It took 600 suicides to jolt Govt up

New Delhi: It has taken 600 farmer suicides in Maharashtra's Vidharba region to attract the Central Government's attention.

So even as Prime Minsiter Manmohan Singh begins his visit to the suicide valley with a relief package in tow, the question is whether it's coming a little too late.

Recurrent droughts, crop failure, rising debts and falling prices have been the major reasons behind the alarming spurt in farmer suicides.

Also, a good harvest is no insurance against suicides either and even today, the Indian farmer remains completely at the mercy of the errant monsoons and the volatile markets.

Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, who will accompany the PM to Vidarbha, had just this to say. “India is going through a severe agrarian crisis and yes, even if there is single suicide death, it disturbs everybody.”

Ahead of this visit, Pawar also detailed some features of the proposed relief package. "We would be thinking of credit, irrigation, alternative occupations like diary, pig-rearing etc," he said.

Stung by criticism that the UPA Government has done little for the common man, Manmohan Singh will spend two days in Vidharba.

The man who put India on the reforms highway would now be trying to save farmers' lives.

But critics continue remain skeptical and have taken the Government’s assurances with a pinch of salt.

After all, the Rs 1,000-crore plus relief package announced by the Maharashtra government in December 2005 made little difference to the plight of farmers.

"Sharad Pawar has not visited Vidharba in the past six months," President, Vidharbha Jan Andolan Samiti, Kishore Tiwari said.

Many government teams have visited the suicide belt of Vidharba in the past six months alone, many expectations were raised only to be dashed, many promises made, only to be broken.

With the Prime Minister and the Agriculture Minister visiting them, farmers are praying they would get some relief and some hope to carry on.

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