural use. “Are you going to allot one apartment to each one of them [farmers]? If the government is having any barren land, let that be given preference. Why should you give prime agricultural land” it asked. On May 31, the High Court quashed the acquisition of 170 hectares at Gulistan village in Greater Noida for industrial development. It said the acquisition of land in Greater Noida for residential apartments, which was done after invoking Section 17 of the Land Acquisition Act and depriving the aggrieved persons of filing their objections on the ground that the matter was urgent, was a “colourable exercise of power.”The court rejected the contention that there was any urgency. It said the landowners have to be given an opportunity to file their objections. This was the third time the court has set aside land acquisition in Greater Noida where the farmers are up in arms against the government's land acquisition, demanding adequate compensation for their land. They had clashed with the police last month. On May 12 and May 15, it quashed the acquisition of more than 170 hectares in Gautam Budh Nagar district. (Hindu, 28/06/2011)

Supreme Court stays return of land to unwilling far mers in Singur Tata Motors on Wednesday got “interim protection” from the Supreme Court, which stopped the West Bengal government from returning to farmers the land acquired for the automobile firm's small car project in Singur. “Our interim protection is for some time,” the court said noting that the main matter against the government on possession and distribution of the land to the original owners was pending before the Calcutta High Court. “As an interim order, we direct government not to hand over or return land to the farmers concerned until further orders passed by the High Court,” a vacation Bench of Justices P. Sathasivam and A.K. Patnaik said. The judges said they were asking the High Court to proceed with the main matter in which the Tatas had challenged the law enacted by the government for taking possession of land and distributing it to farmers who were the original owners. Hours after the order, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the apex court did not stop land survey and the “process of distribution of land.” A report from Singur said since the order was yet to reach the authorities, survey and ground levelling work continued with over 150 farmers submitting forms for reclaiming their holdings. The Bench said it was granting interim protection as senior counsel P.P. Rao, appearing for the government, made it clear that possession of the land would remain in the hands of the government till the High Court decided on the issue. The apex court was hearing a petition filed by Tata Motors that challenged the order of the High Court, which refused to grant any relief to it. On June 23, the High Court refused to entertain the company's plea, seeking directions to restrain the government from taking possession of about 1000 acre land. At the outset, the Bench told senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Tata Motors, that there was a limited issue before it as the company had not asked it to go into the legislation relating to the land

in Singur, an issue before the High Court. “We are not underestimating the matter,” it said. The Bench made the remarks after Mr. Rohatgi said Tatas have to rush to the apex court as an extraordinary situation had arisen after the government came out with legislation on the night of June 21 to take possession of around 1000 acres and for its distribution among farmers. He alleged that not only due to the protest and agitation by the Trinamool Congress on the issue of land the small car project was forced out of the State but small vendors who had established their units were facing the brunt of the government. Mr. Rohatgi contended that the land acquisition and handing it over to Tata Motors on lease for 99 years was not a clandestine exercise as the High Court had upheld the acquisition by the previous government, and as such it cannot be returned to farmers. When the Bench asked about the present state of affairs, he said Tata Motors was being dispossessed of the land and sought an order that it should remain with the government till the issue pending in the High Court was decided. (Hindu, 30/06/2011)

What is a forest? Environment ministry doesn't know ! What constitutes a forest? There is no answer for this simple and plain question even 62 years after independence if a RTI reply from the ministry of environment and forests is correct. The reason cited by the ministry in its reply is that "definition" of forests is under active consideration and it is yet to be "finalised". "Definition of forests is under active consideration and yet to be finalised. However regarding definition of Forest, we may like to refer to the judgement of Honourable Supreme Court dated December 12, 1996 in the case of TN Godavarman versus Union of India and others in Writ Petition civil No. 202/1995," an official of the Forest Policy Division with the ministry said. Ajay Marathe, a resident of Mumbai, had filed an Right To Information (RTI) application asking for state-wise and area-wise comparison statement showing increase in forest area and the forest cover in the last decade. Marathe said, "Its surprising that in the report on 'Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation' updated on 30 March 2011 they talk in length and breadth on how 3 million hectares of forest cover have been added over the last decade. "This too when we get to read news reports of encroachment on forest area by builders, chopping off trees in other other places leading to forest being completely erased in many states. This is why I asked them to provide what was the definition of forests for preparing the report. Marathe also said he sought a definition of the quality of forests. "The report speaks of shifting focus from increasing the quantity of forest towards increasing its quality and improving provision of ecosystem goods and services. That is why I have asked them to define quality of forest and how it is measured." (DNA, 29/06/2011)

Will not allow state govt to derail kisan mahapanch ayat: Pilot Though the Uttar Pradesh government will try to derail Congress' 'kisan mahapanchayat' in Aligarh on July 9, party will make sure that it's a huge success, Union Minister Sachin Pilot said. Farmers from as many as 80 villages will take part in the mahapanchayat which will highlight their problems especially that of land acquisition, he said on the sidelines of a function here. "We will not allow the state administration to derail the mahapanchayat," pilot said. He said: "Mayawati-led Uttar Pradesh government has lost its control over the law and order situation in the state which has seen a sudden spurt in crimes against women and dalits." In order to make the mahapanchayat a success, Congress party leaders will visit Ghaziabad, Gautam Budh Nagar, Meerut and Bulandshahar of western Uttar Pradesh for next four days, he said. The alleged incidents of rape of women and bones in ash heaps found in Bhatta Parsaul must be probed by the CBI, he said, adding a white paper must be issued by the state government on the land acquired from farmers in Noida, Greater Noida, and for the Yamuna Expressway project, he demanded. The decision to shift the venue of the 'grand assembly' of farmers to Aligarh, which has also witnessed agitation over land acquisition issue, was taken after Mayawati Government declined permission to hold the meet at Bhatta Parsaul in Greater Noida, where Rahul had joined the farmers' stir in May. (IE, 04/07/2011)

Agricultural land shrinking in UP Uttar Pradesh, once the food bowl of India, is fast losing agricultural land to non-productive uses. As per government records, only 25 per cent of the total land area of the state is now available for farming. In its report on measures to double the income of farmers in the next three years, the Agriculture department says that the state is left with just 25 per cent of agricultural land, and advocates "drastic measures to double the income of farmers within next three years". The measures suggested include use of high-

breed seeds, promotion of mechanised farming and increase in irrigation facility. "The basic problem is land. The farming area is shrinking very fast as more and more alluvial land is now used for unproductive use. The biggest casualty is western Uttar Pradesh where almost every year over 12000-15000 hectare land is diverted for other uses," a senior official in the Agriculture department told 'The Pioneer' here on Monday. The total land area of the state is 241.70 lakh hectare. Of this, 25 per cent is farm land, 11 per cent wetland, 28 per cent doab, 12 per cent sodic land, 8 per cent ravines and 16 per cent, non-agricultural land. The report says that besides the shrinking farmland, the health of the soil is also declining. The soil in 65 districts has been found to be deficient in nitrogen. Soil phosphorus in 72 districts and carbon in 76 districts has been found to be at the minimum level. The soil in UP has a little bit of sulphur, zinc and iron. "The time has come to increase the vitality of soil by promoting use of green manure and restricting use of chemical fertilisers," the report says. It also suggests that farming area should be increased by reclaiming sodic land and improving water disposal system in wetlands. It says efforts should also be made to reclaim the Doab areas, which account for 28 per cent of the total land, and the ravines. The report forms the basis of a highly ambitious project of the Mayawati government to double the farmers' income in next three years. The Chief Minister has asked officials of the Agriculture department to initiate the scheme by August this year. Agriculture Production Commissioner Alok Ranjan said the report was holistic and included contributions from Horticulture, Sericulture and even Animal Husbandry departments. The report talks about increase of meat production, poultry, milk production besides stressing on increasing production of food grains and fruits. "If we can put our plans together there is no reason why the income of farmers will not double in two years," Ranjan said. (Pioneer, 05/07/2011)

Return Noida land to villagers: court The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld an Allahabad High Court order quashing the Uttar Pradesh notification to acquire 156 hectares of land for construction of residential apartments by private builders in the Greater Noida Extension area of Gautam Budh Nagar district. It ordered the return of the land to villagers. Taking a serious view of the hurried change of land use, from industrial to residential, and forcible acquisition of the land under an emergency clause of the Land Acquisition Act, a Bench of Justices G.S. Singhvi and A.K. Ganguly also imposed exemplary costs of Rs. 10 lakh on the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA), payable to the Supreme Court Legal Services Authority. After the Mayawati government transferred the land, the builders started the construction of apartments and thousands of people, commercial institutions and banks invested in the property. The Supreme Court order has put a question mark on these investments. In its order, the Bench said the reasons recorded by a Division Bench of the High Court for holding that the State Government ought not to have invoked the urgency clause under Section 17 of the Land Acquisition Act and dispensed with an application under Section 5, as also its conclusion that the entire exercise of acquisition was a colourable exercise, did not suffer from any infirmity requiring interference by this court. “The SLPs filed by the GNIDA and real estate developers and builders, including Supertech and Amrapali, are dismissed.” The Bench said it imposed costs on the GNIDA “for undertaking an exercise of allotment of land to the builders, in complete violation of the purpose for which the land was sought to be acquired, even before the approval by the government for change of land use. The amount should be paid in three months. Earlier, when arguments resumed on Wednesday, Justice Singhvi lambasted the GNIDA. “You will not understand the psyche of the farmer. For him, land is a mother, his means of livelihood and sustenance. You are promoting the interest of the builders' lobby in the guise of the public interest. In changing the land use from industrial to residential purpose, everything is meticulously planned. Your officers know it would be handed over to builders for a private purpose, but it doesn't happen overnight. It is a brazen overreach of the judicial process.” (Hindu, 07/07/2011)

Survey to create databaseon small, marginal farmers The Agriculture Department has taken up a survey to create a database on small and marginal farmers in the district and to identify the requirements for doubling their productivity and income over the next three years. The survey would come up with a comprehensive database of the small and marginal farmers to include information on their land holdings, ownership/tenancy rights, cropping pattern and their average productivity and income over the past three years. The fertility status of the farmers' fields or the village would also be recorded. More importantly, the survey would assess the requirements of the farmers in terms of credit flow, agricultural inputs and implements. It would also assess the constraints faced by

farmers in increasing productivity and come up with suitable remedial measures, sources in the Agriculture Department said. The survey is being done in line with the State government's stated objective of putting in place measures to double agricultural productivity. Once the survey is completed, the database would be uploaded to a State-wide network enabled with GPS (Global Positioning System) and GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) facilities. The data would be uploaded through hand-held PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants) to be supplied to the field officers of the department. Each farmer, block and district would be given exclusive code numbers so that the entire information of a particular farmer or area could be accessed immediately once the database was ready. A team of 86 assistant agricultural officers, 16 agricultural officers, 12 deputy agricultural officers and nine assistant directors of agriculture are engaged in conducting the survey across the district. The exercise was being supervised by J.Sekar, Joint Director of Agriculture, R.Chandrasekaran, Deputy Director (Central schemes) and S.Saba Natesan, Deputy Director (State Schemes). After the project was completed, by the month-end, appropriate interventional measures are expected to be implemented by the State government. One-third of the identified farmers would be covered every year over the three-year period. The department would come up with suitable recommendations right from the sowing to harvest stage for every farmer. It would suggest appropriate cropping pattern, steps to increase the crop intensity, use of micro irrigation systems and modern farm implements. It would identify the requirement of machines such as tractors, transplanters, weeders and combined harvesters so that measures could be taken to make them accessible to farmers through rental services run by self-help groups, primary agricultural cooperative societies or agriclinics. (Hindu, 11/07/2011)

Mayawati violating ban on acquiring dalit land: Dig vijay Singh NEW DELHI: Digvijay Singh accused chief minister Mayawati of violating a ban on acquisition of dalit land despite being a "dalit ki beti", sharpening the Congress attack on the BSP chief after Rahul Gandhi's padyatra and farmers rally in Aligarh. The AICC general secretary wrote to the chief minister on Monday, annexing an order issued in 1985 which barred acquisition of land belonging to dalits on the grounds that the community had the least landholding. With the said ban on dalit land passed by Congress government, Singh's aggression aims to corner the dalit leader in her home constituency. That Rahul made an issue of dalits feeling the acquisition heat during his walkathon through villages along the Yamuna Expressway shows a concerted effort in the direction. Singh, fishing out the order issued by state revenue secretary to district magistrates dated September 24, 1985, wrote to Mayawati, "If you had enforced this order, you would not have acquired the land of dalits and given them to millionaire builders." He added that if the chief minister wanted the welfare of dalits, she should revoke all dalit land acquisitions during her tenure or compensate them with land allocation elsewhere. Buoyed by Rahul's persistent attack on the state government for profiteering in the name of land acquisition for development, Congress launched a scathing attack on the rival with whom the party is to face off for the 2012 state polls. AICC spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said BSP was scared of the support garnered by Rahul and it was showing in its reactions which were nothing short of abuses. He accused BSP of being in league with BJP and said while it was not surprising given their past alliances, they were trying to hide the understanding. The Congress charge against Mayawati regime is significant in view of anger among farmers that their land was being undervalued to benefit builders. With Congress producing an official order barring land belonging to dalits from being acquired, it is hoping to keep the chief minister on the defensive. The CM is expected to react to Singh's missive and it could only lead to a rejoinder from AICC, thus giving Congress advantage. Observers said it was easy to argue that land acquisition being done was for development, but such clarifications carried the risk of sounding insensitive when the issue pertained to a community which has least landholding and has been beneficiary of government schemes of land distribution to overcome that handicap. With Congress deciding to hold 'kisan mahapanchayats' across the state, the land acquisition issue can only gain traction and sharpen the rivalry between the ruling party and the Congress. (TOI, 12/07/2011)

184 hectares resumed at Munnar Revenue Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan said here on Monday that 455.33 acres (184 hectares) of encroached land here was attached by the Revenue Department and boards notifying the resumption erected on seven plots on Monday. He told presspersons that a detailed report would be submitted to Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on the encroachments in areas that he visited on Monday. Earlier, he visited several pieces of land cleared of encroachments. The Minister, who arrived here on Sunday night,

first visited Gap Road, where a board proclaiming the resumption of 250 acres (100 ha) of land was erected. The next stop was the catchment areas of the Anayirangal dam, where 50 cents (0.2 ha) and 80 cents (0.3 ha) of land was resumed. After visiting 104 acres (42 ha) resumed in the Sinkukandam area, the Minister moved to the Ezhupathekkar area where various government agencies own nearly 3,000 acres (1,200 ha) of land. Fifty acres (20 ha) owned by the Revenue Department was resumed there. Court cases are pending on 20 acres (eight ha) of land and a decision to resume this or not will be taken subject to the court verdict. Seven families remain in the area, and the Minister said their cases for rehabilitation would be considered. For the deserving landless Scheduled Tribe categories, alternative land would be provided. The Minister later visited the Parvathy Hills where 40.33 acres (16.3 ha) of land was resumed. At Ezhupathekkar, a road was found constructed using grama panchayat funds only for the use of a person who had encroached on land. Even a helipad was set to come up there. The road was closed and a board erected. Roads constructed by the encroachers around Gap Road and the Anayirangal dam area were also closed. The Minister directed senior revenue officials to monitor the closed land area. Fencing of the resumed land would be done on a priority basis. He directed filing of criminal cases in case the land was encroached again. Later, he told presspersons that the drive would be conducted in such a way to give people a clear message that encroachments would not be possible. Devikulam Sub-Collector M.G. Rajamanikyam would consider people's complaints with regard to the drive. Revenue inspectors would be posted to prevent encroachments. They had been asked to submit weekly reports. Officials would monitor the resumed land. The Minister spoke of a three-step strategy: prevention of encroachments on the resumed land, rehabilitation of evicted people in smallholdings if their cases were genuine, and a legal process to deal with cases related to the resumed land. (Hindu, 12/07/2011)

Posco won't come up in Gadag without farmers' conse nt: Yeddy (20) Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa today said the Rs 30,000 crore steel project by Korean major Posco will not come up in Gadag district in the state without farmers' consent. "The Posco project will not be set up against the farmers' wishes," he said. He directed Gadag Deputy Commissioner Shankar Narayan to submit a letter in this regard to Tontadarya Mutt seer Siddalinga Swamiji, who is spearheading an agitation in the district against the proposed project. "I do not wish to go against the wishes of the farmers and the swamiji as I am a pro-farmers man. As such there will be no Posco steel plant in Gadag district and I am not acquiring fertile farmlands for the purpose," Yeddyurappa, who arrived here to attend the two-day BJP state executive meet, told reporters. He reiterated that only if the seers and farmers arrived at a "consensus" on setting up of the project, he would consider its (project's) implementation in the district. Following protests by farmers and opposition members, Yeddyurappa had said yesterday that his government would announce in two days its decision on the location of the project. He had earlier said there was no re-rethinking on the part of the government to relocate the Posco project from Gadag to another district. (Financial Express 15/7/11)

