18 June18, 2007 in adivasi, agrarian, ahmedabad, aid, america, american, analysis, andhra, andolan, architect, architecture, article, asia, asian, australian, bahujan, banks, bengal, berlin, bharat, bhopal, bhutan, bills, BJP, bollywood, brussels, bt cotton, buldhana, buniyad, bureaucrats, campaign, canalas, canberra, charity, children, chinese, christian, college, commerce, common, Common Minimum Program, companies, congress, continent, cotton, cow, credentials, cricket, curry, dairy, data, davos, demand, democracy, development, dharampal, disaster, displacement, distress, district, drought, earth, elections, employment, english, ethnic, europe, evangelical, famine, farm, farmer, farmers, figures, finance, fiscal, food, food security, forests, funds, german, government, gramin, human, humpty, hunger, husbands, imf, impact, india, indian, indigenous, indonesia, industrial, inflation, international, investment, investments, irrigated, jaipur, janjati, kamal nath, kannada, kerala, kisan, kolkata, krishak, krishi, left, leftists, letters, maharashtra, management, mantri, marathwada, marriage, medha, milk, misery, mismanagement, monetary, narmada, ncp, NDA, nippon, northern, ocean, opposition, orissa, package, pakistan, panchayat, paris, parliament, patkar, pensions, policies, political, politics, population, position, president, programme, proprietory, punjab, punjabi, rajasthan, rbi, rural distress, SAARC, samaj, starvation, state, states, strategy, struggle, students, studies, sufferings, sugar, suicdes, telugu, therapy, tracker, trackers, trade, trader, tribal, UPA, urban, varanasi, vidarbha, water, widows, women, wto, yavatmal, zubani
VIDARBHA JAN ANDOLAN SAMITI –
REGD. OFFICE: 11, TRISARAN SOCIETY, KHAMALA, NAGPUR – 440 025.
PH. 2282447/457 MOBILE-9422108846. vidarbha@gmail.com
REF: – FARMER’S SUICIDES
DATED-18th June, 2007
Ø HUNDERES OF FARMERS STARTED DHARANA AGITATION BEFORE BANK FOR FRESH CROP A S BANKS REFUSED TO GIVE FRESH CREDIT TO FARMERS IN VIDARBHA .
MOHAN DHARIA SUPPORT VIDARBHA FARMERS LOAN WAIVER STIR
NAGPUR-18th June 2007
HUNDREDS OF FARMERS STARTED AGITATION FOR FRESH CROP LOAN
The reported decision of NABARD that “The decline in credit allocation targets is surprising in the context of Centre’s directives to banks to double flow of credit to the agriculture sector in three years starting 2004-05,” VJAS leader kishor tiwari informed .vidarbha farmers wills strongly protest and we will not only restore credit outlay to Rs.3, 300 crore but will have loan waiver too, kishor tiwari added.
Hundreds farmers of Yavatmal distt. started DHARANA AGITATION before Central Bank of India Pandharkawada Branch in Yavatmal District demanding fresh crop loan to every defaulter farmers will over due loan waiver,Kishor Tiwari said.
It is complete injustice with west dying cotton farmers as most of the growth in priority sector lending has gone to districts in Western Maharashtra and Marathwada, largely due to SHARAD PAWAR NCP base regions as compared to Vidarbha. For instance, Pune gets a 91% rise in its credit allocation target. NABARD is acting against the agriculture sector plan for six districts of Vidarbha was prepared based on the last three years’ trend though an upward revision of Rs 1,275 crore was made specially under the PM’s relief package during 2006-07.
“The PM’s package, among other factors, rightly appreciated lack of an extensive network of formal credit in Vidarbha as one of the root causes of suicides. Cutting down on credit allocations for this reason amounts to punishing Vidarbha for being chosen for the PM’s package, now cotton farmers are left at mercy of private money Leander inviting more farm suicides.
Now time has come for separating vidarbha state from maharashtra due complete contrast in fiscal condition and increasing backlog of region and we will press this demand in future too if we are being neglected and forced to kill ourselves ,kishor tiwari added.
CREDIT IS THE MAIN CAUSE OF RECENT SUICIDES
As bankers have stopped giving fresh crop loan and drop down the credit facility by 40% as per NABARD order ,debt starved cotton farmers are killing themselves, Kishor Tiwati Vidarbha Jan adndolan Samiti informed today.
When Indian finance minister submitted his annual budget for year 2007-08, it was warmly welcomed as “agriculture budget” but in result as per order of NABARD bankers association has taken decision to suddenly drop down the credit outlay for vidarbha cotton farmers .as reported the credit bonanza for farmers in Vidarbha seems to be over. After aggressive lending in the previous fiscal, the credit allocation targets set under the annual credit plan for 2007-08 for six districts of Vidarbha show a steep decline. Incidentally, these are the districts that have been reporting maximum farm suicides and where farmers’ dependence on illegal money-lenders has been one of the root causes .
Credit lending targets for six districts have been revised downwards compared to last year, as per recent decision of bankers association. In 2005-06 fiscal, banks disbursed credit of Rs 765 crore in six districts. But thanks to the PM’s package, the crop credit shot up to Rs 2,033 crore in the last fiscal. The current plan, however, allocates only Rs 1,683 crore for crop credit For instance, Yavatmal district, which has reported maximum suicides, has been earmarked a target of only Rs 434.96 crore which is almost a 30% decline from its 2006-07 target. Washim district shows a decline of 41%, Akola 36%, and Buldhana 38%, against the previous fiscal’s targets. District credit plans have been finalised on the basis of broad guidelines prepared by NABARD.
