Hyderabad, April 10
Jolted by continuing suicides by debt-ridden farmers, the Central Government has decided to launch a special economic package to help mitigate their plight.Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, who discussed the proposals for the package at a meeting here today of Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala and Karnataka, other ministers and officials, said the package would be formally launched in two months.
The measure is expected to cost billions of rupees to the Central Exchequer but the minister did not give any figure.
“The proposals include providing insurance cover for agriculture, cattle and health,” Mr Pawar told reporters. However, compensation to the bereaved families would not be included in the package.
The special assistance would cover 35 districts in the four states that have had the highest number of suicides in the last five years. Pawar said that these states had recorded more than 8,900 suicides between 2001 and 2006.
At the meeting, Agriculture Secretary Radha Singh made an elaborate presentation on what the ministry proposed to do.
Giving the suicide figures over the past five years, she said Karnataka had recorded the highest number of suicides, 5,910, followed by Andhra Pradesh with 1,835, Maharashtra 981 and Kerala 201.
Pawar said he would meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, other ministers and Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission to give a final shape to the package.
“Then we will go to the Union Cabinet for its approval. I desire that the entire process is completed in one-and-a-half-months and the package is executed in two months’ time.”
The proposed package would cover credit, insurance, irrigation, agricultural productivity, lack of extension services and lack of marketing infrastructure.
