Fwd: MAN-MADE AGRARIAN CRISIS IN WEST BENGAL - FARMERS' SUICIDES

[W A Laskar]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Dipak De <dipa...@yahoo.com>
Date: 22 January 2012 23:17
Subject: MAN-MADE AGRARIAN CRISIS IN WEST BENGAL - FARMERS' SUICIDES
To: "admi...@amnesty.org" <admi...@amnesty.org>

TO 

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL AND 

OTHER HUMAN RIGHTS NGOs, Defenders/Activists

REPORT: 

FARMERS’ SUICIDE DUE TO MAMATA MADE AGRARIAN CRISIS IN BENGAL – EGREGIOUS VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

 

                    It is the empirical evidence that the present AGRARIAN CRISIS in West Bengal resulted from a man-made well-designed programme created for the benefit/interest of the middle-men/ unscrupulous agents at the cost of disaster of the farmers’ families, loss of lives of the farmers, hindering the easy flow of education of the children of the farmers’ families, devastation of the social life of the farmers’, menacing trauma on the mind of the farmers’ etc. Mamata Banerjee is the President/Chairman of the Trinomul Congress Party. This party alliance with National Congress Party assumed office in West Bengal on 20^th May 2011 and Mamata Banerjee is the Chief Minister. From the activities of this Government, it appears that she is controlling all affairs of the Government of West Bengal.

 

                   West Bengal Government under leadership of Mamata Banerjee made the well-designed programme against the interest of the farmers of West Bengal and allowed the middle-men/unscrupulous agents freely to squeeze the peasants of West Bengal as their desire. At present when the spate of debt-ridden farmers’ suicide is the phenomena in West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee on 19^th January 2012 decried, unpleasant truths are hastily brushed aside, as if by so doing the real state of affairs could also be abolished and said “THE SUICIDES WERE BECAUSE OF PERSONAL REASONS - THEY WERE EITHER AILING OR ALCOHOLIC - THEY COULDN’T REPAY THEIR LOANS.”  Chief Minister and her associates are egregiously violating human rights conspicuously for the benefit of the middle-men/ unscrupulous agents.  The rumour - the leaders and party workers of Trinomul Congress Party are collecting crores of Rupees from the middle-men/ unscrupulous agents, is to be investigated.                      

                 Debt-ridden farmers’ suicide unabated in West Bengal – Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee trampled the truth to put-aside the egregious violation of human rights committed by her and her associates.         

                   Man-made crisis, rather to say Government of West Bengal led by Mamata Banerjee made crisis, engulfed the agricultural sector in West Bengal with ulterior motive and for this reason farmers killing themselves, now a day it has become almost a daily occurrence, as they are unable to bear the huge-debts which have been taken solely for agricultural purposes.

                   On 17^th January 2012, Tuesday, a small farmer Ganesh Durlav, 45, of Haripal, village Bandipur, in Hooghly district drank pesticide (Thimet). Wife of Ganesh Durlav said - her husband has 5 Kottah own land and besides this land he cultivated paddy and potato in a two bighas of land – he was unable to sell rice as no-one came to buy; selling the potato he incurred loss, he had taken a loan of Rs.20,000/- from Credit society and money-lender and there was no way to repay the loan amount.   

 

                    Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;

                     Where knowledge is free; Where the world has not been broken up into fragments

                     by narrow domestic walls;

                     Where words come out from the depth of truth;

                     Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;

                      Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of

                    dead habit;

                     Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action;

                     Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

-          Rabindranath Tagore in “Gitanjali”.

                     The General Assembly of the United Nations on 10^th December 1948 adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), it was an historic act, one of the aims/purposes, destined to bring peace to people including peace of the peasants towards the liberation of the peasants from the unjustified oppression, conspiracy, constraint through the contribution of the Nations of the world and Government of West Bengal is the part of Nation India. Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) reads – “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and the security of person.” It is the duty of every Nations of the world to show their adherence to UDHR by using every means within their power solemnly to publicize the text of the Declaration and to cause it to be distributed, disseminated, displayed, read and expounded without distinction based on the political status of countries or territories. India as a member of the Commission of Human Rights played a prominent role in the drafting of the UDHR. However, UDHR does not have the force of law, though its moral influence is substantial. Enforcement of economic, social and cultural rights could only be achieved progressively depending upon the available resources of the country.