MOHAN DHARIA SUPPORT VIDARBHA FARMERS LOAN WAIVER STIR
veteran Gandhian leader mohan dharia has in letter to VJAS supported vidarbha Cotton farmers stir for fresh credit and complete loan waiver in fact he was indefinite fast last year and Maharashtra govt. promised to fulfill is demands but then back out.VJAS leader has announced that next step of agitation will be held before bank of maharashtra patan branch on 2nd july 2007, release added.
Kishor Tiwari
President
Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti
Email : vidarbha@gmail.com
Contact – 094221 08846
14 May14, 2007 in adivasi, agrarian, andolan, buniyad, campaign, policies, policy, political, politics, population, samaj, suicdes, suicides, tracker, trackers, trade, trader, vidarbha, women, zubani
Faced with the double whammy of
1. Large scale agrarian distress and
2. Falling food production,
top Indian agriculture strategists, and urban think tanks, have hit upon the most outrageous idea.
Drop the suicidal and indebted male farmers like hot potatos, and start professing a policy shift towards a gender bias favoring Mahila Kisan.
Indian Mahila Kisan Blog – http://www.mahilakisan.blogspot.com/
9 May9, 2007 in agrarian, america, asia, asian, banks, commerce, continent, cotton, democracy, demographics, disaster, drought, earth, elections, ethnic, europe, farm, farmer, farmers, figures, finance, fiscal, food, global, human, hunger, imf, india, indian, intermedia, international, kisan, knowledge, krishak, krishi, land, maharashtra, management, media, minister, misery, monetary, multimedia, news, parliament, policies, policy, politics, population, punjab, rbi, rural, sensex, starvation, stories, studies, suicides, trade, university, vidarbha, women, wto, zubani
– Gita, with her 4 month old kid
KOPA MANDAVI VISIT of VJAS – GITA WANTS ANSWERS FROM the Wise People of SOCIETY
Kishor Tiwari visited KopaMandvi, yet another village on National Highway no.7
“I was shocked to look at pathetic condition of 23 year widow of Sharvan Chichodkar, a Vidarbha cotton farmer, who committed suicide.
She asked “who killed my husband?”
Gita narrated .. “It was constant worry of family debt and food starvation, that forced him to kill himself.
After Sharvan, nobody is there to look after me.
I will have to feed my kid and old father in laws.
We are fed up with this crisis.”..
Sharvan is third farmer suicide in KopaMandvi.
More than 100 farm suicides in this belt in last 4 years.
All GM cotton growers in Vidarbha are in debt, as per Shri Kishor Tiwari of VJAS.
Indian Finance Minister, Shri Chidambaram, had high profile photos and media coverage with top Indian industrialists, like Ratan Tata, on eve of Congress 2007 Budget. He did not have even 10 minutes to spare for debt ridden and suicidal Vidarbha cotton farmers, as he was too busy putting final touches to the Sensex Budget in New Delhi.
More Blogs :
Rural Distress among Indian Women – http://zubani.blogspot.com/
Indian Farm Suicides Tracker – http://www.farmsuicides.blogspot.com/
Farm Debt and Indian Economy – http://www.farmdebt.blogspot.com/
Indian Farmers and Retail Sector – Agribusiness, AgriEmpire – http://www.farmretail.blogspot.com/
Indian Prime Minister Cotton Farmer Relief Package -http://www.pmpackage.blogspot.com/
9 May9, 2007 in adivasi, agrarian, america, andhra, andolan, architecture, asia, asian, bahujan, banks, bharat, bollywood, buniyad, campaign, college, commerce, common, continent, cricket, curry, data, davos, debate, debt, democracy, demographics, disaster, drought, earth, economucs, elections, ethnic, europe, famine, farm, farmer, farmers, figures, film, films, finance, fiscal, food, fuel, global, human, hunger, images, imf, india, indian, intermedia, international, janjati, jute, kisan, knowledge, krishak, krishi, land, lenderssamaj, maharashtra, management, masala, media, minister, misery, mismanagement, monetary, movies, multimedia, narratives, news, ocean, orissa, oriya, parliament, peasnat, policies, policy, politics, population, punjab, punjabi, rbi, rhetoric, rural, sensex, shahrukh, slisg, space, spices, starvation, sthuthi, stories, students, studies, sufferings, suicides, telugu, tracker, trackers, trade, trader, trap, university, urban, vidarbha, video, visual, voice, warming, water, weva, women, world, wto, zubani
The Tale of Three Indian Widows :
Savita, Sunita and Pratibha are three women from different contexts, background and age groups, yet engulfed by the continuing tragedy that plays out in Maharashtra. The number of widows is growing at a frightening speed in the cotton country. Jaideep Hardikar reports.
http://www.indiatogether.org/2007/feb/agr-widows.htm
The most senior Indian bureaucrats and politicians, continue to deny any agricultural emergency in Indian rural areas, that calls for their attention.
Some IAS Relief Commissioners, are waxing eloquent on farmer’s folly, in pursuing high cost cultivation practices in un irrigated parts of India, while some IAS bureaucrats are issuing mental insanity certificates to suicidal farmers as “sirfira”. The Indian story of bureaucratic incompetence is tragi comic.
The Sensex Minister is following the bears and the bulls closely, while the Cricket Minister is celebrating the return to form of Saurav Ganguly in Indian cricket.
Indian rural women narratives 