Seven farmer suicides in 6 days in MP; Kamal Nath attacks govt

Crop damage, lack of compensation reasons for suicides, says ex-CM

shivraj-singh-kamal-nath Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and former CM Kamal Nath

With reports of suicides of four more farmers in Madhya Pradesh, the toll has gone up to seven in six days, prompting ex-chief minister Kamal Nath to launch a fresh attack on the BJP government in the state.

Nath, who is also the chief of the MP Congress Committee, has said that the suicides were because of crop damage due to excessive rainfall and flood and failure of the government to pay compensation.

“After Sehore, Niwari, Vidisha and Chhindwara, farmer brothers have died by suicide in Khategaon of Dewas and Bandol of Seoni due to crop damage and lack of compensation. When will the government wake up?” Kamal Nath tweeted.

Of the seven suicides reported in six days, three are from Sehore—the home district of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. While two suicides were reported in the district on September 2 and 3, the third suicide was reported on night of September 4, when 22-year-old Surendra Verma killed himself in Khedipura village of Icchawar tehsil.

His father Lakhanlal told local media that the family owned two acres of land and they were totally dependent on it. However, the soybean crop on the farm was totally destroyed and Surendra was upset about the loan taken from private moneylenders, too.

On September 5, Balbir Lodhi, 35, a farmer from Dangarwara village in Shamsabad tehsil of Vidisha district killed himself by hanging. The farmer did not own any land in his name but would help his mother on the four bigha farmland. He would also take farm on contract, but this year did not do so. The soybean crop on his mother’s farm got damaged and also Balbir had a loan of Rs 4.5 lakh, local sources said.

The suicide by farmer Santram Dhimar of village Badiwada of Chand tehsil in Chhindwara district happened on September 3, but was reported on September 6. According to sources, the farmer owned 1.5 acres of land, but the sudden rise in levels of Pench River caused damage to his crop. Also, the fishes from the forest department pond that he commercially fished in were swept off due to excessive rain, causing him losses. The farmer is also said to have taken loan from two self-help groups and his friends worth Rs 50,000.

Another suicide was reported in village Pipalya Nankar in Khategaon tehsil of Dewas district on Sunday (September 6) when 56-year-old farmer Laxman Singh Chouhan consumed pesticide on his farm in the morning. His son Shivraj said that his father had not gone to the farm for a few days, but suddenly visited on Sunday and was probably upset by looking at the damaged crop, and he consumed pesticide.

The report of suicide by a 75-year-old farmer Himmat Singh of Mothar village in Seoni tehsil of Seoni district came in only on September 7, though the incident occurred five days ago. The in-charge of Bandol police station, Dilip Pancheshwar, told THE WEEK that the matter seemed to be of domestic dispute over the death of a calf, though the probe was still on. He said that the family initially did not inform authorities that Singh had consumed some poisonous substance. He also said that Singh owed merely Rs 39,000 as loan and this did not seem to be a reason for the suicide.

📣 The Week is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@TheWeekmagazine) and stay updated with the latest headlines