Kanpur farmers threaten suicide

KANPUR: Caught in a cycle of debt and crop failures, hundreds of farmers in and around Kanpur have threatened to commit suicide. The farmers, who face burgeoning loans, are being chased by tehsil revenue collection teams to pay up. Defaulters are being carried off to jail.
About 60 farmers, who have defaulted on loans taken to purchase seed, fertilisers and other farm equipment, have already landed in different tehsil jails, including at Rasoolabad, Hjatampur, Billhuar, Kanpur and Bhognipur.
Hundreds others have gone underground, spending sleepless nights away from their homes to avoid arrests.
The odds have forced them to contemplate suicide if the government does not provide them with relief.
Raju, a farmer from Khatharua village who is in Kanpur tehsil jail, told Times News Network he had taken a loan of Rs 4,500 to buy a buffalo. "I incurred huge loss due to the drought last year... how can I repay my loan when we don''t even get the production cost of our crops?" he laments.
Wahana, another farmer from Bidhnoo, took a loan of Rs 25,000 about five years ago and subsequently failed to repay it. He is now in Kanpur tehsil jail.
"I was arrested at a time when I had to make arrangements for my daughters'' marriage," Wahana said. "This has tarnished my image in the village and its neighbourhood. I do not know what to do now, kill myself?"
Scores of other farmers are locked in various tehsil jails of Kanpur city and Kanpur dehat for similar reasons.
Hundreds of defaulting farmers like Chunna Singh of Bidhnoo, who had taken a loan of Rs 4,000 in 1995 and failed to repay it, are living like vagabonds.
"I have not visited my home for the last one week. I am seeking refuge in a relative''s house in the city. I am getting regular information that the tehsil team is hunting for me," Chunna said. He now has to pay Rs 20,000 including the interest.
Chandra Shekhar Krishi Samiti head Anil Kumar Katiyar said about 15 farmers of Shivrajpur were arrested this month for nonpayment of dues.
He said the government should find a solution instead of "throwing" farmers behind bars. Katiyar said: "Shivrajpur lies in the potato belt. The farmers here are incurring huge losses due to low returns on their produce this year. How can you expect them to repay their dues under such circumstances?"
But district magistrate Arvind Kumar said: "The government had stayed recovery of dues from the farmers only till March this year. Now the administration is free to recover it. Crop growers were given a deadline which has lapsed."