 

“SECURITY OF PERSON” of UDHR

                  It is the obligation of the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to ‘security of person’ i.e. secure the life, family of the farmers by extending every possible help to the agricultural sector of West Bengal when there is the fact that the cost of the agricultural product/input price is higher this year in comparison with last year mainly due to increase cost of FERTILIZER by the decision of the UPA government in New Delhi (Central Government) wherein Trinomul Congress Party is an allied force i.e. Mamata Banerjee, Manomohan Singh and others of the UPA Government (Central Government) have slashed the fertilizer subsidy in the year 2011 and as a result the cost of the FERTILIZER has been increased. The increase of cost of FERTILIZER constitutes a threat to the farmers. To minimize the threat to farmers, it is the duty/responsibility of the welfare government to take effective measures by providing subsidy to the farmers or other means of monetary help. In this grave situation of immediate threat to the farmers of West Bengal, it was necessary of the Government of West Bengal, on an urgent basis, the collection of information relating to evidence of depth of the threat to the farmers. It is recognized that human rights friendly component is absent to support the farmers in distress in West Bengal.        

              Secondly, last year i.e. in 2011, the Central Government i.e. the UPA Government of Mamata Banerjee, Manomohan Singh and others, had announced the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for a quintal of Rice was Rs.1,050/-. But the previous Left Front Government of West Bengal announced a Bonus of Rs.50/- per quintal of Rice, so the procurement price of Rice per quintal was Rs.1,100/-.  

                  This year i.e. in 2012, the Central Government i.e. the UPA Government of Mamata Banerjee, Manomohan Singh and others, has announced the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for a quintal of Rice was Rs.1,080/-. But the present Mamata Banerjee led Government of West Bengal has not announced any Bonus; so the procurement price of Rice per quintal is Rs.1,080/-. IT IS THE PICTURE THAT in the year 2011, procurement price of Rice per quintal was Rs.1,100/- BUT in the year 2012 procurement price of Rice per quintal is Rs.1,080/- in spite of input cost is increased due to, mainly, increase cost of Fertilizer. 

                Thirdly, it is the system/ machinery/practical arrangements of the Government of West Bengal for procuring the agricultural crops by involving the Government Agencies such as BENFED, CONFED, ECSC (Essential Commidities Supply Corporation) and credit societies (about 26,500 PACCS – Primary Agriculture Credit Co-operative Societies), Rice Mills.

                 Mamata Banerjee led Government of West Bengal has made no arrangement for the effective functioning of the BENFED, CONFED, ECSC and PACCS. Actually the BENFED, CONFED, ECSC were inactivated and only 500 PACCS are functioning out of about 26,500 PACCS in this crucial condition in agrarian sector of West Bengal. BENFED and CONFED have lack of funds to procure the targeted crops – actually presence of these agencies is nothing but sign-board.  According to Newspapers - to meet procurement target, the Government of West Bengal should allot around Rs.840/- crore, part of which will be borne by the FCI (Food Corporation of India) but only Rs.60/- crore has been allotted so far. On the other hand, Rice Mills are not available everywhere and many of the places location of the Rice Mills are far away from the residence of the farmers.

                     Fourthly, in the year 2010, there was bumper production of Potatoes and the sell price was scaled down and to protect the farmers that the previous Government (Left Front Government) had taken Human Rights friendly measures and purchased 10 lakh metric tonne of Potatoes. For this functioning, at that time the farmers of West Bengal, to some extent, were relieved from the crisis.

                       BUT in the year 2011, Mamata Banerjee led Government of West Bengal has made no measures to protect the farmers who produced potatoes and to prevent price-crash. With the bumper harvest of potato, the farmers were bound to accept distress sell in the month of December 2011 and even, according to news, they had to sell one kilo of Potato against Rs.0.70 (seventy paise) to Rs.1.30 (in Burdwan district at Rs.70/- per 50 kg packet). According to newspaper - there are nearly one lakh tonne of potato lying unsold in 405 cold storages across the state. The cold storage need to be cleared now for the new crop. Farmers are now selling the crop for whatever price they get.                                                