4 farmer suicides in 48 hours (20) NAGPUR: Highlighting the precarious situation of farmers in the region, four farmer suicides were reported in last 48 hours in Vidarbha. Of the latest victims, three are from cotton-growing district of Amravati and one from the paddy belt of Bhandara, Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti which keeps a track of such incidents claimed on Saturday. The four victims were identified as Anil Tandilkar of village Ukapati, Subhash Kasdekar of Ranamalur, Ramesh Jumade of Achalpur (all three in Amravati district) and Anandrao Khande of Tawashi in Bhandara district. After playing hide and seek for over a month, rain gods may have finally brought some cheer to farmers in Vidarbha. However, the institutional lenders are yet to disburse crop loans to needy farmers. "Probably inability to raise resources in time is leading them to despair and driving cash-starved farmers to end their lives," said Kishore Tiwari of VJAS. With these latest suicides, the farmer suicide toll in the current year has gone up to 440, he claimed. (Times of India 19/7/11)

Farmers threaten mass suicide (20) Yalaburga (Koppal dist), July 18, DHNS: Officers from the Health and Revenue departments, who were at Yalaburga town on Monday to acquire land for a hospital, were in for a rude shock when protesting farmers doused themselves with kerosene and threatened to set themselves ablaze. The agricultural land belonging to about eight families has been identified for the construction of a 100-bed hospital. But the

farmers have been fighting the decision for the past couple of years. On Monday, the police arrested the farmers who attempted to commit suicide and took them away to Koppal. The women of these families had managed to prevent survey officers from installing stones to demarcate the land on Sunday. However, on Monday, officers managed to measure the land and plant signboards under police protection. Farmers say that a court case has been pending since 2007 on protecting their irrigated land. But officers were still adamant on acquiring land that farmers had refused to part with, due to the pressure from a former legislator, they alleged. In 2008, Ramanagowda, a farmer, had even consumed poison in an attempt to kill himself and was hospitalised for two months. Shekhamma Siddaramagowda alleged that officers had passed off irrigated land as barren and non-arable land. They added that the officers did not even have a government notification to acquire the land and offered to forego the land if it was produced. However, officers refused to heed to their appeals and went ahead placing of signboards after the police arrested the protesting farmers. (Deccan Herald 19/7/11)

Fertiliser price decontrol comes under LDF fire (20 ) The sharp rise in the prices of key chemical fertilisers consequent upon the Central decision to decontrol fertiliser pricing came under fire from the Left Democratic Front (LDF) in the Kerala Assembly, triggering a walkout by the Opposition alliance from the House on Wednesday. The LDF members accused the State government with attempts to justify the Central government’s decision which, they pointed out, had resulted in a sharp spike in the prices of all major fertilisers used by farmers in the State. Although the State government sought to justify the Centre's measure describing it as being part of a package which also included higher procurement prices for the farmers’ produces and better credit availability, the Opposition was not convinced. Former Agriculture Minister and CPI member Mullakkara Rathnakaran, who sought leave for an adjournment motion on the subject, accused the Centre of having pushed farmers to the verge of suicide with the decision to decontrol fertiliser pricing. The prices of urea had shot up from just Rs. 327 in 2008-’09 to Rs. 526 a bag by now and that of potash from Rs. 270 to Rs. 313 during the same period. Besides being forced to pay high prices, the farmers were also faced with shortage of these fertilisers, though this was the time when farmers normally applied the fertilisers, he pointed out. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Agriculture Minister K. P. Mohanan conceded that the matter was serious, but they assured the House that the government was taking it up with the Centre. Mr. Chandy felt that while the concern expressed by the Opposition was legitimate and everything needed to be done to ensure that the farmers received the fertilisers at the lowest possible prices, there was also the need to see the issue holistically as being part of a package deal for the farmers, the key components of which were better credit flow and higher support price mechanism. Deputy Leader of the Opposition Kodiyeri Balakrishnan pointed out that the problem in the farm sector was that the minimum support prices announced by the government were not keeping pace with the rising farming costs. Leader of the Opposition V. S. Achuthanandan went a step further and accused the Centre of trying to bring back the days of the East India Company when all major administrative decisions were being taken by the company. The fertiliser price decontrol policy would spell doom in the farm sector and result in revival of farmer suicides, which had been contained by the LDF government with a major debt waiver programme, the Opposition leader warned the government. (The Hindu 20/7/11)

Farmers demand tabling land bill in parliament (20) Greater Noida, July 21 : A group of farmers Thursday announced they would not enter into any agreement with the Greater Noida Authority until the central government introduces a land acquisition bill in parliament. In a panchayat held at Sadullapur village, situated around the 'Noida Extension' area, the farmers decided not to hold any talks with the authorities until the bill is taken up by the centre. "We have been the most oppressed class. Neither does the state address our grievances nor does the centre do anything about it. For years now, both state and central governments have cheated us by not doing anything for our welfare," Ranbir Pradhan, convener of farmers' body Gramin Panchayat Morcha and a resident of Sadullapur, said. "We will hold talks only if the bill is brought in parliament," he said. Warning the middlemen among the farmers, who were silently executing closed-door, secret agreements with the Greater Noida authority and acting on its behest, the farmers said they would be boycotted from the village society. A section of the farmers said they would file a petition in the high court seeking relevant action against the authority and builders for illegally occupying the lands of those farmers in Noida Extension who have not taken the compensation money from the treasury. The builders took illegal possessions of their agricultural lands on which they practiced farming and the authorities assisted them,

they claimed. "It is a crime. Had the court not intervened and not come to our help, they would have gone unabated. They were enjoying the protection of authority," said Tejram Yadav, a member of the panchayat morcha and Haibatpur resident. "The authorities paid just Rs.850 per square metre for our three-crop a season, fertile farm land which it allotted to private builders at a profit of eleven times, at Rs.12,000 per square metre. The builders then sold it off at Rs.1-1.5 lakh per square metre, a massive profit of just less than 200 percent," he said. The farmers also expressed confidence that most of those who accepted compensation would return it to get their lands back. "The farmers would do everything to return the compensation as the present rates are almost negligible for their land. They would then command the right price and do whatever he wants as per his wish," Yadav said. (New Kerala 22/7/11)

Greater Noida authority, farmers told to settle lan d issue (20) Lucknow, July 26 : While referring the Noida extension land acquisition issue to a larger bench, the Allahabad High Court Tuesday gave the Uttar Pradesh government and the agitating farmers 17 days to try and negotiate an out-of-court settlement. The court order came over about 250 petitions that were clubbed as they involved hundreds of farmers spread across 10 villages where some 3,000 hectares of land was acquired by the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority. The petitioners accused the authority and the state government of arbitrarily bypassing the prescribed procedure for acquisition by unlawfully using an "urgency" clause, when the land in question was actually given away to builders and developers to build swanky residential complexes. The division bench comprising Justice Amitabh Lala and Justice Ashok Srivastava said that the farmers and the administration were free to hold fresh negotiations and strike a deal, if possible, latest by Aug 12. An application moved jointly by a number of builders and developers, who wanted to be heard in the case, was turned down by the court. (New Kerala 26/7/11)

Farmers now spoilt for choice (2) Beginning frantic negotiations on Wednesday, the Greater Noida Authority and builders reached out to the farmers, offering them annuity and cash incentives, besides due compensation for their land. Authority officials and builders on Wednesday held talks with farmers, offering them annuity of Rs 23,000 per acre for 33 years, besides land compensation. Farmers can also get Rs Rs 2.76 lakh per acre if they desire to collect a one-time annuity, according to officials. The latest move came after the Allahabad High Court had, on Tuesday, said farmers had an option to reach an out-of-court settlement by August 12, after which their petitions would be taken up by a larger Bench. With the authority approaching farmers to resolve the issue, the ball is now in the latter’s, who said they were ready to resolve the issue if the authority took into account their concerns and agreed to part with a share of profit. “Besides the land compensation under the new scheme, farmers will get annuity of Rs 23,000 per acre for 33 years. The farmers can also collect one time payment at the rate of Rs 2.76 lakh per acre if they desire,” said a Greater Noida Authority official. As construction companies deputed their representatives to hold talks, farmers seemed wary of negotiating with them; a majority of them believing their land was now unfit for cultivation. They instead preferred to go ahead with negotiations through the authority. “Builders have offered an additional amount of Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000 per square metre as cash incentive. However, it the only the authority which can solve our abadi land disputes. So, the farmers want negotiations to be held through the Government body instead of directly with the builders,” said Sukhvinder Bhatti, a farmer. “We do not want to create hindrance in the development of the city. We too want development. But our main concern is that we should get share in profit,” said farmer Raj Kumar. A majority of farmers in villages other than from Shahberi have taken land compensation through mutual agreement, which they had spent on marrying their children or buying luxury cars and building houses. “Now, they will prefer the option of settlement as they cannot refund the money,” said another farmer, Tej Singh. Some other farmers said the matter would be resolved if the authority takes into account their concerns and agrees to part with a share of profit. However, while the Greater Noida Authority offered the farmers incentives, CEO Rama Raman told The Pioneer that it was first important to know what farmers really wanted in the current scenario before any decision is taken. “An expenditure of over Rs 4,000 per square metre has been incurred in the entire land acquisition process. It is difficult to increase the compensation for the farmers but considering the tremendous increase in the land prices in recent time, the farmers’ share can be increased. However, the decision can not be taken on my own. The final decision will be taken by the government but before that it is important to know the farmers’ response to our offers,” Raman said. He said the authority has sent letter to Patwari pradhan to come forward with a proposal and in the same way

other villages should also be included in the dialogue process. The CEO was hopeful that the authority and the farmers will be able to reach some consensus before August 12, 2011 the dead line set by the Allahabad High Court. After the high court quashed the notification in Shahberi, the authority would start from zero and would initiate acquisition process after removing all the shortcomings what the high court observed during the trial of the case, he added. Notably, acquisition of more than 3,000 hectares, spread across nearly a dozen villages, has been challenged by the petitioners. They have alleged that their land was acquired by the State Government by invoking the ‘urgency clause’, which had deprived them of an opportunity to raise objections as well as to bargain for a better compensation. The fate of thousands of people, who have invested in housing projects in the Noida Extension area, as well as over a dozen real estate developers also hinges on the court verdict. Meanwhile, Noida Chairman Balwinder Kumar continued his drive to pacify the farmers. He visited Sadarpur and other villages and promised to hand over five per cent of developed land and resolve abadi land issues. (Pioneer 28/7/11)

Hazare ignored farmer plight: Kadu (20) NAGPUR: After Digvijay Singh, it's now an independent MLA from Achalapur who has questioned the credibility of Gandhian crusader Anna Hazare. MLA Bacchu Kadu has said that Hazare has failed miserably to raise the issue of farmers' suicide in Vidarbha, where an average of two farmers commit suicide because of agrarian crisis every day. He also claimed that Hazare had conducted classes for aspiring IAS candidates in Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh but never fought for betterment of farmers. Kadu, who was in Nagpur on Sunday, condemned the democratic front government in Maharashtra for its complete failure to tackle the worst-ever agrarian crisis. (Times of India 1/8/11)

Kadu plans massive agitation across Vidarbha from A ug 9 (20) CHANDRAPUR: Local unit of Prahar under the leadership of its founder President MLA Bacchu Kadu staged daylong sit-in agitation before district collectorate on Saturday to press for various demands of farmers. MLA Kadu informed that his organization in collaboration with Shetkari Sanghatna and Kisan Mitra, has planned massive agitation at various stages across Vidarbha starting from Wardha on August 9. Kadu claimed that the situation of farmers particularly those carrying agriculture operations on non-irrigated land is critical across the state. Despite special packages from the government, the farmers suicide has neither decreased or stopped in Vidarbha. Even cases of grape-cultivating farmers from Satara and Sangli area committing suicide have come to fore. Government needs to address this agrarian crisis with a focused approach. "State has the reports of various commissions and committees appointed to study the problem, but they are sitting idle on them. Experts in the committees suggested appropriate remedies to the crises, but government is not ready to implement them," he alleged. (Times of India 1/8/11)

2 farmers end lives (20) CHIKKAJAJUR, Aug 2, DHNS: Two farmes reeling under debt committed suicide in Davangere and Chitradurga districts in the past two days. Jayyappa, 41, hanged himself to death at his residence in Gangagondanahalli in Davangere taluk on Monday evening. According to the complaint lodged by Yashodhamma, his wife, Jayyappa was depressed over the harassment by officers of the State Bank of Mysore (SBM), Tavarekere. Jayyappa and his brother Tippeshappa had jointly availed a loan of Rs six lakh from the SBM, in 2005. They had also borrowed another Rs 6.10 lakh as tractor loan in 2008 mortgaging their 10-acre areca garden. The brothers didn’t pay even a single instalment and the debt mounted to Rs 14.66 lakh. The bank served notice on them thrice demanding repayment of the loan and ultimately seized the tractor on July 22. The members of the Raitha Sangha staged a dharna keeping the body in front of the bank. The dharna was withdrawn after Assistant Commissioner Mahantesh Bilagi met the farmers and said that the seized tractor has been released. Another farmer, Venkateshappa (50) hanged himself in Chikkandavadi of Chikkajajur taluk, Chitradurga district on Tuesday. Police said Venkateshappa had sown maize in his land by borrowing loan. The crop had started withering due to scanty rain. Fearing crop failure and inability to repay the loan, he ended life. Venkateshappa is survived by a wife, two sons and three daughters. (Deccan Herald 3/8/11)

Farmers suicide due to agri reasons drop sharply in 2011: Govt (20) New Delhi, Aug 5 (PTI) Suicide by farmers due to agrarian reasons has sharply dropped in the country in the current year as compared to past years due to effective implementation of schemes in the farm

sector, Parliament was told today. Maharashtra (Vidarbha regions), Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka which had witnessed large numbers of farmers suicide cases earlier have registered sharp fall in such unfortunate incidents, Minister of State for Agriculture Harish Rawat said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha. Rolling out the data, Rawat said Maharashtra has reported 79 cases of suicides by farmers so far in 2011, against 234 in the previous year. A total of 503 farmers had taken the extreme step in the state in 2009 due to agrarian reasons that had shocked the country. Likewise, Andhra Pradesh has registered 42 cases of farmers suicide in 2011 so far as compared to 152 in 2010. It was 296 in 2009. Karnataka, which had reported 77 cases of farmers suicides in 2010, has not witnessed any incident this year, Rawat added. The minister said that as reported by the state governments, reasons for suicides by farmers were factors like indebtedness, crop failure, drought, socio-economic and personal issues. Rawat said in order to revitalise agriculture and improve condition of farmers on a sustainable basis, the government has hugely increased public investment in agriculture through various schemes like Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna (RKVY), National Food Security Mission and National Horticulture Mission among others. (Deccan Herald 5/8/11)

Farmer ends life (20) CHITRADURGA: In a suspected case of suicide a farmer was found dead at his field in Chikkandavadi, in Holalkere taluk on Wednesday. Police suspected that the deceased, Venkateshappa, took the extreme step after he was unable to pay a loan. Chikkajajur police have registered a case. (Times of India 6/8/11)

Nation-wide farmers' stir on September 1 (20) Lucknow | Agency: PTI: To press for farmers' demands, including pension and interest free loan, Akhil Bhartiya Kisan Sabha would launch a nation-wide stir on September 1. "On September 1 demonstrations of farmers would be organised across the country to press for six point charter of demands," ABKS general secretary Atul Kumar Anjan told reporters in Lucknow today. The main demand includes pension to farmers at the age of 60 years by the Centre and the states, a grant of Rs5,000 per family in rural area for sanitation, Anjan said. "We also demand that Union Agriculture Ministry should be renamed as Agriculture Development and Farmers Welfare Ministry," he added. Like Union railway budget, agriculture budget should be presented separately in the Parliament so that adequate discussion could be held, he said. "Besides interest free loan should be provided to small, marginal and poor farmers and recommendations of National Farmers Commission should be implemented," Anjan said. The general secretary said that during winter session in November Parliament would be gheraoed along with other farmer organisations. Regarding proposed Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, he said that it should be send to standing committee of the farmers which in turn should invite suggestions from all the stakeholders. "Five big meetings should be held by the committee after which the bill should be tabled in the Parliament in November. In between land transfer should be suspended," he said. Compensation should be given from retrospective effect since 1990 when land acquisition started, he said. "The compensation should not be given to farmers only, but farm labour and artisans should also be included under its purview," he said. Except for hospital, defence, road, agricultural land should not be acquired for industrial purposes, Anjan added. (dna 8/8/11)

