Explain farmers’ suicides,Allahabad HC tells govt

Further,to ensure that such incidents don’t take place during this period,the court has also directed all the financial institutions not to go for debt recovery. The court fixed July 15 for the next hearing.

Issuing notices,a Division Bench comprising Justices Sunil Ambwani and Sabhajeet Yadav directed chief secretary of UP to collect detailed information about each and every death,reported as suicide,from the hospitals,blocks and police stations in the region,the studies conducted on the causes of such deaths and the steps taken by the state government to provide relief to the farmers.

Further,the court also asked the chief secretary to submit details of the total rural indebtedness of the area connected with agriculture. This will include the records from all the banks,financial institutions,cooperative banks,Khadi Development Board or any other agricultural debts. The chief secretary has also been asked to explain the steps taken to improve irrigation in the region,besides the status of public distribution system.

The court has also directed the Ministry of Rural Development,Ministry of Water Resources and Development and Ministry of Finance to submit a report on the status of various welfare schemes being implemented in the area.

Further,the court has directed the state government,the nationalised and private banks,the financial institutions,the cooperative banks and Khadi Gramodyog Development Board not to take any coercive steps to recover the outstanding loans from the farmers.

While taking on record the contents of the report and turning it into a PIL,the court said that it appeared that more than 500 suicides in the first five months of this year was related to agricultural indebtedness. Also,coercive methods of recoveries too seemed to be a reason behind the large number of suicides,the court noted. It also took cognisance of the report that the Rs 7,000 crore relief package for the region — comprising Banda,Chitrakoot,Jalaun,Hamirpur,Lalitpur,Mahoba and Jhansi — has not been properly utilised.