STATEMENT OF CHIEF MINISTER MAMATA BANERJEE

                The Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has gone on record to say that there has been no debt-related farmer suicide in the state. Most of the Newspapers in West Bengal are supporting the activities of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee by all means but it is also the fact that many of the debt-ridden farmers’ suicide cases are also appearing in these newspapers. According to these Newspapers, Mamata Banerjee in a meeting on 19^th January 2012, Thursday (at Netaji Indor Stadium, Kolkata to the Trinomul Congress Party workers and leaders - Panchayati Raj Convention) denied the fact that farmers are committing suicide because they aren’t getting value for their produce and she said –

              “NOT A SINGLE FARMER DIED DUE TO IT, THE DEATHS OF 12 PERSONS WERE DUE TO PERSONAL DEBTS RUNNING INTO CRORES,”

             “THE CULTIVATORS WHO HAD KILLED THEMSELVES RECENTLY WERE EITHER ALCHOLIC OR AILING,”

              “THE SUICIDES WERE BECAUSE OF PERSONAL REASONS - THEY WERE EITHER AILING OR ALCOHOLIC - THEY COULDN’T REPAY THEIR LOANS.”

                Mamata Banerjee also pointed out that some farmers had taken “crores” in loans. IS IT POSSIBLE THAT A SMALL/MERGINAL/MIDDLE FARMER HAS TAKEN CRORES OF RUPEES AS LOAN? From the statement on 19^th January 2012 – it is clear that Mamata Banerjee had submitted concocted/false, fictitious stories to put-aside the egregious violation of human rights for her and her associate activities. 

THE FACT

                  But according to Newspapers, on the same day i.e. on 19^th January, 2012, Thursday, a debt-ridden farmer of Burdwan district, Galsi resident Sushanta Ghosh,35, committed suicide by drinking pesticide at his home. His father said – his son used to cultivate paddy on eight bighas, had failed to get the right price for paddy – my son had failed to repay debts amounting to Rs.1.45 lakh accrued over the past three years. He had been sold some of his wife’s jewellery – he was depressed. Nephew of Sushanta Ghosh said – uncle was forced to sell two-and-a-half quintals of his 40-quintal produce to middlemen after the local rice mills refused to buy his paddy.   

                Tapas Majhi, 35, a small farmer of Suluntu village in Purbasthali of district Burdwan, hanged himself from a mango tree on 14^th January 2012. His brother Gadadhar said the deceased had debt, had taken a loan Rs.30,000/- to buy seeds and fertilizers, and he was forced to sell paddy to middlemen at a lower price. He had cultivated paddy and coriander but could not repay the loan as he did not get proper price for his crops. A 25-cottah land was the main source of income for his family of four. District Burdwan is the rice-bowl of West Bengal.

                 Rabindra Nath Patra, 28, a marginal farmer of district Burdwan, resident of Ghanashyampur village under Begpur gram panchayat, took pesticide on Saturday 14^th January 2012, and he was admitted to Kalna subdivisional hospital where he died on 15^th January, 2012. His wife said – “My husband cultivated potato on 5-cottah of land. He had taken loan from a self- help-group and had stocked up potatoes in the cold storage against potato bonds. But he was driven to frustration when the potato bonds failed to earn money.”

               Haridas Ratna, a small farmer of district Maldah, hanged himself on 12^th January, 2012. He did not get proper price for paddy. His wife wrote a letter to Block Development Officer, Habibpur, Malda on 13^th January 2012 and mentioned that his husband took loan from two Societies and from one agency and he was also abused by one loan-lender on 10^th January 2012.

                  Prasanta Mondal, 20, a small farmer of village Ketugram in Burdwan district, hanged himself on 20^th January 2012. His father said – they have 5 bighas of agricultural land, as the prices of Rice is low so about 35-40 sacks of Rice is lying unsold in the house, potato also is also lying unsold, he has loan of Rs.21,000/- in a Bank and able to repay only Rs.6,000/-; in this grim situation his son demanded to him of Rs.20,000/- to purchase two buffalos for agricultural purpose but he was unable to hand-over this amount to his son.    

                 One of the pro-Mamata Banerjee Newspaper (in Bengali language) mentioned –

              Cost of production of 40 kg of rice is Rs.550/- but the farmers are getting sell price of Rs.450/- and loss is Rs.100/- per 40 kg of rice.                