Debt-ridden young farmer commits suicide (20) Hubli, Karnataka, Aug 8: Unable to repay mounting debts, a 28-year-old farmer from Maknoor Village of Ranebennur Taluk of Haveri District allegedly committed suicide by consuming pesticide early today. Police sources said the deceased had been identified as Krishna Bandennavar (28). He took a loan of Rs 6 lakh from the Union Bank to purchase tractor. However, as he had failed to repay his debt on time, the bank issued him a notice. Afraid of bank notice, he reportedly resorted to extreme measure of ending his life. He got married only three months ago. He leaves behind his parents also. The police have registered a case and investigations are on. The Tehsildar of Ranebennur Taluk also visited the village and perticipated in inquest, it is stated. (New Kerala 9/8/11)

Farmer commits suicide in Bundelkhand due to financ ial problem (20) Mahoba, Aug 8: A poor farmer today committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree in Khanna police station area of the district in Bundelkhand region. Police sources said that the farmer identified as Sreepal Yadav (45) was mentally disturbed and committed suicide by hanging from a tree at Gyondi village, about

60 kilometers from the district headquarters. The family members of the deceased said that he was facing acute financial crisis and was worried about the marriage of his three daughters. The deceased also did not have any BPL card. However, Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Jaishanker Tripathi said that the farmer was mentally unstable. An investigation has been ordered by the police, the sources said. (New Kerala 9/8/11)

Haryana raises compensation for farmers, labourers (20) Chandigarh, Aug 17 :The Haryana Government has made a significant increase in the compensation payable to farmers and labourers who are victims of accidents during agricultural operations. Stating this here today, State Minister for Agriculture Sukhbir Kataria said that compensation for family of deceased farmer or labourer had been increased from Rs 50,000 to Rs two lakh. Compensation to be paid to the farmer or labourer on amputation of one limb or permanent serious injury had been increased from Rs 20,000 to Rs 50,000, on amputation of two limbs or permanent serious injury from Rs 30,000 to Rs 75,000, on partial amputation of finger from Rs 5,000 to Rs 15,000, on amputation of full finger from Rs 12,000 to Rs 30,000 and on amputation of four fingers deemed as loss of one limb from Rs 20,000 to Rs 50,000, he added. He said that the compensation to be given to a farmer or labourer on breakage of backbone, if it is permanent disability, had been increased from Rs 40,000 to Rs one lakh. He said that Rs 36.37 crore had so far been disbursed as compensation to 19,900 such victims of accidents. The Haryana Agricultural Marketing Board had taken a number of new initiatives for ensuring better remunerative prices to the farmers for their produce, he said, adding that a call centre had been set up to provide information relating to agricultural marketing to the farmers on toll free number 18001802060. Computerised weigh bridges and cold storage and pack houses had also been set up in the mandis, besides arranging PVC crates in fruit and vegetable market. (New Kerala 17/8/11)

Enough of promises, scrap pipeline now: Farmers (20 ) Pune: There has been a wave of leaders visiting farmers in Maval since the agitation there against a water pipeline project led to police firing and the death of three farmers. But in spite of the best efforts of ruling party politicians to calm tempers the farmers are firm on their stand that they will not allow the project to go ahead, saying it does not matter whether three or 300 of their people are killed if it can prevent the laying of the pipeline. The farmers believe that the killing of innocents was soon forgotten after Anna Hazare's national-level anti-corruption agitation took centrestage, and they feel frustrated about it. The families of the deceased Shyam Tupe, Moreshwar Sathe and Kantabai Thakar said they would join the agitation again without a thought and see to it that water is not transported in the enclosed pipeline. Shyamrao Gaikwad, president of Vandemataram Shetakari Sanghatana, said no enclosed pipeline would be allowed. "We demand that innocent farmers who died in the police firing be declared martyrs," Gaikwad said. Kisan Tupe, cousin of Shyam Tupe, said: "Compensation and temporarily closing down the work will not solve the problem. We want the work stopped completely." Baban Mhaske, former sarpanch of Shivne, told MiD DAY: "We understand that the Pimpri-Chinchwad needs water, but it is gross injustice to supply it water through enclosed pipeline so that they get pure water while we are left with no choice but to drink water mixed with impurities. We will not tolerate this." Navnath Thakar of Yelse told MiD DAY: "Promises were made at the time of the Pavana dam in 1965. But these promises of a job in PCMC and rehabilitation for 850 still remain only on paper. We don't believe in these empty promises. The cancellation of the pipeline is the only solution" (Midday 19/8/11)

Noida farmers march to support Anna (20) Greater Noida, Aug 19 (IANS): Announcing their support for activist Anna Hazare's crusade against corruption, farmers in Uttar Pradesh Friday took out a procession from Patwari-Bisrakh Square here to the Ramlila ground in Delhi, in turn expecting his support for a new land acquisition bill. Hazare, currently in Tihar Jail, will later sit on a fast-unto-death at the Ramlila ground demanding a stronger Lokpal bill. The farmers displayed placards declaring their support for Hazare. About a hundred farmers on motorcycles joined the procession winding its way from the Greater Noida-Ghaziabad Expressway, Noida Extension, National Highway-24, the Nizamuddin Bridge and Rajghat. Farmers of Greater Noida have been victimised by the arbitrarily taken decisions of the state bureaucracy, said their leader Dushyant Nagar. They will request Hazare to include their demand for a new land acquisition bill along with the Jan Lokpal bill drafted by Team Anna, he added. Farmers here, especially those of Bhatta Parsaul and Patwari villages, have been demanding a higher compensation from the Uttar Pradesh government for their lands.

Hazare had earlier planned to begin his fast at the J.P. Park near the I.T.O. in the capital Tuesday. He was sent to Tihar and was subsequently released Tuesday night, but he refused to leave the jail until he is allowed to carry on the fast without any conditions. The 74-year-old has been demanding that the government bring the prime minister, higher judiciary and the conduct of MPs inside parliament within the ambit of the Lokpal (ombudsman). (Deccan Herald 19/8/11)

Farmer ends life over fertiliser shortage (20) SAMBALPUR: The issue of fertiliser shortage took an ugly turn on Sunday when a farmer, Manjit Bhoi (35) of Talab village under Dhankauda block allegedly committed suicide by consuming pesticide as he could not afford urea to save his crop. It was only on Friday that farmers under the banner of Sambalpur Zilla Krushak Surakhya Sangathan had gheraoed Agriculture Deputy Director Ashok Kumar Mohanty demanding measures to prevent black marketing of potash and urea fertiliser. Reports said that Manjit had inherited seven acres along with his two brothers and had taken another 13 acres on lease. Having suffered huge crop loss due to untimely rain last season, he had gone for early transplantation, this year. But while everything went on smoothly, he was badly in need of urea fertiliser for proper plant growth. For the last one month, Manjit had been running from pillar to post to arrange for subsidised urea as he was not in a position to procure the fertilizer from the open market. His paddy plants had started wilting and after returning from his farmland at about 10 am on Sunday, he looked dejected and consumed pesticide. Though rushed, he succumbed in the district headquarters hospital. Sources said that Manjit along with his father and younger brother had Rs. 1.65 lakh loan pending with the village Co-operative Society. He looked forward to bumper crop this time to enable him to repay the loan. Sambalpur Zilla Krushak Surakhya Sangathan general secretary Byomokesh Thakur said artificial scarcity of fertiliser has affected the farmers badly. He alleged that although urea was priced at Rs. 278.86 it is being sold between Rs. 520 and 550, while potash, priced at Rs. 312, is available for Rs. 450. Besides the monsoon, the State Government has also failed them with faulty policies, he added. Another farmer Chakraborty Rao of Talpadar village in the same block had allegedly ended his life on July 26. (NIE 22/8/11)

Water, not debt, driving farmers to death (20) Chennai | Agency: DNA: Water scarcity is the main reason behind the suicide of farmers according to an approach paper on the 12th Five Year Plan (2012 to 2017) prepared by two Tamil Nadu-based experts. “According to the National Crime Records Bureau, one farmer commits suicide every 30 minutes. The main cause of these suicides is non-availability of water at the initial stage of the crops leading to the ruining of crops and the subsequent debt trap,” Prof PM Natarajan, director, Centre for Climate Change, Periyar Maniammai University, Tanjore and Shambu Kallolikar, a young IAS officer who is secretary to the governor of Tamil Nadu argues in a paper they submitted to the Planning Commission. The Planning Commission said on Saturday that optimum use of water resources is one of the pre-requisites for the proposed 9 per cent growth envisaged in the 12th Five Year Plan. Prof Natarajan and Kallolikar say that unless major rivers in the country are inter-linked through a network of canals and the flood water which is drained into the seas harvested, India is in for a serious water and food crisis within the next decade. Natarajan is a hydro-geologist of repute. The duo has called for immediate steps to launch the project to inter-link the country’s major rivers. Prof Natarajan says that during a normal monsoon year, India wastes into the sea 1263 billion cubic meters (BCM) of precious water. “Our present per capita annual water storage is a just 200 cubic meter while that of USA is 6,000 cubic meters. Brazil has 3388 cubic meter per capita storage capacity while China has 2500 cubic meters,” he told DNA while explaining the salient points in the approach paper. A three-year-long study by Kallolikar and Natarajan has proved that India’s water scarcity is the result of non-sharing. “The flood water or the surplus water in major rivers could be transferred to regions and basins facing severe water shortage. But the major stumbling block is the fear among the political class whether they would lose their well-nourished vote banks,” said Prof Natarajan. He pointed out that while some regions like Tamil Nadu face perennial drought certain regions in the country are tormented by floods round-the-year. Prof Natarajan, points out that according to Central Water Commission the per capita annual water resources of the country will come down from the present 1820 cubic meters to 1341 cubic meters within ten years. “We are in for worst scenarios like that of Somalia,” he warned. More than five lakh farmers from the Cauvery Delta, the Rice Bowl of Tamil Nadu, have migrated to cities as far as Kochi and Mumbai due to water shortage in the last three years. But Kattumannarkoil Kannan, a Cuddalore farmer and RV Giri, leader of the Consortium of Indian Farmers

Association, said more than 20 per cent of farmers in the Delta Region have stopped farming operations due to a host of reasons ranging from water scarcity and labour shortage. "The price of rice shot up to Rs45 a kg because farmers in the Delta decided to go ahead with crop holidays. What we are getting as procurement prices is just peanuts," said Giri. Besides addressing the shortage of water, the inter basin transfer of surplus water could be used to produce clean and green energy, said Prof Natarajan. “We can generate 34, 000 MW of green energy through mini, micro and medium hydro electric projects once the rivers are inter linked,” he said. A study by the duo found that the Mettur Dam in Tamil Nadu could be filled to capacity in nine hours with a portion of the flood waters in Godavari River. (DNA 22/8/11)

Farmer ends life over fertiliser shortage (20) SAMBALPUR: The issue of fertiliser shortage took an ugly turn on Sunday when a farmer, Manjit Bhoi (35) of Talab village under Dhankauda block allegedly committed suicide by consuming pesticide as he could not afford urea to save his crop. It was only on Friday that farmers under the banner of Sambalpur Zilla Krushak Surakhya Sangathan had gheraoed Agriculture Deputy Director Ashok Kumar Mohanty demanding measures to prevent black marketing of potash and urea fertiliser. Reports said that Manjit had inherited seven acres along with his two brothers and had taken another 13 acres on lease. Having suffered huge crop loss due to untimely rain last season, he had gone for early transplantation, this year. But while everything went on smoothly, he was badly in need of urea fertiliser for proper plant growth. For the last one month, Manjit had been running from pillar to post to arrange for subsidised urea as he was not in a position to procure the fertilizer from the open market. His paddy plants had started wilting and after returning from his farmland at about 10 am on Sunday, he looked dejected and consumed pesticide. Though rushed, he succumbed in the district headquarters hospital. Sources said that Manjit along with his father and younger brother had Rs. 1.65 lakh loan pending with the village Co-operative Society. He looked forward to bumper crop this time to enable him to repay the loan. Sambalpur Zilla Krushak Surakhya Sangathan general secretary Byomokesh Thakur said artificial scarcity of fertiliser has affected the farmers badly. He alleged that although urea was priced at Rs. 278.86 it is being sold between Rs. 520 and 550, while potash, priced at Rs. 312, is available for Rs. 450. Besides the monsoon, the State Government has also failed them with faulty policies, he added. Another farmer Chakraborty Rao of Talpadar village in the same block had allegedly ended his life on July 26. (NIE 22/8/11)

Opposition seeks white paper on drought (20) BHUBANESWAR: With the situation worsening in the State and reports of farmers’ suicide trickling in from different parts, the Opposition Congress and BJP members on Friday demanded in the Assembly that drought should be declared in the entire State. Raising the issue during the zero hour, Leader of the Opposition Bhupinder Singh demanded that the Government should place a white paper on drought in the House during the session. Alleging that drought-affected people are not getting work under the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) because of the Government’s inefficiency, Singh said it has also failed to repair the defunct lift irrigation (LI) points. Singh said the Government has not taken any steps to tackle the situation which is serious in 19 districts despite concern expressed by members cutting across party lines. The Government is yet to distribute compensation to the farmers affected due to last year’s unseasonal rains. Distress sale has become rampant in all parts. Has the Government taken any steps to stop suicide of farmers which is continuing for the last two years, he asked. BJP Legislature Party leader K V Singhdeo said the Government should declare drought in the entire State without waiting for the eye estimation report. He urged Speaker Pradip Amat to give a direction in this regard to Revenue Minister Surya Narayan Patro. Warning of a severe drinking water crisis this year, Singhdeo referred to the letter written by Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in which he has said that the Government has failed to utilise funds under the scheme. The BJP leader also referred to the letter written by the CBI SP to the Government alleging that the district collectors are not complying with the requests in the probe for irregularities in the MGNREGS. He demanded that strong action should be taken against the collectors for not cooperating with the CBI. Expressing concern over the fact that the State is experiencing drought during the last three consecutive years, Santosh Singh Saluja (Cong) demanded that drought should be declared as per the provisions in the relief code. His party colleague Naba Kishore Das expressed concern over the drinking water crisis in many Western Orissa districts. It has come to light from Jairam Ramesh’s letter that funds are not being utilised properly he said, adding that the Government is trying to

cover up irregularities in the implementation of MGNREGS as the collectors are not cooperating with the CBI probe. (NIE 27/8/11)

Two farmers commit suicide (20) YAVATMAL: Two farmers committed suicide in the district on the Ganesh Chaturthi day. According to police sources, Mohan Raut, a native of Ghazipur village, Darwha tehsil, committed suicide by consuming poison at his in-laws' house in Mangrul village, Yavatmal tehsil. While Raju Tembre from Sakur in Yavatmal tehsil set himself on fire by pouring kerosene on his body. Raju was rushed to the government medical college with 90 per cent burns and but could not be saved. Yavatmal tehsildar Rupesh Khandare confirmed the suicide report and said that both the deceased had no known farm of their own. However, Khandare added that Raut's brother owns a farm while Tembre cultivated a piece of government land after illegally occupying it. "Right now, it is immature to say if they were farmers or not," Khandare said adding that government land encroached by anyone would not provide them any legal protection. Darwha tehsildar Puri said that Raut had migrated to some other place over 10 years ago, though he hails from Ghazipur village. Rupesh Khandare however, added that since both the incidents were detected on the festive day, the exact cause of death of Raut can be ascertained only after receiving the autopsy report. (Times of India 2/9/11)

Drought, suicides shadow Nuakhai (20) BARGARH/BHUBANESWAR: As the western Orissa prepares itself to celebrate the customary Nuakhai, suicide of yet another farmer and the impending drought have taken away the cheer this time. With drought menacingly staring at them, growing loan burden and a government hardly coming to the rescue, farmers suicide cases are coming up with dangerous frequency from this region. The latest to end life is farmer Bhojraj Barik of Debahal village in Attabira block of Bargarh district. Barik (52), who had consumed pesticide, was rushed to VSS Medical Burla but did not survive. His is the fifth such suicide case from Bargarh district in the past one month. Although hundreds of farmers have already committed suicide, the State Government has remained reluctant over the number. Acccording to government statistics, 46 farmers ended lives in the last five years from this region. On Wednesday, the Congress charged the Government of showing insensitivity. It demanded amendment to the relief code and enhancement of aide amount for farmers in drought affected areas. The Government should pay Rs. 20,000 per acre for loss of crop in irrigated land and Rs. 12,000 for unirrigated land, the party said. Meanwhile, another starvation death report has come to the fore, third such in Sambalpur district. Jhirla Kisan (60) of Dhudipali under Jamankira block allegedly died of hunger on Wednesday. Her husband Munsi Kisan (75), if not helped immediately, might die soon, according to locals. The sarpanch stepped in and gave him some money and rice. The couple had gone out for begging to another village that proved fatal. (NIE 2/9/11)

