Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan slammed the state government for the suicide of a farmer at Kuttanad in the Alappuzha district after failing to raise fund for his paddy cultivation.
Speaking to media persons in Kochi on Saturday, Khan accused the government of extravagance in the name of celebrations while the farmers in the state are in distress.
“The government splurged on celebrations while farmers and pensioners are in huge crisis. Huge amounts are being spent on the personal staff of the ministers. Pensions are granting to those who served for just two years as personal staff of ministers. This is how the government is functioning here,” he said.
He said the tendency of paying attention to farmers’ issues only when a farmer commits suicide should change.
Later, the governor visited the hospital in Thiruvalla, where the farmer’s body was kept.
The farmer, K G Prasad, 55, of Ambedkar Colony at Kunnumma, Thakazhi, ended his life in frustration as the state government-owned Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation delayed payment for the paddy procured by it and banks denied him a loan citing low CIBIL score. He consumed poison on Friday afternoon. He was rushed to a private hospital in Thiruvalla, but his life could not be saved. He died on Saturday morning.
Prasad was a BJP activist and district president of Bharatiya Kisan Sangh. He gave a call to Kisan Sangh district secretary Shivaraj before consuming poison. “I have failed in my life. Though I quit drinking 20 years ago, now I was forced to start the habit again due to my pathetic state,” he was heard telling his friend in a phone recording that had surfaced.
In his suicide note, Prasad alleged that the state government failed to make payment to the bank for the ‘PRS loan’ taken and the interest thereof, lowering his CIBIL score.
PRS loans are given to farmers on the basis of the Paddy Receipt Sheet (PRS) in lieu of procurement of paddy. As per the agreement between Supplyco and the farmers, Supplyco directs banks to pay the procurement amount as loan to the farmers on the submission of PRS. Normally, the amount will be repaid by the state government. However, this time, the government failed to disburse the amount on time.
The suicide triggered a political row in the state with the Congress and the BJP blaming the Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF Government for its indifference to the woes of the farmers.
Opposition leader V D Satheesan called Prasad a victim of the state government’s apathy towards farmers. He accused the government of failing to honour paddy receipt sheets (PRS) issued to farmers by Supplyco. Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala squarely held the state government responsible for the suicide of the farmer.
BJP state president K Surendran also blamed the government for farmers’ suicides. He also alleged that the money given by the Centre for paddy procurement is diverted by the government.
Meanwhile, Food and Civil Supplies Minister G R Anil clarified that a farmer who takes the Paddy Receipt Sheet (PRS) loan does not incur any liability in connection with it.
Meanwhile, BJP workers resorted to road blockade with the dead body of G Prasad. They blocked the Ambalappuzha-Thiruvalla state highway. The ambulance carrying the dead body is parked in the middle of the road.
The road blockade is being led by BJP National Executive Member PK Krishnadas and District President MV Gopakumar.
Earlier in September, another farmer, K K Rajappan, 88, of Nalukaduchirayil in Vandanam ended his life due to the delay in payment of the paddy procurement arrears.