                          

              THE FARMERS are, in distress sell/ forced to sell to the middle-men (unscrupulous agents) Rs.700/- to Rs.840/- per quintal of rice. SO LOSS IS EVEN AROUND RS.400/- PER QUINTAL OF RICE OF SOME FARMERS comparison with Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Rs.1,080/- as the Government of West Bengal inactivated the Government Agencies like BENFED, CONFED, ECSC and credit societies (PACCS) with ulterior motive i.e. allowed the middle-men (unscrupulous agents) to act freely in midst of debt-ridden farmers of West Bengal.  Government of West Bengal has no human rights friendly approach to the debt-ridden farmers of West Bengal state. Non-remunerative price for paddy and potatoes wreak havoc on the farming sector.

              

              Government of India ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966 (ICCPR). Article 6(1) of ICCPR reads – “Every human being has the inherent right to life. This right shall be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life.”

               Article 21 of Constitution of India reads – “No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law.”

 

                The curse of huge debts for agriculture production brought upon West Bengal’s rice bowl (Burdwan district) by falling paddy and potato prices. The crisis is likely to aggravate in March 2012 when the potato crop is to be reaped.             

               According to Newspapers, West Bengal Government under Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has systematically snatched away the right to sell crops of the farmers at a proper price and Hon’ble Governor of West Bengal is the silent spectator and non-challant like a stoic. For these reasons, during three months, since the middle of October 2011 there is a spate of farmers’ suicide in Bengal as the farmers unable to put up with the debt burden, repay the loan by selling crops.  The middle-men/ unscrupulous agents are offering astonishingly low price for the paddy to the farmers and the Government of West Bengal tacitly withdrawn the agencies who are used to procure paddy from the cultivators/farmers and/or save the cultivators/farmers from distress sell. As usual, as routine work, the spokespersons of Government refuted the facts and claiming that farmers are committing suicide for family feud/dispute, family problem, mental depression, they were not farmers, there is no news etc. inconsistent, illogical remarks.

                According to newpapers, several farmers especially in rice bowl Burdwan, have committed suicide apparently after failing to get the minimum support price for paddy. Several debt-ridden farmers had been forced to sell their produce at a lower prices to middlemen.   

                               

                Name of the farmers who committed suicide        Date of suicide            District  

1.      Dhana Tudu                                              12^th October 2011       Burdwan

2.      Sambhu Das                                              14^th October 2011       Burdwan

3.      Budhi Tudu                                               16^th October 2011      Burdwan

4.      Madhai Ghosh                                           6^th November 2011     Burdwan

5.      Bhavani Porel                                            15^th November 2011   Burdwan

6.      Safar Molla                                               18^th November 2011    Burdwan

7.      Tarun sar                                                   24^th November 2011   Burdwan

8.      Nayanmani Paul                                        7^th December 2011       Bakura

9.      Utpal Goswami                                          8^th December 2011      Burdwan

10.  Barun Paul                                                20^th December 2011        Burdwan

11.  Rabin Barman                                          21^st December 2011         Jalpaiguri

12.  Susen Kumar Ghosh                                 28^th December 2011        Burdwan

13.  Amiya Saha                                               1^st January 2012             Burdwan

14.  Bodhan Hazra                                           2^nd January 2012            Burdwan

15.  Arindya Mal                                              7^th January 2012            Birbhum

16.  Kenaram Sarkar                                        7^th January 2012             Malda

17.  Sankar Mandi                                            9^th January 2012             Burdwan

18.  Gopinath Bauri                                          9^th January 2012            Bakura

19.  Haridas Ratna                                            12^th January 2012          Maldah

20.  Tapas Majhi                                               14^th January 2012          Burdwan

21.  Rabindra Nath Patra                                  15^th January 2012          Burdwan

22.  Ganesh Durlav                                            17^th January 2012         Hooghly

23.  Sushanta Ghosh                                          19^th January 2012         Burdwan

24.  Prasanta Mondal                                         20^th January 2012         Burdwan

 

                   Government of West Bengal targeted to collect 20 lakh metric tonne of Rice. Out of which 9 lakh metric tonne of Rice would collect by BENFED, CONFED, ECSC and PACCS. Rest 11 lakh metric tonne of Rice would collect by Rice mills and FCI will collect the Rice from the Rice mills. ECSC is targeted to collect 6 lakh metric tonne of Rice out of 9 lakh metric tonne of Rice i.e. programme of Government of West Bengal is - BENFED and CONFED, jointly, would collect 3 lakh metric tonne of Rice, ECSC would collect 6 lakh metric tonne of Rice and Rice mills would collect 11 lakh metric tonne of Rice.