5 farmers commit suicide in Vidarbha (20) NAGPUR | Agency: IANS: With five cotton growers committing suicide on Thursday, a total of 507 farmers have killed themselves during 2011 alone in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, an NGO fighting for farmers' rights said Friday. The dead were identified as Mohan Raut from Ghazipur in Yavatmal district, Raju Tembhare from Sakur in Yavatmal district, Sharavan Chichghate from Bhindi in Wardha district, Vijay Gomase from Akoli in Wardha district and Laxman Pathode from Dongargaon in Chandrapur district. "They (farmers) have been demanding a hike in minimum support price (MSP) of cotton to Rs6,000 per quintal as against the ongoing Rs3,300 per quintal," said Kishor Tiwari of Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS). As many as 51 farmers committed suicide during the month of August alone. Farmers have also been demanding lifting of the ban on cotton export. "We demand a hike in cotton MSP and urgent relief of food security, fresh crop loan disbursement and healthcare services," Tiwari said. Tiwari's VJAS has been documenting Vidarbha farm suicides since 1997. (DNA 2/9/11)

Steps being taken to enhance groundwater resources: Minister (20) Puducherry, Sep 2: The Puducherry administration is taking all steps to enhance the groundwater resources of Puducherry to meet the water requirements, Agriculture Minister M Chandragasu told the Legislative Assembly today. Replying to a calling attention motion on the issue tabled by AIADMK member A Anbazhagan, the minister said it was a fact that the groundwater resources in Puducherry had reduced in the past and the water requirement of developing society was increasing day by day. The

water requirement of Puducherry had raised due to increased agricultural activities, population and proliferation of industries, he said and added that the present scenerio was entirely dependent on groundwater resources for all requirements. Of the total water requirement of Puducherry, 81 per cent was required for irrigation, three for industrial use and 16 per cent for drinking purposes, he added. Mr Chandragasu said Puducherry became groundwater dependent particularly after 1980 when use of the ponds and lakes were abandoned due to the non-maintanance of them and monsoon failure. As an adverse effect, the groundwater level lowered gradually from 12 to 35 meters. The shallow acquifiers in the western parts of Puducherry region became dry and sea water intruded into the gorund water in villages located in the coastal areas, he added. (New Kerala 2/9/11)

Three more farmers end lives (20) NAGPUR: With three more cotton growers committing suicide on Thursday, a total of 507 farmers have killed themselves during the current year in Vidarbha, Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti, an NGO fighting for farmers' rights claimed on Friday. The dead were identified as Sharavan Chichghate from Bhindi in Wardha district, Vijay Gomase from Akoli in Wardha district and Laxman Pathode from Dongargaon in Chandrapur district. "Continuously reeling under stress, cotton growers of the region have been demanding a hike in minimum support price (MSP) of cotton to Rs 6,000 per quintal as against the ongoing Rs 3,300 per quintal," said Kishor Tiwari of VJAS. The demand has also been put forth by state cotton growers marketing federation chairman NP Hirani. (Times of India 3/9/11)

Farmers may soon acquire land abroad (20) New Delhi: Land acquisition overseas for farming could soon become a reality. The agriculture ministry plans to announce a policy that will allow farmers to buy land in continents like South America and Africa to farm for all sorts of crops. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a source told FE that the policy was in the works. Current government regulations allow companies to buy land for building factories and even individuals to buy houses. But there is no clarity on buying land for agricultural investments. “With a projected population of 1.6 billion by 2050, it is imperative to seriously explore the opportunities of transnational farming and facilitate the same so as to better the national food security concerns of both the sides in the future,” the source said. While options such as boosting yields through technology interventions and provision of better irrigation facilities do exist, a key solution theme that has garnered immense attention in the recent past has been investing in farmland in under-developed and developing countries — across regions such as Africa, Latin America and South-East Asia. China, South Korea and a several Arab countries have led the way in creating new African mega-farms to outsource domestic food production. South Korea has bought under 700,000 hectares in Sudan, while Saudi Arabia has signed a deal for 500,000 hectares in Tanzania, according to the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci). The government reckons that this will bring large tracts of uncultivated lands in the two continents under farming. “The land in Latin America is fertile and the rainfall pattern easily allows one a choice of crop. The soybean boom makes it much more competitive as far as working capital requirement and risk mitigation is concerned,” a government official said. Indian agribusiness companies are estimated to be planning to spend $2.5 billion in deals in several countries. A delegation of 35 Indian investors, including food conglomerates McLeod Russel, Kaveri Seeds and Karuturi Global, had toured Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda for a week recently under the aegis of Ficci to seek land to grow palm oil, maize, cotton, rice and vegetables, largely for the burgeoning Indian market. It is not just large Indian companies, but also the small and medium enterprises in sectors ranging from spices and tea to chemicals that are looking at entering the commercial agriculture space in Africa. But more than Africa the emphasis is now on Latin America. An increasing number of Indian companies are looking at Latin America as a safe investment destination, mainly because of stable governments and economic policies. These markets are also becoming a potential lifeline as India deals with food shortages and droughts. Earlier, India was bullish on Africa, but political turmoils there gradually shifted interests towards Latin America. According to an MEA official, “there is immense scope for collaboration between businesses of the India and the LAC (Latin American and Caribbean) region in beefing up India’s food security and in areas related to development of agriculture and agricultural processing. With climate changes wreaking havoc in the agriculture output, India and LAC could synergise and complement each other to meet the growing food crisis”. (The Financial Express 6/9/11)

Land Bill will hit dryland farmers, says VJAS (20)

NAGPUR: Vidarbha Civil Society Collective and Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS) have raised strong objections to provisions in the National Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill 2011 tabled in Parliament on Wednesday. They demanded that the Bill be redrafted to safeguard interests of the dryland farmers and other landowners. "The Bill has ignored all suggestions made by the civil society and farmer advocacy groups. A month ago the rural development minister Jairam Ramesh had sought the suggestions from the people. It is clear from the final draft that the proposed law is nothing but a move to smoothen the process of transferring to corporates drylands of farmers in areas like Vidarbha," Kishore Tiwari of VJAS alleged. He demanded that the Bill be scrapped and sent back to a parliamentary committee for redrafting to safeguard interests of dryland farmers and to ensure food security. This is essential as the Bill has included provisions for conditional acquisition of multi-crop land as well, Tiwari stressed. The Bill is against the fundamental rights of farmers in distressed regions like Vidarbha who are already reeling under huge debts and willing to selling off lands as government policies had made agriculture uneconomical, said Tiwari. If the law is implemented, farming community in Vidarbha will be eliminated, he added. (Times of India 8/9/11)

7 farmers commit suicide in Vidarbha in last 3 days (20) Nagpur, September 08, 2011: The festive spirit and joy in the ongoing celebration of Ganesh festival seems to have dampened a bit. Prayers for peace and prosperity to the presiding deity of Maharashtra notwithstanding, the vagaries of nature are aggravating the distress of Vidarbha’s farmers. Seven more farmers committed suicide in Vidarbha in the last 72 hours. According to reports reaching Nagpur on Thursday, among the victims, three were from Akola, two from Yavatmal and one each from Washim and Wardha districts. The deceased farmers were identified as: Samrat Pagare (64) of Palsod, Ramkrishna Navalkar (60), Alanda, Madhukar Shinde (58), Khandala (all from Akola district), Shivaji Kale (32), Shirdi (Washim), Shankar Bodhhole (33), Bandu Pinge (35), Adegaon, and Dhabaji Kale (55), Ganeshpur (both Yavatmal district). The farmers were depressed because of damaging of crops following the incessant rains in the region over the past few days. Crop damage meant no income, which in turn, meant no money to repay loans borrowed from private moneylenders and banks. "Apprehensive with the prospect of non-payment of loans and not getting fresh loans left these farmers thoroughly depressed. Apart from this, the resultant inability to sustain the family and failing to cope up with the needs of the family added to their fears," said Kishore Tiwari of Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti that has been documenting farmers’ suicide in the region. With the deaths of these farmers, the toll has reached 16 this month while the figure was 48 last month. Shravan Hardikar, the district collector of Yavatmal, admitted that two farmers committed suicide because of agrarian crisis. "We are concerned about such deaths. The banking institutions have disbursed around Rs 700 crore crop loans to needy farmers in this kharif season. Agrarian crisis apart there are socio-economic and personal reasons driving farmers to take such a drastic step," he said. Tiwari said that the government should take the issue very seriously and provide food security to distressed farmers. "It is a case of genocide. The state is allowing the distressed farmers to end their lives. We have time and again demanded that the marginal farmers and farm widows should be given facilities accorded to BPL families so that at least they can get the food security. This can only prevent further suicide in the region," he said. Untimely rainfall, crops failure, expensive healthcare, and rise in agro-input costs to the lure latest consumer durables etc have led to the financial misery of the people. The situation is so severe that an average two farmers commit suicide in the region every day. (The Hindustan Times 8/9/11)

Jayalalithaa unveils Farmer Security Scheme (20) CHENNAI: Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Saturday announced a comprehensive CM’s Farmer Security Scheme which will provide financial aid to the families of farm labourers as well as the small and marginal farmers between the age group of 18 and 65 at every stage of life— from womb to tomb. Maternity assistance, educational assistance, marriage assistance, old age pension and financial assistance in case of death are some of the salient features of this scheme. Besides, the beneficiary can get the educational and marriage assistance under the scheme even if he or she gets similar assistance from some other schemes. A high-level panel will be formed to monitor the implementation of the scheme. At the district-level, it will be implemented by the Collector and officials of Revenue Department, the CM said, making a suo motu statement in the State Assembly. She said that it was during her tenure as the CM in 1995 that the Farmers Security Scheme was implemented. Later, the DMK regime replaced the scheme with the Social Security Scheme for Farmers. As the legislation was fraught with practical

difficulties, the Act was repealed on August 27. Small and marginal farmers in the age group of 18 and 65 who own 2.5 acres of wet land or five acres of dry land and are involved in agricultural activities directly in their land, lessees of lands in the age group of 18 and 65 involved in agriculture-related activities or labourers and families of these persons would be benefited by this scheme, the CM said. Under the scheme implemented by the DMK regime, ID cards were given only to the head of the family. But in the new scheme, IDs would be given to all members of the family. While husband and wife involved in agriculture would be given ID cards in maroon colour while their dependants would be issued with ash colour cards. The beneficiaries can get an assistance of Rs 1,250 to Rs 1,950 per annum for taking up courses like ITI, polytechnic and diploma courses while an assistance of Rs 1,750 to Rs 2,500 per year would be given for undergraduate courses. Similarly, for PG courses, the assistance would be between Rs 2,250 and Rs 3,750 per annum. For under graduate professional courses like law, engineering, medical and agriculture, Rs 2,250 to Rs 4,750 would be given while Rs 4,250 and Rs 6,750 would be given for PG courses. Marriage assistance of Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000 would be given to men and women under the new scheme and maternity assistance to women would be extended through a special tahsildar. Indigent farmers and farm labourers above the age of 60 would get an assistance of Rs 1,000 per month. Under the DMK’s scheme, financial aid was provided only to the head of the family in case of his death. But in the new scheme, it would be given to both husband and wife. Similarly, unlike earlier, assistance would now be given to all the family members. (NIE 11/9/11)

'Adopt zero budget natural farming for better produ ce, profits' (20) AMRAVATI: It's not only chemical farming, organic farming too serves up poison in your plate. "Both are alien farming methods and serve poison in our plate," said Subhash Palekar, noted agriculture expert, at a workshop organized by agriculture department and IFAD ( International Fund for Agriculture Development) on Tuesday. Elaborating on benefits of zero budget natural farming techniques, Palekar said organic farming is more dangerous than chemical farming. He explained that the fertility of any farm depends on the humus content. "Microorganisms used in vermiculture (type of organic farming), like eisenia foetida stop the formation of humus, which affects fertility of farm land. Also, heavy elements like lead, cadmium, mercury cannot be eliminated by vermiculture, and are absorbed by food stuff. Zero budget natural farming is the solution for this," he said. He added, "One need not invest a lot of money in zero budget natural farming. Only a cow is required for this farming pattern." One gram of cow dung contains around 300 crore microbes, which help to develop the fertility of the soil by increasing humus." (Times of India 14/9/11)

Unable to repay loan, farmer hangs self (20) DEVANGERE: A 50-year-old farmer of Hosamalali village in Honnali taluk committed suicide after hanging himself from the ceiling beam at his house on Thursday late evening. The deceased is Maheshwarappa, son of Basappa. The farmer had reportedly taken a loan of Rs 4 lakh from a public sector bank about four years ago and could not repay it. This might have pushed him to take the extreme step, said a police release. A case has been booked at Nyamathi police station. (Times of India 17/9/11)

SC notice to agri ministry for sitting on national policy (20) NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday asked Sharad Pawar-headed agriculture ministry to respond to a PIL, which sought implementation of the National Policy on Farmers and said despite spiraling agricultural product prices, the tillers continue to be poor and debt-ridden and were forced to commit suicide. A bench of Justices RV Raveendran and AK Patnaik issued notice to the ministry on the PIL filed by the Consortium of Farmers Association, which blamed the government for sitting idle since 2007 on the National Farmers Policy, framed on the recommendations of M S Swaminathan Commission. The policy aimed to improve the net income of farmers in addition to improving productivity, profitability, land, water and support services and provide appropriate price policy, risk management measures. (Times of India 17/9/11)

Harassed by forest staff, farmer attempts suicide ( 20) Hassan, Sep 18, DHNS: Depressed over the alleged harassment by officials of forest department, a farmer attempted suicide by consuming poison at Doddahatti, Arsikere taluk, on Sunday. Ramaiah, a resident of Doddahatti, is alleged to have attempted suicide as forest department officials were harassing

him and his family members to vacate their agricultural land. He is battling for life at the government hospital here. His two daughters, who also were allegedly assaulted by the officials too have been hospitalised. Ramaiah was cultivating two acres of land granted by the government at Doddahatti. But forest department officials are reported to have been harassing the family claiming that the land belonged to the department. The officials allegedly assaulted Ramaiah and his daughters on Sunday. Following the incident, Ramaiah is said to have taken the extreme step. He was immediately shifted to a government hospital in the town. (Deccan Herald 18/9/11)

Flood: Punjab to defer repayment of agri loans by f armers (20) Muktsar, Punjab, Sep 20 : In a major relief to the farmers in the cotton belt Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today announced to defer the repayment of agricultural loans of the co-operative societies in the wake of the extensive damage caused to the crops and house property due to recent flashfloods. An announcement to this effect was made by Mr Badal while interacting with the mediapersons at Bhai ka Kera village. The Chief Minister was on a two-day tour to the flood affected areas in Ferozepur, Muktsar and Fazilka districts. Mr Badal directed the Principal Secretary (Co-operation) to immediately issue instructions to the Co-operative Banks to postpone the repayment of loans by farmers. He said a comprehensive survey would be conducted soon to assess the extent of damage caused to the crops and other immovable property, including houses and asked Financial Commissioner (Revenue) to issue detailed guidelines to the Deputy Commissioners to make this entire exercise time bound.New Kerala 21/9/11)

Agriculture loan waiver is actually hurting farmers (20) Mumbai | Agency: DNA: The government’s move to appease small farmers could actually hurt its electoral chances two years after. Ironically, when P Chidambaram, as Union Finance Minister, announced in February 2008, his government’s decision to write off loans of farmers to the tune of around Rs60,000 crore, it was hailed as ‘a historic decision’. The loan waiver was expected to cover some 4 crore farmers. Today, that decision could be posing problems for the very farmers it was supposed to protect. During the three years that have passed since then, there is a great sense of unease in the banking sector. Few banks are now willing to grant loans to small agriculturists. Earlier, such fears were mostly conjecture.But recent figures available from the Reserve Bank of India indicate more forcefully that this could soon become a major problem for both small farmers on the one hand, and the banking community on the other. In fact, this is the second time since Independence that the government in power actually succeeded in eroding the creditworthiness of the most creditworthy segment of India’s population - namely, the rural folk with small and marginal incomes. This is the community that treated debt as something that had to be repaid, even by the surviving relatives of the borrower after the borrower died. Even thinking of not repaying family debt was considered dishonourable and disreputable. The government, however, encouraged the erosion of such values when it announced the loan melas in the 1980s.Even then, loans to the rural sector began drying up, and it took banks almost two decades to gain confidence that the rural sector was worth lending to.In 2008, such fears were revived, and with good reason. Total outstanding suddenly began shooting up, first by 12 % by March 2009 and then by a whopping 26% by March 2010. Total number of accounts also soared from 382 lakh accounts in 2007-08 to 428 lakh by 2009-10. What is even more interesting is that instead of small and marginal in rural areas picking up these loans, more and more money began being sourced through urban and semi urban centres. As against 85% of the loans being sourced from rural banks in rural areas in 1990, by March 2010 only 66% of agricultural loans were being sourced through such branches. Instead, agricultural credit from purely urban centres began witnessing a surge. As against 4% of such loans being sourced from purely urban centres in 1990, 2009-10 saw the share of agricultural loans soaring to 16%. Clearly more agricultural loans were being sourced from cities rather than from villages. There could be two explanations for this. First, as was the case in 2009, stung by the government’s decision to writeoff loans of small farmers, most banks preferred to derisk their loans and lend instead to micro-finance institutions (MFIs) which in turn lent money to small and marginal income rural folk at significantly higher rates of interest. MFIs too saw rural loans as being inherently risky, given the government irreverence to normal lending practices and protocols.And higher risk invariably results in higher interest rates. The banning of MFIs has now made many banks opt for lending to agencies which in turn extend credit to the agricultural sectors. These could be large retailers of agricultural products - like food marts — or they could be

warehousing companies which in turn could become major lenders to small and large farmers in exchange for the produce they store in these warehouses. The government’s inability to promote more warehouses (under the Warehousing Development Regulations Act), and the state governments’ unwillingness to modify laws that could make such warehouses catalysts for rural prosperity and agricultural growth, is obviously going to hurt small farmers terribly in the coming years. It is possible that this is what K C Chakrabarty, deputy governor of the RBI, was hinting at in his address at the National Seminar on Productivity in Indian Agriculture, College of Agricultural Banking (CAB) earlier this month. He said, “Growth in agricultural credit . . . which picked up in early 2000s and continued till 2006-07, is again showing a declining trend in the recent years.” It remains to be seen whether new laws and measures will prevent such reckless erosion of creditworthiness of India’s borrowers.Such are times when bad policies teach people to become immoral, rather than the other way round. (DNA 26/9/22)

