09-30-2006, 01:43 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>'Farmers suicides blown out of proportion' </b>
Pioneer News Service | New Delhi
On a day when the Centre announced a massive package for bailing out farmers in distress, <b>Agriculture Secretary Radha Singh said the issue of farmer's suicide had been blown out of proportion.</b>
<b>"Data from 2003 showed that only 16 per cent of total suicides were from rural India. Earlier the data was no segregated (as per profession). So it is not true that suddenly there is an unprecedented rise in number of farmer's suicide," </b>she said at the valedictory session of the Agri-Marketing Summit 2006 organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here on Friday.
She urged the audience to view the suicides in this context and suicides should not be construed as widespread distress in agriculture. In 2003-04, the records of the National Crime Records Bureau show there were 187,000 suicides in India. "Of this, only 16 per cent were in rural India. This debunks the current perception that there has been an unprecedented rise in the number of farmers' suicides in India," said Singh. There should not even be one suicide, she added.
Her statement shocked many who were present. Farmer's suicide is an expression of acute distress among poor farmers, regardless of the percentage of suicide. Far too many farmers earn too little, a fact established by government surveys. Suicide is just a tip of the iceberg, and a crude guage of the state of distress. The statement perhaps exhibits a bureaucratic mindset in a state of denial or blaming media for blowing the issue out of proportion.
She added that the Government is seriously looking into the causes of farmer's indebtedness and addressing availability of credit for farmers. Farmers are dependent on private moneylenders for credit.<b> The Government hopes to increase the share of loans from public institutions from 45 to 70 per cent. </b>
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WOw Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!
During NDA rule, Congress was screaming from roof top regarding Farmers sucide etc... now they are calling it fake or lie or whatever..
Pioneer News Service | New Delhi
On a day when the Centre announced a massive package for bailing out farmers in distress, <b>Agriculture Secretary Radha Singh said the issue of farmer's suicide had been blown out of proportion.</b>
<b>"Data from 2003 showed that only 16 per cent of total suicides were from rural India. Earlier the data was no segregated (as per profession). So it is not true that suddenly there is an unprecedented rise in number of farmer's suicide," </b>she said at the valedictory session of the Agri-Marketing Summit 2006 organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here on Friday.
She urged the audience to view the suicides in this context and suicides should not be construed as widespread distress in agriculture. In 2003-04, the records of the National Crime Records Bureau show there were 187,000 suicides in India. "Of this, only 16 per cent were in rural India. This debunks the current perception that there has been an unprecedented rise in the number of farmers' suicides in India," said Singh. There should not even be one suicide, she added.
Her statement shocked many who were present. Farmer's suicide is an expression of acute distress among poor farmers, regardless of the percentage of suicide. Far too many farmers earn too little, a fact established by government surveys. Suicide is just a tip of the iceberg, and a crude guage of the state of distress. The statement perhaps exhibits a bureaucratic mindset in a state of denial or blaming media for blowing the issue out of proportion.
She added that the Government is seriously looking into the causes of farmer's indebtedness and addressing availability of credit for farmers. Farmers are dependent on private moneylenders for credit.<b> The Government hopes to increase the share of loans from public institutions from 45 to 70 per cent. </b>
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WOw Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!
During NDA rule, Congress was screaming from roof top regarding Farmers sucide etc... now they are calling it fake or lie or whatever..