 

                According to newspaper, the Government Agencies - BENFED and CONFED have not started collection till the middle of January 2012. AT the middle of January 2012, about 10% of the targeted collection i.e. only about 2 lakh tonnes of Rice has been collected. In the remote locations/pockets, there is almost no procurement centre of any agency. Chief Secretary to the Government of West Bengal Samar Ghosh admitted that BENFED and CONFED could not start the procurement process on time because of lack of funds.   

              In a newspaper mentioned on 21^st January 2012 as – Three Bengal agencies tasked with procuring paddy directly from farmers and mill owners have been able to meet just 10 per cent of the their target of 20 lakh tonnes because of lack of funds and inadequate procurement centres.  

                Previous Left Front Government engaged 5,500 PACCS but the new Government engaged only 500 PACCS so far. Rice mills are not available everywhere and in some places distance of the Rice mill is about 15 kilo meters to 20 kilo meters from the residence of the farmers. The carrying cost to reach at the Rice mill with paddy is an extra burden to the farmers. According to news, PACCS are procuring paddy successfully on behalf of Governments in Punjab and Haryana.

                Government of West Bengal has fixed the collection price of Rs.1,080/- per quintal and the payment is to be made by cheque. The Government is not procuring paddy as required. The Government has created artificial problem and can be said it is man-made crisis for which the farmers are committing suicide as they are forced to sell paddy to middlemen at a lower price. 

                  According to human rights philosophy – the burden of debt of the farmers must be alleviated so that the spiraling effect whereby the poor/marginal/middle farmers continue to get poorer can be halted. There is required the change of attitude of the Government of West Bengal towards the poor/marginal/middle farmers and need to take measures for the welfare activities for them – it need sustained effort and a long-term outlook. It is required a thorough study of the agrarian crisis in all respect and apply corrective measures to offset the devastating effects of debt-ridden and if possible, a thorough going reform of the system of procurement can be recommended.  

            Newspaper Hindu published on 31^st January 2008 as – Twelve families, mostly children and widows, of indebted farmers who committed suicide in Punjab, a prosperous agricultural state, are here in a solidarity march. They will wear T-shirts with the message – “Every farmer counts; Every child dreams”. The children had to give up their studies and are struggling to keep the local moneylender at bay. “Nothing can be done for you” is the common refrain they have been hearing from the local administration for years, even as the loans their farmer fathers took multiply with huge interest. One farmer’s wife burnt herself to death rather than face the ignominy of having the artiya (money-lender) on her doorstep every week. Tears welled up in his eyes as 16-year-old Dharmendra from Chotia village recounted the death of this father, who consumed pesticide – from the article “Agriculture: Farmers’ suicide – 2008 (January to December 2008) compiled by K. Samu, Human Rights Documentation, Indian Social Institute, New Delhi.  

                    NGOs protest march over farmer suicides – New Delhi January 30: Several non-governmental organizations  including Nav Danya will march in protest against the unabated suicides of farmers across the country and against the failure of governments in checking the trend. The march will start from Mandi House and will end at Krishi Bhavan where they will sit in protest – from above.

               All human rights are universal, indivisible and interdependent and interrelated. It is the duty of the states regardless of their political, economic and cultural systems, to promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedom. Widespread poverty among the masses is a great cause of denial of human rights. Poverty destroys human dignity and without human dignity there can be no human rights or the capacity to fight against the denial of human rights.

               

                 In this grim/horrid situation, when the farmers of West Bengal are in queue to commit suicide, I would like to urge you to raise your voice.              

                                                                                

Date: 22/01/2012                                                          Dipak De

                                                           [Human Rights activist; M.Phil in Human Rights;

         Member of Amnesty International; On line volunteer of United Nations on Human Rights]

              

                   

 

 

 

 

 

--
W A Laskar
Independent Journalist and Human Rights Defender
with Barak Human Rights Protection Committee,
http://bhrpc.wordpress.com
15, Panjabari Road, Darandha, Six Mile,
Guwahati-781037, Assam, India
Cell: +919401942234
Visit my blog at www.rightspeaks.blogspot.com
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