Farmers damage seven vehicles in Satara (20) PUNE: Agitating farmers of the Raghunath Patil faction of the Shetkari Sanghatna damaged at least seven vehicles by pelting stones on them and deflating the tyres in Satara district on Sunday. The farmers are demanding Rs 3,300 per tonne of sugarcane from sugar factories and lifting of ban on export of sugar, turmeric and onion. The farmers have threatened to gherao the house of chief minister Prithviraj Chavan in Karad if their demands are not considered. Meanwhile, the police have tightened security on the Pune-Satara-Kolhapur highway in the wake of the agitation. The first vehicle to be attacked was a tanker heading to Belgaum carrying milk at 4 am on Sunday near the Bombay restaurant chowk. Similar damages to vehicles were reported from six other places. These included damages to vehicles carrying marigold flowers to Pune city. Another tanker, which was carrying milk of a dairy formed by MP Raju Shetty, was attacked on the Pune-Kolhapur highway. Incidentally, Shetty was earlier associated with the Shetkari Sanghatna. He later separated to start his organisation - the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatna. Shetty himself had held a farmers agitation in Pune, last month, to demand higher prices for sugarcane. In a recent farmers' gathering regarding sugarcane pricing, Raghunath Patil had appealed the government to take proactive steps to address the growing anger of farmers. The various factions of farmers' organisations have been protesting in various ways to pressurize the government over lifting of the export ban on sugar. Though there is excess sugar stock in the country, the government is not keen on exporting it, resulting into lowering of domestic prices. The sugar factories have also expressed their reluctance to offer higher returns, claiming low demand due to excess stock. Patil had attended a meeting with Chavan last month to find an amicable solution. The faction started its protests after there was no response from the government. Police officials are trying to contact various leaders of the Shetkari Sanghatna to avoid any further violent protests. (Times of India 3/10/11)

Women groups to take up fallow land farming under c entral scheme (20) Kozhikode, Oct. 6: The Joint Liability Groups (JLGs) of women in Kozhikode district will take up cultivation in fallow land under a new central scheme. The District Kudumbasree Mission has taken the initiative to bring the JLGs together to take up cultivation of mainly paddy and vegetables under the central scheme of Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP). Fallow land under the possession of the State Government could be utilised for the farming ventures. According to District Kudumbasree Mission officials, approved JLGs, each comprising 4-10 women farmers, will be able to get loans under the scheme at a nominal interest rate of one per cent from select banks. The project is being implemented with the support of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) and it is likely to benefit more than 4,600 JLGs in the district. These women groups are now active in 63 grama panchayats in the district. The project will be linked to the ongoing Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS). Each group can obtain a credit of up to Rs 1 lakh after the approval from the Kudumbasree Mission. The amount should be paid back within a year. The workforce of MNREGS can be used to prepare the barren lands for cultivation. The Kudumbasree officials said that the women entrepreneurs working in the vegetable farming sector had been making a good profit by catering to the local market requirements. (The Hindu 7/10/11)

Farmer issues: all-party meet on Oct.12 (20) HYDERABAD, October 7, 2011: Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy has agreed to convene an all-party meeting here on October 12 in response to a demand by the Federation of Farmers' Associations to discuss problems of farming community. The federation had organised a protest programme in front of

State Agricultural Commissionerate here on Wednesday to highlight grievances of farmers and sought an all-party meeting to discuss power cut to agriculture sector, crop holiday and drought-affected mandals. Tension prevailed for sometime when police tried to disperse farmer leaders who burnt withered away crops in front of the Commissionerate as a form of protest. The police later arrested them and took them to the Nampally police station where they staged a dharna and refused to leave the premises till Deputy Chef Minister Damodar C. Damodar Rajanarsimha gave an assurance on behalf of the Chief Minister to convene an all-party meeting. (The Hindu 7/10/11)

KBC fame Vidarbha farmer's widow seeks Sonia's help (20) Nagpur, October 08, 2011; A woman hailing from Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, who recently became famous after appearing on quiz show Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC), has threatened to commit suicide if "atrocities" of a local Congress leader and the police did not stop. Aparna Malikar's husband, a farmer, committed suicide a few years ago due to crop failures and debt burden. Now she has written a letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, threatening to commit suicide along with her father and brother. The letter says that some 8,000 widows from farmer families in Vidarbha are undergoing similar plight. According to the letter, her husband, Sanjay Malikar, cultivated the family's land. But the crisis which Vidarbha cotton farmers have faced in the last decade led to indebtedness and default on bank loan repayments. It forced him to take his own life, the letter says. Following his death, her in-laws harassed and disowned her, she alleges. Her brother-in-law is a local Congress leader, and the police did not help her, she says. The letter says that hundreds of farmers' widows in the Vidarbha are facing similar problems, they are denied property rights, or the right to cultivate the farm, after their husband's death. On KBC too she had spoken about the problems faced by the women in Vidarbha. The region has witnessed a slew of farmers' suicides in the last few years. (Hindustan Times 8/10/11)

Agriculture census in State gets under way (23) GUWAHATI, Oct 10 – The Ninth Agriculture Census, 2010-11, recently started in Assam. The census is an elaborate exercise taking place every five years, and a central sector scheme conducted under the guidance of Ministry of Agriculture, Department of Agriculture and Co-operation, Government of India. The information derived from the agriculture census plays a vital role in taking up appropriate plans and programmes in respect of agriculture sector of the State as well as of the country. The Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Assam has been participating in the Agriculture Census since 1970-71. The census is followed by an Input Survey at an interval of one year of each Agricultural Census. The field work of first phase of the census has already started. ‘Agriculture Census is the major source of information on basic characteristics of operational holding such as number and area of operational holding, land use and cropping pattern, tenancy status, irrigation status, area leased in terms of leasing and area under different crops, and this information is collected by different size classes and social status-wise,’ said PK Bhattacharjya, Director of Economics and Statistics, Assam. The Agriculture Census is conducted by re-tabulating land record data already available and maintained by the Revenue Department, Government of Assam. The field work is carried out by the Lat Mandals in addition to their normal duties by re-tabulation of information already available in the Chitha Book. Meanwhile, the District and Circle level functionaries have been trained up for conducting the census. The result of the first phase of the census is expected to be available by the end of this year. The Revenue Department, the Agriculture Department, the Irrigation Department, the Rural Development Department and other line departments are participating in the census operation in the State as in the past. (Assam Tribune 11/10/11)

Four farmers killed in Assam police firing (20) GUWAHATI: A huge difference between the price of jute expected by farmers and the price buyers were willing to pay led to an altercation that ultimately resulted in the death of four farmers in police firing in Darrang district's Besimari area. Angry farmers blocked National Highway 52 in protest against the jute price fixed by wholesale buyers at the Besimari weekly market, one of the largest jute trading hubs in the state. Police resorted to a baton charge at first and then fired at the farmers. Five police officers, including a DSP, Fakrul Islam, and four other farmers were injured in the confrontation. Unofficial sources, though, put the number of injured at around 20. The farmers were demanding a price between Rs 800 to Rs 1,000 per maund (40kg) of jute, while the buyers refused to pay more than Rs 300 to Rs 400, based on

the quality of the produce. This angered farmers and they blocked the NH 52 as a mark of protest. "Lately, our expenditure in jute cultivation has been exceeding Rs 2,000 per bigha. The price fixed by the wholesale buyers at Besimari does not even meet our expenditure, let alone bring us profit. We strongly oppose the injustice," said one of the jute farmers at Besimari. Chief minister Tarun Gogoi has ordered a judicial inquiry into the Besimari killings and has asked agriculture minister Nilomoni Sen Deka to visit the spot. (Times of India 11/10/11)

Maharashtra to pump in Rs40,000 crore to ramp up te xtile sector (20) Mumbai | Agency: DNA: Come Wednesday, and the new textile policy, promising an investment of Rs40,000 crore and 12 lakh jobs, may finally see the light of day. Vetted several times by a seven-member sub-committee comprising Congress and NCP ministers, the policy, which is expected to tackle farmers’ suicides in the cotton-growing belt of Vidarbha, will be tabled before the cabinet. The state, which boasts of 11.5 lakh of the 23-lakh power looms in the country, has been reeling from poor management in the textile sector in the absence of a government policy. Only 54 of the 128 spinning mills are functioning in the state. It’s no surprise then that of the total Rs1,450 crore invested between the seventh and ninth five-year plans, only Rs34 crore has been recovered till date. On the reasons behind the poor recovery, a senior official in the textile ministry blamed the closure of a majority of spinning mills. The comprehensive policy, which threatens to alter the power dynamics by giving a boost to the textile sector in cotton-growing Vidarbha, Marathwada and north Maharashtra, seeks to end the western belt’s monopoly over the 70% funds for co-operative spinning mills. It questions why the textile industry was ignored in the cotton-growing regions and priority was given to western Maharashtra, which cultivates sugarcane. Textile minister Naseem Khan said the policy would encourage co-operative and private sectors to set up shop in the cotton-growing belts. “Whether it is the setting up of spinning mills, cotton processing units or readymade garments’ manufacturing units, the thrust should be on cotton-growing regions. The government promises special incentives by waiving off loan interests.” Among those throwing a wet blanket on the policy is the NCP, which has a strong sway in the western belt. It argued that the Congress is trying to use the policy to consolidate its base in Vidarbha, northern Maharashtra and Marathwada. Khan, however, pointed out that the NCP was part of the sub-committee that framed the textile policy. “It is based on the ground reality and not politics. The basic concept keeps in mind the welfare of the cotton farmers, who are in large numbers in Vidarbha, Marathwada and parts of north Maharashtra.” (DNA 12/10/11)

Debt-ridden farmer ends life in Mandya (20) Mandya, Oct12, DHNS: A debt-ridden farmer committed suicide by hanging himself at Rampura village, Maddur taluk on Tuesday. Swamy (36) had borrowed Rs 1.24 lakh from PLD Bank for sericulture, Rs 46,000 from PCA&RD Bank and crop loan of Rs 10,000 from Vijaya Bank. He had also borrowed Rs three lakh from private persons, it is said. Swamy was dejected over the failure of his sericulture venture and pressure from moneylenders for repayment. He is survived by a wife, a son and a daughter. The tahsildar visited the house of the farmer. (Deccan Herald 13/10/11)

Farmer consumes poison, jumps to death from Indore hospital (20) Indore: A farmer, reportedly facing loan burden, first consumed poison and then jumped to death this morning from the hospital where he was admitted, police said. Rajesh Patidar, a resident of Jamli village, about 40 km from here, was admitted to a private hospital here after he consumed poison. But finding himself alone, he jumped from the fifth floor of the hospital, police officer T S Baghel said. The 40-year-old was admitted to the ICU where he was declared dead, he said, adding a case of suicide has been lodged. Quoting the deceased's relatives, Baghel said Patidar was reportedly facing severe financial crisis due to mounting loans which ran into lakhs. He had recently sold a `bigha' of agricultural land to reduce the loan burden. (Hindustan Times 14/10/11)

Agriculture should be treated on par with industry, says former Speaker (20) Srinivaspur, Oct 15, DHNS: A status equal to industry is necessary if agriculture should survive and thrive, said K R Ramesh Kumar, former speaker of the Legislative Assembly. He was speaking at a function at the Primary Government Agricultural and Rural Development Bank auditorium on Saturday as part of the inauguration of a stamp paper trading centre in the town. “Farmers are struggling to make

ends meet due to the lack of enough rain, fall in the level of underground water and reduced rates for agricultural and horticultural produce. They are worrying their heads off on how to repay loans taken from banks and private institutions. Many have also reached the verge of committing suicide,” he said. Loans of capitalists have been waived of till Rs 130 crore. But the government is still not willing to let off farmers, he complained and said farmers should not be divided as small, minor and big farmers. “They should all be treated equally, when it comes to providing facilities.” Kumar called on the farmers of both districts to unite surpassing communal and political barriers, as their difficulties are common. “Farmers of both Kolar and Chikkaballapur districts should get irrigation facilities at 100 per cent subsidiary. The drinking water problems should also be solved.” The wrong decisions of the government deny facilities to those who deserve them. Only the rich are getting financial facilities, which should be changed, he said. Srinivaspur Tahsildar B V Poornima said a stamp paper sale centre has been opened in order to avoid middlemen. “E-stamp has a transparent system and provides quick service,” she explained and called on the beneficiaries to make the most of the facility. Bank chairman L Gopalakrishna, who presided over the function, said the survival of the cooperative bank depends on repayment of loans borrowed. “The bank is yet to get an amount of Rs 1.68 crore, which is one reason why it cannot help farmers much. If the beneficiaries who borrow loans from the bank repay the money, they can be given loans again at lower rates of interest,” he explained and added that it would also help other kinds of financial development. Sale of stamp paper will assist in improving the condition of the bank. The facility provided by the government will be utilised for the benefit of the people, said the chairman. (Deccan Herald 16/10/11)

Compost use brings down input cost in agriculture, says farmer (20) Shidlaghatta, Oct 17, DHNS: Agriculture officers and members of the Organic Farming Association, Talakayalabetta, visited Soorappa’s farm in Mathoor village in the taluk to inspect a new model of compost pit recently. The huge compost pit produces 2,500 litres of compost every fortnight. The compost thus collected is fed to seven- and-a-half acre of vineyard. The compost pit is eight ft deep and 13 ft wide. It can contain eight to ten loads of leaves. Though the construction cost runs upto Rs 80,000, farmers can avail Rs 30,000 as subsidy. “Slurry from gobar gas pit, kitchen waste and organic waste from cattleshed are channelised into the pit. Once in every 15 days, the compost is fed into the vineyard,” said Soorappa. Use of compost reduces the application of fertilisers by half, he added. Farmers should construct compost pits and reduce input cost in the form of fertilisers and pesticides. Use of compost also enhances soil fertility, said Assistant Director of Department of Agriculture Raghavendra. (Deccan Herald 18/10/11)

Pune braveheart fights for farmer rights (2) Pune: A fighter by birth, farmer activist Bant Singh has literally faced death and lived to tell the tale. A Dalit farmer-singer from Jhabar village in Mansa district in Punjab, Singh is the president of the farmers' association of the CPI (ML-Liberation) party in Punjab. In Pune with his co-workers to spread the word about his work, Bant interacted with the media on Monday. Singh's activism had cost him his limbs as he had taken the cudgels to fight against the atrocities of the upper caste farmers in his village. It was the brutal rape of his minor daughter in 2000, by powerful upper caste men in his village, which compelled Singh to throw his hat in the field of activism. He dared to take on the might of the establishment and took the men to the court. It was his fighting spirit, which ensured that the upper caste men were handed out life sentences, an event which was unheard of in the upper caste dominated society Singh hailed from. In 2006, Singh was attacked by a gang of seven, who mercilessly hacked his limbs off and left him to die. The immediate reason for this attack was Singh's campaign for the rights of farmers and labourers. He survived the attack and is now a beacon of strength and hope for thousands of farmers and oppressed across the country. In Pune to express his solidarity with the cause of farmers and labourers, Singh said that in spite of the setbacks his fighting spirit remains strong. "We are ready to take the cause of the farmers anywhere in the country," he said. (DNA 18/10/11) Maharashtra leads in statistic of shame (20) Mumbai, October 29, 2011: The five States with the largest share of the quarter-of-a-million farm suicides recorded in India over the past 16 years are Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. While the total number of farmers who took their own life in 2010 showed a dip from the preceding year, the share of the Big 5, in fact, rose to 66.49 per cent of all farm suicides in 2010. It was 62 per cent in 2009. Three of the Big 5 States have shown significant increases over 2009: Maharashtra (+269), Karnataka (+303), and Andhra Pradesh (+111). Nationally, the last eight years have

seen on average, farmers killing themselves at a rate of one every 30 minutes. In all, 14 of 28 States reported increases in 2010, while four have recorded declines of five or fewer suicides. The dip in 2010 comes with big falls in Chhattisgarh (-676), Tamil Nadu (-519) and Rajasthan (-461) and significant falls in Madhya Pradesh (-158), Puducherry (-150), and Uttar Pradesh (-108). West Bengal and Gujarat also report declines of 61 and 65. But the overall trend remains dismal. In 1995, the first time the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) tabulated farm suicide data, the Big 5 accounted for 56.04 per cent of all farm suicides . In 2010, despite a one-year decline, they accounted for 66.49 per cent. Maharashtra's story is alarming. It saw 20,066 farmers kill themselves between 1995 and 2002. That stands dwarfed by the 30,415 farmers who took their lives in the next eight years. The latter period saw an annual average increase of nearly 1,155 such deaths in the State. This was also the period when money was poured into relief ‘packages' of the Prime Minister, the Chief Minister, through the loan waiver of 2008, and other measures. During the very decade in which it reigned without break as the worst State to be a farmer in, Maharashtra rose to the first position among the big States in per capita income. Overall at Rs. 74,027, it is behind only much smaller States like Haryana and Goa. The Union Agriculture Minister is from this State and has held that post for six of those 10 years. (The Hindu 29/10/11)

