By Quaid Najmi

Mumbai, Mar 19 (IANS): Exactly 35 years since the first officially-recorded farmer suicide in India was recorded in Maharashtra, the dismal trend has not stopped as the country's food-providers continue to remain at the crossroads of economic crises and development, say top farmers leaders.

It was on March 19, 1986, that Sahebrao Karpe, a graduate, killed his wife and four minor children -- the youngest 8-months old -- before ending his own life at their home in Chilgavhan village of Wardha district in eastern Maharashtra.

That set off the disturbing trend which spread to adjoining Yavatmal, which now has the dubious distinction of being known as "the cradle of farmers' suicide" in the country, with thousands of farm widows and orphans of different age groups eking out an existence in practically every third house.

Karpe, in his late 30s, owned a plot of agricultural land and a house, but was driven to taking the extreme measure after suffering huge crop losses and consequently defaulting on his debt payments to local loan-sharks.

In a brief note prior to his bloody action, he had ominously said: "It is impossible to survive as a farmer."

Many farmers families in Vidarbha - who recalled the tragedy - observed a token fast and offered prayers in the Karpe family's memory, while ruing on how the situation has not changed much for the tillers of land in 35 years.

"It is a very sad and haunting incident in the country's history. Since then, we are witnessing farmers' suicides not only in Maharashtra but even other parts of India," a grim-faced Kishore Tiwari, President of Vasantrao Naik Sheti Swavlamban Mission (VNSSM), told IANS.

Tiwari, who is accorded a MoS status, pointed out how, until recently, these farmland deaths were not even acknowledged as "suicides" but dismissed as routine deaths in government records.

All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) President Dr Ashok Dhawale said that in 35 years, the situation "has moved only in a negative direction" and as per official figures, the country has seen over 400,000 farmers' suicides between 1995-2020.

"This is unprecedented in Independent India, and probably in any other agriculture economies of the world. The situation was bad all these decades but has apparently worsened in the 7 years of the Bharatiya Janata Party government with suicides doubling now," Dhawale told IANS.

Referring to his own tours to the worst-hit farm areas around the country, the AIKS chief said that they found many lakhs of peasants who resorted to "distress sale" of their farmlands and overnight became labourers to repay their debts.

The situation got aggravated since the early 1990s, thanks to the new-liberal agriculture and agri-finance policies which have barely benefitted the peasantry, he contended.

"There was a steep increase in input costs as subsidies were gradually slashed, corporates and MNCs entered the agri-sector in a big way, there was no improvement in remuneration which trapped the farmers in the 'scissors of debts', and new policies with many changes in the credit laws by banks and financials institutions with finance largely going to the corporates," Dhawale said.

Adding to the woes is the regular pattern of natural calamities, droughts or floods without proper farmer-friendly insurance schemes and the BJP government designed it such that it benefits insurers more, he claimed.

Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana President Raju Shetti said despite such a huge number of known and a large number of unknown suicides, successive governments have not taken a lesson, especially the current regime at the Centre.

"It's the adamant BJP government which introduced the 3 new farm laws without guarantee of MSP that is responsible for the massive farmers' agitation outside Delhi and other parts of India. Today, barely 6 per cent farmers are availing the benefits of MSP," Shetti told IANS.

Demanding that MSP should be legalised, the former MP pointed out that the MSP policy introduced 3 years ago for the sugarcane industry by the very same BJP has resulted in a sea change, both for the farmers and the customers, without major price fluctuations.

"The BJP has also largely ignored agriculture processing and exports which can help maintain market balances, but instead led huge price fluctuations that hastened the farmers' ruin," Shetti said.

Veteran social activist Jatin Desai feels its high time the Centre "paid attention to the burning issues of the ryots to ensure fair returns for their labour and produce, failing which the situation will only worsen in the coming years".