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Odisha farmer dies by suicide over loan burden, failed crop
Following the farmer’s death, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Kuchinda, Nauri Nayak, visited the Rohidas family and assured that his loan will be waived-off and the family will be paid an ex-gratia of at least ₹10 lakh.
A 45-year-old farmer in western Odisha district of Sambalpur died on Friday, two days after he consumed insecticide, allegedly due to crop failure and his poor harvest selling for very low price, said his family.
45-year-old Kaibalya Rohidas, a farmer at Kudagunderpur village of Sambalpur district was under severe mental stress due to the losses he had suffered following crop failure. “My father produced two quintal paddy in the last Rabi season, but he could sell only 45 kg of his produce at [the] Minimum Selling Price (MSP). He suffered a huge loss amounting to ₹1.5 lakh as he had to sell the remaining paddy stock at a very cheap price, causing him huge mental distress,” alleged his son Dasarath Rohidas.
The son said his father’s stress was compounded since he had to return an outstanding loan of at least ₹72,000 taken from a cooperative society to buy a power tiller.
Following the farmer’s death, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Kuchinda, Nauri Nayak, visited the Rohidas family and assured that his loan will be waived-off and the family will be paid an ex-gratia of at least ₹10 lakh.
“Many farmers suffered crop losses this season due to unexpected rains. Many farmers had to resort to distress selling of paddy. Kaibalya may have taken the extreme step under mental stress,” said Nayak.
Dhankauda’s block development officer (BDO) Basant Hati said the farmer’s death will be inquired into to establish the exact reason.
In February this year, a 50-year-old farmer from coastal Bhadrak district died by suicide after being pressurised by a non-banking finance company and a self help group that had loaned ₹50,000 to his family. The farmer’s family could not repay the loan due to the economic stress caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Last year, Odisha agriculture minister Arun Sahoo told the state Assmebly that 38 farmers had died by suicide in the state between 2016 and 2019. While 16 farmers ended their lives in 2016-17, 20 took the extreme step in 2017-18 and two in 2018-19. There is no government report on the number of farmer suicides in 2019-20 and 2020-21.
The National Crime Record Bureau, which for the first time in 2014 published the statistics for farmer suicides, had said that bankruptcy or indebtedness and family problems were major causes of suicides among male farmers. In case of female farmers’ suicides, farming-related issues were the main cause followed by family problems and marriage-related issues, it had said.