Political parties seek assistance for drought-hit f armers in Ganjam district (20) BERHAMPUR: Non-BJD parties on Saturday demanded that the government declare Ganjam district as drought-hit and provide adequate assistance to farmers who sustained crop loss. The OPCC delegation led by senior leaders Sriballav Panigrahi and Chandra Sekhar Sahu and the farmers' wing of the BJP led by its president Mahesh Sahu visited Tikarapada within Kukudakahndi block separately, where a 45-year-old farmer Dibakar Sethi allegedly committed suicide due to the crop loss and debt. The CPM also demanded Ganjam be declared drought-hit at its two-day district level at Digapahandi. "The government should provide adequate compensate to the kin of the deceased, while needs to come out with the package of assistance to the drought-hit farmers to prevent more suicide incidents in the state" the Congress and BJP leaders told in separate press conferences. The leaders were coming down heavily on the government for non-payment of compensation to the kin of the deceased farmers despite revenue minister S N Patro rushing to the house of the deceased on the same day. Leaders of non-BJD parties demanded waiver of crop loans for farmers and adequate assistance to the peasants to take up the rabi crops. "The government should provide free seeds, diesel to run the pump sets for the next three years to bailout the drought and flood-hit farmers," the leaders said. "The river connectivity, the idea which was mooted by the then prime minister A B Vajapaye should be implemented at this moment with proper water management system," another BJP leader and former deputy speaker Ram Chandra Panda said. "The death of Sethi is a warning to the government to take steps to bailout the farmers," former Union minister Chandra Sekhar Sahu said. "The Congress will take up the farmers issue and launch an agitation, if the government fails to mitigate their sufferings," said Sriballav Panigrahi. (Times of India 30/10/11)

Debt-ridden farmer’s family ends life (20) PANRUTI: Depressed by crop failure, a 35-year-old sugarcane farmer committed suicide on Sunday night, along with his wife, after killing his two children, aged five and three, at Vegakollai village near Panruti, where the bodies were found hanging from a tree in a dense cashew grove.The incident, which sent shockwaves in the district, came to light when a villager saw the bodies in the forest-like area and informed the police. The farmer Deivalingam, who was cultivating sugarcane on a leased two-acre land, lost the crop in the recent rains and heavy winds. He might have had a debt of Rs 3 lakh, the villagers said. Though no money-lender had put pressure on Deivalingam, he took his wife Kalaiselvi (30), son Kalaimurugan and daughter Kaviya to the forest on his motorcyle at 6 pm and hung the children with a saree. Then the couple killed themselves, also using sarees as noose. Neighbours said Deivalingam may have planned to commit suicide in his house as they found sarees hanging there too. “He might have given up the plan fearing that the screams of the children might invite the attention of the neighbours and gone to the forest,” a villager said. Deivalingam’s father Jayaraman committed suicide by consuming poison three years ago. The news of the family of Deivalingam hanging from a tree in Vegakollai drew hundreds of people from nearby villages like Arasadikuppam, Chathiram, Chinnathondamadevi, Pavaikulam and Ayeepettai to the spot on Monday. The grove resonated with the wails and screams of women gathered there even before the police removed the bodies to send them for postmortem at the government hospital. Neyveli MLA Sivasubramanian also visited the spot. The incident came to light after

people saw Deivalingam’s motorcycle parked on the road, about 50 feet away from the tree in the thicket, for a long time in the morning and grew suspicious. When they went inside the grove, they saw the bodies dangling from the branches and alerted the police. Villagers remember Deivalingam as a hardworking farmer, who was ambitious and wanted to come up in life fast. “While riding his bike, he will not even let another vehicle overtake him,” a grieving relative told ‘Express’. A suicide note, reportedly found with the deceased, mentioned the names of all those who had lent him money, with a word of gratitude. However a part of the note was found blotched due to the rains. Deivalingam’s neighbour said that his wife, Kalaiselvi, was very fond of their children, Kalaimurugan and Kaviya, and never let them remain out of her gaze. He said, “I guess that Deivalingam might have let his wife hang first as she would have been able to watch her children being hung. Then he should have killed the children before killing himself.” Bleeding injuries in the legs of the children suggest that they might have tried to run away. However, the dense thicket of trees and darkness might have hampered their bid to escape. Based on a complaint filed by Village Administrative Officer Aathimoolam, DSP Arockiam registered a case and began investigations. (NIE 1/11/11)

45 farmers commit suicide every day in India (20) For the past one decade, over 15,000 farmers in India have been taking their own lives each year. The recent report of the National Crime Records Bureau, Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India – 2010, says 15,964 farmers committed suicide in 2010. The report has drawn a baseline of 15,000 farmer suicides each year since 2001 . Analysis of the 2010 data shows that majority of the suicide victims are in the age group of 30 to 59. They number 9,910. As many as 4,409 farmers who committed suicide were below 30, while 1,645 farmers were senior citizens. The five most affected states are: Maharashtra (3,141), Karnataka (2,585), Andhra Pradesh (2,525), Madhya Pradesh (1,237) and Chattisgarh (1,126) (see map). Calculation of average number of deaths during the decade reveals that over 45 farmers are committing suicide every day. Moreover, out of the total deaths, around 15 per cent suicide victims are women farmers. The National Crime Records Bureau started recording farmer suicide cases in 1995. The data compiled from 1995 to 2010 reveals that over a quarter of a million farmers (256,913) have killed themselves. The deaths underscore the growing agrarian crisis in India. However, comparing 2009 and 2010 data reveals that farmers suicide cases decreased eight per cent in 2010 as the numbers declined from 17,368 in 2009 to 15,964 in 2010. The dip happened mostly because of fall in number in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. (Down to Earth 1/11/11)

Nine more farmers commit suicide in last 72 hours ( 20) Nagpur, Nov 4 : Nine more farmers from the Cotton belt of Vidharbha region of Maharashtra committed suicide in the last 72 hours, taking the toll to 662 in such deaths since January 2011, Vidharbha Jan Andolan Samitee (VJAS) sources said today. Nine farmers from Amravati, Yavatmal, Buldhana and Akola districts of Vidharbha took the extreme step, the VJAS statement said, attributing most of the deats due to heavy debts. Dadarao Nage (40) of lohgaon in Amravati district, Ashok Chintalwar (45) of Kalegaon village, Ramesh Tekam (38) of Manjarda village and Sukhdeo Pawar (45) of Aamdi village in Yavatmal district committed suicide, they said. Ananta Nilange (42) of Newana village, Vithoba Munde (47) of sonashi village and Gajanan Sawant of Pongharapalo village from Buldhana district also took the extreme step. Gajanan Wakte (46) of Palodhi village and Deorao Nimbokar (40) of Asola village from Akola district also ended their lives. (New Kerala 4/11/11)

Jan Lokpal Bill will give relief to Vidarbha farmer s: Arvind Kejriwal (20) AMRAVATI (Mah): Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal has said corruption is one the major factors behind farmer suicides in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, and the Jan Lokpal Bill will bring relief to the distressed peasants. "Despite whooping amounts sanctioned by the government to curb suicides in the region, it is not reaching the needy farmers because of corruption," Kejriwal, who was here to address a public meeting organised by People for India Forum at Shivaji BPEd College, told reporters last evening.Farmers are not getting proper price for their cotton; the prices have been kept low deliberately, its all happening because of corruption, he said. Kejriwal said he was not claiming that all agrarian crises will end after introduction of Janlokpal bill, "but it will definitely give some relief to distressed farmers. I can assure that farmers will not commit suicides." On the Nagpur incident, he accused the media of spread "false stories" about the programme, even though it was held properly. "When I learnt that some people

waived black flags I requested volunteers to call those people who're demonstrating at the venue but when our volunteers reached there, police had nabbed them. Those people are also part of our country and I wanted to talk to them but before that police rounded them up," Kejriwal said. He appealed to the media to exercise refrain or else it spoils the atmosphere. Speaking about the controversial blog and Raju Parulekar's claim that Anna wanted to remove Kejriwal and others from the team, he said: "I don't know why Raju made this statement. There are no differences between Anna and me. Only he (Raju) can explain better (about the issue)." (Times of India 7/11/11)

Rs.475,000 crore crop loan target to be surpassed: Pranab (20) Kolkata, Nov 8: Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Tuesday said the target of Rs.475,000 crore crop loan to be provided to farmers this fiscal will be surpassed. "We had said that we will double the short-term crop loan to the farmers within three years that was announced by my predecessor in the 2005 budget. Within two years, we surpassed the target," Mukherjee told reporters after holding an 'internal discussion' with the chairmen and managing directors (CMDs) of Kolkata-based Allahabad Bank, United Bank of India and UCO Bank. "Last year, my target was to provide Rs.375,000 crore short-term crop loan to the farmers. This year I have fixed the target of Rs.475,000 crore and I am confident that we will surpass that target," he added. Mukherjee said there were three agendas in the discussion viz financial inclusion, current status of bank branch expansion and opening of branches at un-banked blocks in nine states -- West Bengal, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura. "In my budget speech of 2010-11, I announced that we shall provide banking facilities to the villages having population of more than 2,000. In this region in 2009-10, 10,721 villages were identified where banking facilities are to be provided," the finance minister said. Up to September, 4,969 of these villages have been covered and remaining 5,752 villages are expected to be covered by March 2012, he added. He said the number of accounts to be opened in the nine states were 21,31,754. (New Kerala 8/11/11)

Third farmer suicide in a week in Kerala district ( 20) Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 8 : A day after another farmer, suspected to be under debt, committed suicide in Kerala, the government Tuesday said it would look into all aspects of the problem. This was the third farmer suicide in Wayanad district in the last one week. Vergheese committed suicide Monday. According to his relatives, he was under a debt of Rs.5 lakh after his crop failed. Agriculture Minister K.P. Mohanan said: "I have already asked the authorities to provide me full details of loans availed from banks by farmers in Wayanad." "We will seriously look into all the issues and act accordingly. The government will also look into what can be done to provide some solace to the families of those farmers who have taken their lives," he said. "It appears the dreaded scenario of the past is returning to Wayanad and this is because of the fall in prices of ginger and banana. It appears the schemes of the government are not reaching people. Something has to be done immediately," said social activist A.L. Prabakaran. Between 2001-06 Wayanad district saw close to 249 farmer suicides. At that time, the Congress was in power and the Left opposition blamed the government's flawed policies for the suicides. (New Kerala 8/11/11)

17 farmers commit suicides in five days (20) NAGPUR: With seven farmers in Vidarbha committing suicide in last two days, the crisis which had seen a lull in last few months has resurfaced. According to Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti, which spearheads cotton growers' cause in the region and also keeps a tab on suicide committed by ryots, the farm suicide toll has reached an alarming 17 in last five days and 671 in the current year. The farmers who took the desperate route in the last three days have been identified as Maroti Mate of Palasgoan and Jivan Raghtate of Rehaki village ( both from Wardha), Kachruba Meran of Balsamudra and Mahadev Pasode of Vadati in Buldhana, Kailas Solanki of Karanjkhed and Kisan Mahurle of Sonbardi in Yavatmal and Ratan Nagtode of Udapur in Chandrapur district. The other 10 victims in last five days have been identified as Parshuram Jambhulkar, Sukkhdev Pawar, Ashok Chintelwar and Ramesh Tekam of Yavatmal district, Gajanan Sawant, Ananta Bhilange and Vithoba Munde of Buldhana, Gajanan Kavate and Deorao Nimbolkar of Akola, Dadarao Nage of Amravati. (Times of India 9/11/11)

Activists, farmers stage Rasta Roko (20) Kolhapur, Nov 10 : Agitating Swabhiman Shetkari Sanghatana (SSS) activists and farmers today blocked the Pune-Bangalore national highway to focus government's attention towards their demands to increase

procurement price of Sugarcane to 2350 per quintal. A large number of SSS activists and farmers staged Rasta Roko near Sangli-phata on the national highway around 1100 hrs in support of the demand by their chief and MP Raju Shetty, who is on hunger strike at Baramati for higher prices for sugarcane farmers. The Rasta roko resulted in inconvenience to vehicular traffic as both sides of the road saw long queues as well as traffic jam on the Kolhapur-Sangli state highway. (New Kerala 10/11/11)

Farmers commit suicide in Wayanad, Chandy sets up h igh-level committee (20) THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Taking note of the rising number of farmer suicides, the state has formed a high-level committee headed by additional chief secretary C Jayakumar to study the issue and submit a report within a week's time. "The cabinet has taken a decision to stop acquiring agriculture land owned by debt-ridden farmers in Wayanad for the time being," said chief minister Oommen Chandy after a cabinet meeting on Wednesday evening. There were three instances of farmers committing suicide were reported from Wayanad district with in the last one week. The CM said an ordinance will be passed soon to protect the office of the chief whip and opposition leader so that they can hold two posts simultaneously. The state government also gave a clean chit to the opposition leader V S Achuthanandan and government chief whip P C George in connection with the office of profit controversy. A complaint was earlier filed in the supreme court against government chief whip P C George as he held the post of a member of the legislative assembly as well as the chief whip. The complaint alleged that chief whip was an 'office of profit' which does not entitle the holder to receive salary, allowances, and other benefits and in this case P C George was already drawing a salary as a member of the assembly. Oommen Chandy said the government has already given an explanation to the Kerala governor M O H Farook on this issue and hopes to bring in an ordinance to protect the post of chief whip. The cabinet also took a decision to stop collecting toll from bridges which were constructed below the cost of Rs 5 crore. "This decision was taken since the toll leases for many bridges have expired," a senior official said. Chandy said the state biodiversity board constituted biodiversity committees in 978 villages for the protection the diverse natural resources in the state for the first time in the country. "The state also plans to bring in new rules and regulations to take penal action against lift manufacturing companies in case they do not comply with quality and cause delay in repairing non- functioning lifts," he said. Chandy said the CPM should not have different views on judicial orders. "When former minister R Balakrishna Pillai was taken to jail, the opposition made a hue and cry because he was escorted in a car, but the same opposition now gave a rousing sent-off to CPM leader M V Jayarajan after he was sentenced for six months," Chandy said. (Times of India 10/11/11)

Alarming rise seen in farm suicides in Andhra Prade sh (20) HYDERABAD, November 11, 2011: A fact-finding team representing a collective of 40 farmers' organisations, Raitu Swarajya Vedika, has found an alarming rise in the number of suicides by farmers — as many as 90 in the last month alone — in Adilabad, Khammam, Karimnagar, Medak, Mahbubnagar and Anantapur districts of Andhra Pradesh. Releasing a report and data collected from these districts from various sources, including media reports, the Vedika representatives expressed surprise that though there were clear indicators for the past two months of the emerging situation, the government had not taken action to support the farmers or mitigate their suffering. For instance, the cotton-sowing area in the State increased to 47 lakh acres covering 25 per cent of the total area. So a distressful situation for cotton farmers was to be expected, but the government did not take any measure to address the situation, G.V. Ramanjaneyulu of the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture and Kiran Kumar Vissa, convenor of the Vedika, said. Others memebers of the Vedika are: S. Jeevan Kumar, K. Sajaya, D. Narasimha Reddy, Asha and Bharath. The glaring aspect found by the team was the sense of hopelessness displayed by the farmers who said they had no faith in the government. The team found that there was a serious crop failure, predominantly of cotton, in several districts, and of maize and paddy in a few places, and groundnut in Anantapur. In Utnoor in Adilabad district, 5 acres of cotton yielded less than one quintal in the first harvest and the farmer landed a loss of Rs.50,000. Most of the suicides happened in rain-fed areas, where high-input commercial crops were grown. The farmers' collective said the families of the farmers were already in debt before the season and were pushed into further debt of over Rs.1 lakh. Most of the loans were from informal sources and not from banks, leading to farmers facing more harassment besides paying high interest rates. Many farmers had taken land on lease, but did not have any loan eligibility cards. The collective has demanded a disaster package for all the farmers who have suffered crop failure, Rs.10,000 per acre as compensation. (The Hindu 11/11/11)

Cotton farmers' stir intensifies in Maharashtra (20 ) Nagpur, Nov 16: The cotton farmers protesting against the current minimum support price for raw cotton in Vidarbha region Wednesday intensified their protest by blocking the National Highway 6. They have been demanding Rs.6,000 per quintal as minimum support price for raw cotton as against the current rate of Rs.3,300 per quintal. Shiv Sena activists joined in the stir in the district headquarters of Amravati for the third day. They ransacked the state cotton cooperative marketing federation office and set the furniture afire. Over 100 farmers and Shiv Sena activists were arrested, including the party’s district chief Balasaheb Bhagwat “Police arrested 116 farmers and Sena activists in the connection,” said Kishor Tiwari, an activist and President of Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS), an NGO working for farmers and farm widows in Vidarbha. On the other hand, independent legislator Ravi Rana's indefinite hunger strike entered the third day Wednesday. Rana was detained by the police Monday and is now in central jail at Amravati. Activist from Rana's Yuva Swabhimani Sanghatana along with VJAS and several other organisations blocked roads and damaged public property at many places in Vidarbha in protest against the jail authorities' “undemocratic” attitude. The vehicular traffic on Mumbai-Kolkata National Highway 6 was paralysed at Tiwasa in Amravati when the farmers resorted to a 'rasta rok' agitation in support of fair price of raw cotton. The agitators even took out a huge farmers’ rally on the highway on the issue which was addressed by Tiwari and other farmers' leaders. The farmers vowed not to sell raw cotton until the government hikes the guarantee price. (New Kerala 16/11/11)

Another farmer suicide in Burdwan (20) BURDWAN: Safar Ali Mollah, 18, a paddy farmer, committed suicide by drinking pesticide at Kalitikuri village under Bhatar police station area on Friday night. Only three days ago, Bhabani Porel (45), paddy farmer of Chanduli village under Burdwan Sadar Police Station area committed suicide by hanging from a tree. Safar was unable to sell paddy crop at the Minimum Support Price (MSP) stipulated by the state government which landed him in a huge debt. He had taken loans at a high interest from mahajans.due to lack of selling of paddy crop ( boro crop earlier and now aman) and failing to sell them at the leading to huge debt at high interest from mahajans. Only three days ago, Bhabani Porel (45), a paddy farmer of Burdwan's Chanduli village committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree. While on November 7, Madhai Ghosh, a farmer of Raina's Jakta village had commited suicide by consuming poison. In either case, the farmers had failed to sell the agricultural produce of the last season. With unsold produce piled up in godowns and constant pressure from moneylenders, the frustrated farmers killed themselves. Talking to the TOI on Saturday, Babar Ali Mollah, the victim's elder brother said that he and his widow mother were watching television on Friday. "Around 9.30pm, Safar arrived with blood coming out of his mouth. He confessed that frustration led him to consume pesticide. We took him to Burdwan Medical College Hospital at around 9.50pm but he died at around 11.30pm," victim's brother Babar Ali Mollah said. who works in Mumbai as embroidery artist and had come in ID festival in home. Babar said that his father Akbar Ali Mollah died few years ago, and younger brother Safar and mother Rijia Begum stayed together. "We have seven bighas of land and Safar used to cultivate on it," he added. He failed to sell 120 sacs of IR-36 paddy crop harvested during the boro season. Since then he had been incurring debts in the market. An undettered Safar, after taking loan from mahajans, cultivated aman crop on the seven bighas thinking that the situation will improve. "But due to high cost of fertilizer, and increase in wages of daily labourers he could harvest paddy from only one-and-a-half bighas," alleged his uncle Seikh Mohammed Ibrahim. There was no other family problem of this family other than the lack of selling of the paddy, he confirmed. The two farmer suicides in the rice bowl of the state within a span of six days have created a stir. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee visited the district headquarters at Burdwan along with top bureaucrats and her cabinet colleagues and directed to stop black marketing of fertilizers and purchase of rice at MSP by rice mills from farmers. (Times of India 20/11/11)

3 more farmers commit suicide in Kerala due to debt trap (20) Kalpetta, Kerala, Nov 21: Three more debt-ridden farmers allegedly committed suicide in Wayanad and Palakkad districts of Kerala during the last 24 hours, taking the toll to nine, due to agrarian crisis in the state. Farmer Kunhi Krishnan (50) was found hanging at Thazhamunda under Kenikkara Police Station limit this morning. According to an FIR registered by his relatives, he owed huge loans to bank, police added. Police said Meenagadi Purakkadi native K K Oseph (48) was found hanging in his residential premises last evening. His relatives said the farmer, who owed Rs two lakh to a bank, took the extreme

step apparently due to his inability to repay loan due to crop failure. With this, six farmers had committed suicide in different parts of hilly district of Wayanand during the last two weeks. A report from Palakkad said a debt-ridden farmer committed suicide in this district today. Police said the dead was identified as Chandran (55), hailing from Peruvembu. He had sold 50 cents of his agriculture land recently due to financial burden. The farmer, who had borrowed huge sum of money from various financial establishments for agriculture purpose, died early this morning at 0100 hrs. He was admitted to the District Hospital here in a critical condition as he consumed poison yesterday. He died while being shifted to Trichur Medical College early this morning. (New Kerala 22/11/11)

Kerala announces one-year moratorium on agriculture -loans (20) Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 23 : In view of recent suicides of farmers in Kerala, nationalised and scheduled banks will give one-year moratorium on repayment of agriculture loans. The decision was taken at a meeting of the state-level bankers' committee, convened here by Chief Minister oommen Chandy. Urging the banks to come out with concrete proposals to reduce the misery of farmers, the Chief Minister pointed out that he had received a huge number of complaints from different parts of the state. Briefing newspersons here, Finance Minister K M Mani said government agencies and banks would write off the loan taken by the farmers who had committed suicide in the state. The worst-affected Wayanad district would be declared as a distress area, he added. (New Kerala 24/11/11)

Congress demands Rs 2000 Minimum Support Price for Onion (20) Bangalore, Nov 30 :Opposition Congress in Karnataka today demanded the state government to fix Rs 2000 per quintal as Minimum Support Price (MSP) for Onion as a drastic price fall in the wholesale market had hit the farmers hard. The farmers of North Karnataka, where Onion is largely grown, were worst affected following the crash in market prices of the vegetable, congress leader Siddaramaiah said. ''The State Government should immediately make an intervention and purchase Onion at minimum Rs 2000 per quintal and rescue the farmers from the distress,'' he said. Addressing a press conference here, he said the price should be fixed uniformly since due to drought condition the yield may not be of good quality. "If the State government fails to act immediately the situation may lead to farmers commit suicide," Mr Siddaramaiah warned and appealed to the government to take action without further delay. (New Kerala 1/12/11)

Nearly half of farmer households in India face loan burden: Report (20) New Delhi: Nearly half the farmer households in India, with a high percentage of them in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Punjab are facing the burden of loans, according to a report. A total of 43.42 million farmer households constituting 48.6% are reported to be indebted to either formal or informal or both sources of credit, as per the report on the "Indebtedness of Farmer Households" (NSSO report 498 of NSS 59th Round). Minister of state for agriculture Harish Rawat said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha on Tuesday that farmers take loan for the purpose of capital or current expenditure in farm business combined with successive crop failures. Besides, he said, they have to take loans for meeting requirements related to health, marriages and other social obligations. Rawat said the maximum percentage is in Andhra Pradesh (82%), followed by Tamil Nadu (74.5%), Punjab (65.4%), Kerala (64.4%), Karnataka (61.6%), Maharashtra (54.8%), Haryana (53.1%), Rajasthan (52.4%), Gujarat (51.9%) and West Bengal (50.1%). (The Financial Express 1/12/11)

Karnataka farmers to protest against agri-summit (2 0) Bangalore, Nov 30 : Even as the Karnataka government braces to hold the global agri-business and food process summit in this tech hub Thursday, leading farmers' organisations in the state have decided to conduct a parallel meeting to protest against overseas investments in the farm sector. "About 5,000 farmers and agricultural workers from across the state will participate in the protest meeting as we are opposed to the state government selling farm lands to overseas investors," Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha (KPRS) general secretary G.C. Bayyareddy told reporters Wednesday. On the eve of the two-day global investors' meet in the farm sector at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC) on the city's outskirts, touted to be the first of its kind in the country, about 1,000 farmers took out a rally in the city urging the state government to desist from pledging thousands of acres of land to multinational firms. "Though the government claims that it would not acquire farmers' land, the chief minister (D.V.

Sadananda Gowda) said Nov 25 that about 30,000 acres would be required for investments in the agriculture sector to increase productivity and sustain farm growth," Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) general secretary Chukki Nanjundaswamy said. Allaying fears of the farmers, Gowda told the protesters at the rally that the objective of the summit was to attract domestic and overseas investments in the farm sector and food processing as their (farmers') welfare and sustaining agriculture growth were the main priorities of the state government. "The main objective of the summit is to ensure sustainable growth in the sector with avenues to generate more income to the farming community through productivity, access to markets and remunerative prices for their produce," Gowda told the agitated farmers. Disagreeing with the chief minister's contention, Bayyareddy said the state government was pursing anti-farmers' policies. "To favour multinational firms and corporates, which have vested interests to enter the farm sector, the state government has already amended the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Act and has proposed to amend the Karnataka Land Reforms Act that would enable investors to buy farm lands and convert them for non-farming activities," Bayyareddy said Seeking farmers' cooperation in making the summit a success, Gowda said the farm sector in the state had a potential to attract Rs.51,700 crore, including Rs.36,000 crore in setting up special facilities for agro-food processing industries, Rs.8,000 crore for support facilities, Rs.4,762 crore in allied areas and Rs.1,380 crore in dryland farming. Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has been invited to inaugurate the summit, while Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo member Sitaram Yechury will be addressing the farmers' protest meet near the venue, about 25 km from the city. "Private sector investment will harm the farm sector and multi-nationals will eventually dictate terms," another farmers' leader Kodihalli Chandrashekar said. (New Kerala 1/12/11)

Farmer attempts suicide at CM Chavan’s meet (20) Nagpur, December 04, 2011: A 45-year-old cotton grower tried to end his life by consuming pesticide at the election meeting of the chief minister Prithviraj Chavan at Dhamangaon in Amravati district, some 200 kms from here in western part of Vidarbha, on Sunday. According to reports reaching here this evening, the incident occurred when the chief minister was addressing an election meeting for the ensuing municipality elections at Dhamangaon on Sunday afternoon. The farmer, Arun Sabane (45) of Gokulsara village first shouted slogans in support of hike in the minimum support price of raw cotton in the meeting as soon as Chavan started his speech. "First resolve the cotton issue and then only talk about the local elections," he insisted. However, the Congress workers, who were present there, stopped him from speaking. A frustrated Sabane whipped out a bottle of pesticide which was kept in his pocket and swallowed it there in full public view. He was immediately rushed to the local civil hospital. However, when his condition failed to improve, he was shifted to government run district hospital at Yavatmal this evening. His condition is said to be critical. According to eye-witnesses, a visibly disturbed Chavan is later believed to have instructed the district administration to make all efforts to save the life of the farmer. Incidentally, the farmer is a Congress worker. Sabane, a small farmer (land-holder of 6-acre) of Gokulsara, got around 15 quintal of raw cotton this season. He borrowed around Rs 1.25-lakh from banks and private money lenders. "He will not be able to repay the loans and cope up with the situation if he gets a meager support price of just Rs 3,300 per quintal for cotton," pointed out Kishore Tiwari of Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti. "His attempt to take the drastic step in presence of the chief minister was to draw the attention of on-going agrarian crisis in the region," Tiwari said and informed that an average two farmers commit suicide in Vidarbha every day because of agrarian crisis. Mohan Jadhav, a farmers' leader who went to the district hospital at Yavatmal to enquire about the health of the victim, said that the condition of Sabane was very critical. "He is unconscious and has been admitted to the ICU," Jadhav said. Earlier, the activists of Shetkari Sanghatana and several other farm organizations on Sunday welcomed the chief minister Chavan at Chikhli in Buldhana district with black flags and anti-government slogans. The protestors were demanding a better price of raw cotton and soyabean. However, they were not allowed to come any closer to the venue of the election rally by the police. It was said that the chief minister was unable to announce a bailout package for the cotton and soyabean growers due to the ongoing election code of conduct. (The Hindustan Times 4/12/11)

AP govt draws flak over drought relief for farmers (20) Hyderabad: The Kiran Kumar Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh came under fire from a combined opposition in the state Assembly on Sunday for "failing" to come to the rescue of farmers reeling under a severe drought this season. The main opposition TDP staged a walk out from the House this evening

protesting the government's failure to give concrete assurance on addressing the farmers' concerns. The CPI, CPM and BJP members too walked out on the same issue at the fag end of a two-day debate on the drought situation. Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, who intervened in the debate, admitted that the agriculture sector was indeed facing a grave crisis in the state. "The prospects of ensuing Rabi crop season may be bleak as the ground water levels have depleted across the state because of the drought. The government has so far declared 876 mandals (tehsils) as drought-affected. There could also be a severe shortage of fodder for cattle," he said. The state government has written to the Centre requesting it to enhance input subsidy for farmers to Rs 10,000 an acre. Though the Centre is currently granting only Rs 4,000 per acre towards input subsidy, the state government is paying Rs 6,000, he said. Revenue Minister N Raghuveera Reddy said 5,261 farmers committed suicide in the state between 1998 and 2011, as per official records. "This year 71 farmers committed suicide, while 290 ended their lives last year due to agriculture-related problems," the minister said. Raghuveera Reddy's remarks against the TDP, during the course of his reply to the debate, triggered strong protests from the party MLAs. At one point, the minister made a certain remark forcing the TDP members to storm the Speaker's podium and raise a protest. (Zee News 5/12/11)

Punjab farmer commits suicide on bank premises afte r being denied Rs 50 crore loan (20) ABOHAR: Failing to get a loan of Rs 50 crore from a bank, an indebted farmer committed suicide by consuming poison in the premises of the bank, here on Monday. Vinod Kumar Yadav, a resident of Ramsara village in Abohar sub-division of Fazilka district, in his three-page suicide note, written in Punjabi on an affidavit, held bank manager, Ravinder Pal Singh Shekhon and field officer Neeraj Kumar Aneja of Punjab Agriculture Development Bank, responsible for his death. He accused them of not sanctioning him a loan of Rs 50 crore as promised to him earlier. The suicide note claims that the bank officials had assured him an agriculture loan of Rs 50 crore to purchase agriculture land. The victim was asked to deposit a certain percentage of the loan amount, which he had arranged by selling his agriculture land and taking loan from private lenders. The bank officials, according to the suicide note had assured him a loan of Rs 30 crore from NABARD, Chandigarh and Rs 20 crore from the local branch of the bank. Yadav also alleged that the bank officials had also taken some amount as their commission from him. But later the officials started dilly-dallying thus forcing him to take the extreme step, Yadav alleged in his note. The note has the details of the amount Yadav took as loan from his relatives and friends. His brother Vijay Pal Yadav claimed that apart from taking loan from his friends and relatives, the victim had recently sold his agriculture land for Rs 75 Lakh and deposited the amount in the bank to avail the loan. A case under section 306 IPC has been registered against Ravinder Pal Singh Shekhon and Neeraj Kumar Juneja. The officials refuted the allegation of having taken any bribe money from the victim. (Times of India 6/12/11)

Farms hit, freeze NREG for 3 months/yr: Pawar to PM (20) New Delhi: In the first high-level red-flag against the UPA government’s flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that while assets created under the NREGA “may or may not have productive use”, the programme was “adversely” impacting the agriculture sector by “drawing out agriculture labourers from agricultural operations”. In a letter sent to the prime minister late last month, Pawar is learnt to have suggested that “at least three months in a year” be considered an “off-duration of MNREGA” so that agricultural labourers are available during the peak season of “agricultural operations” in various parts of the country. “During this period, work on labour-intensive MNREGA works must be kept on hold so that labourers are available for agricultural operations,” Pawar has suggested. Alternatively, Pawar has suggested that the government consider “subsidising” wages being paid by farmers to the labourers in agricultural operations by, say 50 per cent, wage payment through NREGA. “Keeping in view the rising cost of input, subsidising wages being paid by the farmers to agricultural labourers for agricultural operations may be considered after due consultation with with state governments,” the agriculture minister has proposed. The agriculture minister is learnt to have said that NREGA was supposed to be “fallback option” in situations when “rural economy failed to provide normal job opportunities in agriculture” either due to agriculture “off-season” or due to natural calamities. “Past experience has, however, shown that in reality MNREGA works have started impacting agriculture sector itself as it has resulted in drawing out agriculture labourers from agricultural operations. Since critical

agricultural operations are required to be carried out at appropriate times and cannot be postponed, this has led to increasing agricultural wage rates, impacting cost of cultivation and affecting farming viability adversely. Moreover, assets created under NREGA works may or may not have productive use,” Pawar has written. To buttress his point, Pawar has cited the example of Maharashtra, which pioneered employment guarantee scheme (EGS) during the 1970s. “It is worth noting that in case of Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS) in Maharashtra which is a model for expansion of MNREGA schemes, it was always kept in mind that employment under EGS is offered only during lean periods and not in sowing or harvesting seasons,” Pawar has written. Currently, the guidelines of MNREGA do not allow labourers under the scheme to undertake peak season “agricultural operations” like sowing and harvesting. It allows works related to non-peak season activities to provide for irrigation facility, horticulture plantation and land development on private lands. Given that the government’s budget for implementing the NREGA is running about Rs 40,000 crore annually, Pawar has urged the Prime Minister to use these resources to boost the agriculture sector to ensure Indian economy grows above 8 per cent annually. “It is, therefore, of utmost importance to maintain availability of agricultural labour at farm level at reasonable cost and also channelize the huge investment being made by Government of India on MGNREGA for augmenting assets which directly add to agriculture productivity,” said Pawar. (The Financial Express 9/12/11)

Indebtedness not the only cause of farmers' suicide (20) BHOPAL: Not just their crippling indebtedness, but other 20-25 compelling reasons too have been driving hundreds of farmers in Madhya Pradesh to kill themselves. This was concluded by an expert committee set up by the state Human Rights Commission after a seven month long study. The two-member committee of agriculture experts comprising G S Kaushal and Dr Sadhuram Sharma has submitted its report to the State Human Rights Commission, throwing light on the causes of farmer's suicide and suggesting ways to deal with the situation. The committee has found that indebtedness was only one of the reasons for farmers taking their own lives. According to the state government's own statistics, as many as 5838 farmers had killed themselves between 2006 and December 2010. But the government, fending off flak, has been maintaining that only six of them had committed suicide due to indebtedness. While the report has identified about two dozen reasons for increasing incidents of farmer's suicide, the study found that farmers also took extreme step due to reasons other than being under the weight of debt; sources in state Agriculture Department told the TOI after the state Human Rights Commission convened a meeting of agriculture and 11 other departments on November 7 to discuss the farmer's suicide scenario in the state. "I can't disclose the report's contents. I can only say that we narrowed on nearly 20 to 25 possible causes for farmers committing suicide and have suggested ways and means to deal with. This is a problem with multiple dimensions", expert committee member G S Kaushal told The TOI. "We have submitted our final report after visiting places across the state where there were reports about farmer's suicide. The Commission has already convened a high level meeting of various government departments to get response from each of the departments", he pointed out. Human Rights Commission's joint director (PR) Rohit Mehta said the commission-which had taken suo moto cognizance of newspaper reports about farmers suicide and set up an expert committee-has already begun preparations for making its recommendations to the state government. Farmer's suicide has always been a political issue with the opposition parties alleging in the Vidhan Sabha and outside that the peasants were taking the extreme step due to mounting debts. There have also been allegations from political parties that banking institutions were forcing recovery of loans even in the situation of bad crops and Power Company employees were falsely implicating farmers in false cases of power theft. (Times of India 11/12/11)

Govt indifferent to farmers' suicides, rue BJP MPs (20) New Delhi: The government is turning a blind eye towards suicides by debt-ridden farmers when the problem has assumed serious proportions with 2.57 lakh suicides since 1995, BJP members said in the Rajya Sabha on Monday. Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Prabhat Jha (BJP) said situation has become so alarming that every second farmer family is in debt. "Situation is so grim that farmers are selling their kidneys, their children. It is high time government paid attention to the problem, to which it has turned a blind eye," he said. In the last one month alone, 160 farmers committed suicide and in Vidharba region alone 19 farmers took the extreme step in the last one week alone, he said. Several of his party colleagues joined him in expressing concern over the state of farmers' community. Raising another issue, Jharna Das Baidya (CPI-M) demanded a probe into firing by police in West Bengal's South

24-Paragana district on December 1 after a tiff between villagers and the West Bengal State Electricity Board (WBSEB) over alleged theft of power. Two women were killed and eight injured in the incident, she said. Moinul Hassan (CPI-M) demanded a safe environment for social activists, drawing the attention of the House towards killing of a church worker Walsa John in Jharkhand on November 15. He also referred to killing of Shehla Masood, an RTI activist in Madhya Pradesh. Hassan was supported by senior BJP leader S S Ahluwalia. (Zee News 12/12/11)

Karnataka accounts for 956 farmer suicides in 3 yrs (20) Bangalore, Dec 13 : Karnataka, which is among the top states in terms of the number of farmers suicide in the country, has reported as many as 956 suicides in the last 44 months, the Government informed the Legislative Council today. Agriculture Minister Umesh Katti said it was reported that during the last three years (2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12 (up to November 30, 2011) 956 farmers had committed suicide. Responding to an unstarred question from Veeranna Mathikatti of Congress, the minister said the government had implemented several initiatives to ensure that farmers got proper prices for their produce and regular income. It had fixed minimum support price, as declared by Government of India, and this apart it had also announced additional support price. The other support extended by the state government included availability of credit at one per cent interest and subsidies for inputs like fertiliser, seeds, pesticides, implements and micro irrigation, the minister explained. This apart the Government has also taken up new initiatives like ''Bhoochetana'' and ''Suvarna Bhoomi Yojane'' programmes, Mr Katti added. (UNI) (New Kerala 14/12/11)

Farmers crisis? Only 50 MPs stay to discuss it (20) NEW DELHI: Farmer suicides and the agrarian crisis have been the reason for many disruptions in Parliament, but when the time comes to discuss the issue, hardly anyone bothers to attend, as happened in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday when not even 60 MPs were present. In fact, there were probably just 50 of them. A short-duration discussion on the agrarian crisis, led by BJP's Venkaiah Naidu and Congress's Mani Shankar Aiyar, turned into a routine debate with a majority of members from both the ruling party and Opposition benches absent. Even among those who spoke, on both sides, many left immediately after their speech. There were exceptions like Rudranarayan Pany of BJP, D Bandyopadhyay of Trinamool agriculture minister Sharad Pawar and a few others who sat through the proceedings. BJP's S S Ahluwalia got into a verbal spat with P J Kurien, who was officiating as deputy chairperson. He was intervening on behalf of S S Dhindsa of Akali Dal who protested to Kurien that he was not being given the chance to speak. Accusing the government of ignoring 60% of the country's population that is engaged in agriculture, BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday demanded in the Rajya Sabha an overhaul of policy measures affecting farmers to arrest the agrarian crisis. Demanding a seven-day special session of Parliament on agriculture as a short-duration discussion wasn't enough, Naidu asked for structural charges to stop farmers from committing suicide. Naidu demanded that the government immediately implement the recommendations of the Swaminathan committee, along with suspension of rural job guarantee scheme under MNREGA during the peak agriculture season, arguing that the programme has led to labour shortage in the farm sector. Mani Shankar Aiyar supported Naidu's call for a special session. He called for educating farmers aboutuncertainty in cash crops, especially cotton. Arguing the failure of cash crops was the cause for suicides, Aiyar stressed on urgent need for more focus on agriculture extension services. (Times of India 16/12/11)

'Crop loss' triggers farmer suicide (20) SAMBALPUR: A 25-year-old farmer has committed suicide allegedly because of crop loss at Belbahali in Bargarh district. The death of the farmer, Keshab Chhatar, on Wednesday night came within a week of a similar incident at another village in the same district. Villagers said Keshab was spotted in a critical condition after he consumed pesticide late on Wednesday. He was taken to the district headquarters hospital in Bargarh town but died during treatment. "Heavy crop loss was the cause of his suicide. He had taken loans to the tune of Rs 25,000 from various sources. He had been depressed over the past few days as he was worried about the debt burden. Unable to find an alternative, he took this extreme step to end his misery," said former Belbahali sarpanch Prafulla Nayak. He owned 2.5 acres of cultivated land in the village, Nayak added. Villagers said the deceased was the sole breadwinner of his family comprising his 60-year-old widowed mother and a brother. "My other son has been ailing for a long time and Keshab was the only source of income. Now I do not know how to run the family without him," said Keshab's

mother Bati Chhatar. Bargarh collector Bhabagrahi Mishra confirmed the incident and said he has directed Sadar tehsildar to submit a report immediately. "Action will be initiated once the report is submitted to me," the collector added. Meanwhile, police have registered an unnatural death case and handed over the body to the family after autopsy. On December 9, a debt-ridden farmer, Dasharathi Barik (35), had committed suicide by hanging from a tree at Sirigida village in Bargarh's Sohela police station area. (Times of India 16/12/11)

Pawar faces heat in RS over farmers' suicides (20) New Delhi, December 20, 2011: Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar faced a tough time in the Rajya Sabha on Monday over the issue of farmers' suicides. However, his suggestion to form a joint parliamentary panel to look into the issue found widespread support in the House. Opposition parties led by the BJP, walked out after Pawar's reply, saying he did not respond to their demand of convening a special Parliament session to discuss the agrarian crisis and farmers suicides. Earlier during the day, the House had to be adjourned twice after a united opposition demanded that ministers connected with the farm sector be present to reply to the debate. "Agriculture minister has no power...his responding to the debate is not going to suffice," BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu said when deputy chairman K Rahman Khan asked Pawar to reply to the debate on agriculture, which took place last week. The opposition demanded that since the finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, commerce minister Anand Sharma and power minister Sushilkumar Shinde were present in the House, they should also reply to the questions related to their ministries. Later Pawar said: "Let us appoint a House committee with members from both the Houses that can go to the states to look into the issue (farmers' suicide)." The entire Opposition, including the BJP, BSP, AIADMK, TDP and the Left, supported the proposal. Pawar said setting up of a joint committee was necessary in the wake of conflicting figures of suicides by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB)and the states, 16 of which have reported that there has been no such cases. “The NCRB has reported 15,900 such cases whereas the state governments have reported only 800 of these,” he said. (The Hindustan Times 20/12/11)

Lok Sabha fails to take up discussion on suicide by farmers (20) NEW DELHI: Discussion on agrarian crisis and incidence of suicide by farmers could not be taken up in the Lok Sabha because of paucity of time. Raising issues concerning agrarian problems, CPM leader Basudeb Acharia said that larger number of farmers were committing suicide. However, before he could complete his speech, Fransisco Sardinha, who was in the Chair, requested Acharia to continue the discussion later and allowed other members to raise matters of urgent public importance. Acharia wanted to know whether he would be allowed to raise the issue on December 27. Parliamentary affairs minister Pawan Kumar Bansal intervened to say that the issue could be taken on December 29 after completion of the other government business. Although the Speaker allowed Acharia to continue the discussion, he withdraw allowing other members to raise their issues. The discussion on agrarian crisis will be resumed either on December 29 or the next session. The session of Parliament has been extended by three days beginning December 27 to discuss and pass the Lokpal Bill. Various political parties have been demanding a discussion on agrarian crisis in the Lok Sabha. (Times of India 22/12/11)

Agrarian crisis claims one more life in Kerala (20) Kalpetta, Kerala, Dec 22 : Unable to pay back loans, one more debt-ridden farmer allegedly committed suicide in hilly Wayanad district of Kerala today. Symon (65) of Pulingal near Vellamunda in the district was found hanging in his house this, police said. Police quoting his relatives said the farmer was in distress due to his inability to pay back loans taken from different sources due to crop failure and this would have prompted him to take the extreme step. Recently, farmers had reportedly ended their lives in different parts of the state due to the same cause. (UNI) (New Kerala 23/12/11)

Pranab calls on CM, Bengal Cong chief slams her for farm deaths (20) With the Trinamool Congress waiving red flag on crucial decisions of the UPA government — from FDI in retail to Teesta water sharing agreement with Bangladesh — the Congress party, which is in an alliance with the party in Bengal, is planning to keep Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on tenterhooks by organising protests on different issues. On Sunday evening, senior Congress leader and Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee visited Chief Minister’s Kalighat residence and spent nearly half an hour with her. Though the contents of the meeting were not known, except the fact that Mukherjee had gone to

express his condolence to the Chief Minister on the passing away of her mother, its significance cannot be brushed aside. The meeting between the two senior leaders of the party comes at a time when the Trinamool has been voicing its opposition to key Central government’s decisions. Sources said that Trinamool has also voiced its concerns about some provisions of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s pet legislation, food security Bill. Even as Pranab Mukherjee was meeting with Mamata, the Bengal Congress chief was criticising the state government for the suicide of farmers allegedly because of debt trap. “We have seen reports that farmers are committing suicides because of huge debt burden. They are not getting any financial assistance nor are they getting jobs under schemes like MGNREGS. The government must start an investigation behind these deaths and they should let us know the exact number of deaths,’’ said state Congress chief Pradip Bhattacharya. (Indian Express 26/12/11)

Onion farmer attempts suicide due to dropping price s (20) An onion grower from Chandwad taluka of Nashik attempted suicide due to falling prices of onion. Onion prices have dropped in the wholesale markets by Rs200-300 per quintal. The stored summer onions have almost lost their value. Falling prices have raised concerns among the farmers in the region. Sahebrao Dhondiram Kekan (45), a resident of Puri village in Chandwad taluka consumed pesticides on December 21 in an attempt to end his life. He was admitted to the sub-district hospital in Chandwad and then shifted to the district hospital in Nashik at night. His relatives said that Sahebrao was unable to bear the pressure of the falling prices of onions, as he had taken loans from the bank and co-operative credit society to yield a good harvest and hoped to get good returns. However, a bumper yield of the crop in all states led to fall in prices and affected the farmers. In a normal situation, farmers get a good rate of minimum Rs500 per quintal in this season. It is also reported that Kekan, who owns about 20 acres of land, and is known as a large producer of onions, rang MLA Shirish Kotwal after consuming poison and told him that he is ending his life due to falling prices of onions. Kotwal immediately called Chandwad tehsildar Prakash Patil and the police, and asked them to take Kekan to the hospital. Kotwal later said that the issue of falling prices is getting serious and all efforts will be made to draw the government’s attention towards the matter. (DNA 27/12/11)

Farmer suicides: NGO points to Punjab reporting few er numbers (20) SANGRUR: The number of farmer suicides in Punjab seems to vary according to the source providing information about that. An NGO, Movement Against State Repression (MASR), has stated that Punjab is a glaring example of neglecting the factor of farmer suicides when it comes to determining the amount of funds that should be spent on assisting agriculturists. MASR's convener Inderjit Singh Jaijee said, "As per information we collected, a Punjab police report says that only seven farmers committed suicide from the period of 2002 to 2006." In 2008, state revenue department had mentioned in a report compiled on the basis of details provided by deputy commissioners that 132 farmers committed suicide during five years starting with 2002. Jaijee said Punjab Agricultural University's economics department team came up with a figure of 2,890 suicides from 2000 to 2008 in just two districts. It stated that in Sangrur and Bathinda, 1,643 and 1,247 farmers had committed suicide, respectively. MASR claimed about 1,700 farmers committed suicide from 1988 to 2008 in just two subdivisions of Sangrur district. "Going by that, the suicide figure across Punjab could be an estimated 20,000 in all these years," said Jaijee. A Punjab Farmers' Commission study had said that about 2,000 committed suicide in the state every year. Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ugrahan) has claimed more than 40,000 farmers committed suicide in these years. Jaijee added, "Punjab has outclassed even Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh as data collected by MASR bares the truth on these suicides. In Maharashtra, 34,659 farmers committed suicide from 2000 to 2008 out of rural population of 5.58 crore. That comes to 62 farmer suicides per lakh population. Likewise, 18,396 farmers committed suicide in Andhra Pradesh which has a rural population of 5.54 crore. The figure of suicides per lakh there comes up to 33. As compared to highly farmer suicide-prone states, Punjab recorded 24,732 in eight years (as per NGO and farmer union figures, which have not been authenticated by state) in a rural population of mere 1.61 crore. That works out to 154 farmer suicides per lakh." Farmer organization BKU's (Ugrahan) general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokri said, "Till now, Union government has meted out gross injustice to Punjab. That was proven when Punjab got just Rs 1,000 crore as assistance, when nationally, the figure was Rs 71,000 crore. That means a bit more than 1% of total assistance came the way of the state. Even if a parliamentary panel is formed, it will ignore Punjab." (Times of India 30/12/11)