Punjab farmer, who briefed Rahul on crop loss, commits suicide

www.mangaloretoday.com

Punjab, June 11, 2015: On April 28, Surjit Singh, a farmer from Dadu Majra village in Fatehgarh Sahib district, was among those who met Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi at the Sirhind grain mandi during the latter’s whirlwind tour of Punjab mandis. He asked Rahul to raise the farmers’ issue in the Lok Sabha. On Wednesday, burdened by mounting debts and two failed crops, Singh reportedly committed suicide.

 

According to reports, Singh, who was in his sixties, consumed sulphas tablets. Singh owned six acres of land, and had taken another 19 acres on lease. But with his crop failing for two successive seasons, he was unable to pay back the lease amount. His own land was mortgaged, and his total debt was about Rs 13 lakh.

“Our paddy crop failed last season due to problems in irrigation and lack of adequate rainfall. We thought the wheat crop would be harvested in time and the yield would be adequate to pay off the debts, but untimely rainfall and hailstorm damaged the wheat crop too. We did not get any compensation,” said Singh’s son, Kulwinder.

During his meeting with Rahul in April, Singh told him the condition of farmers was “deteriorating” in Punjab. Stating that the state government was not giving compensation to farmers and their stocks were not being purchased, he asked Rahul to raise these issues in parliament.Fatehgarh Sahib SSP G S Randhawa said the body was handed over to the family after post-mortem. Singh is survived by a son and three daughters.

The Congress leadership, including PCC chief Partap Singh Bajwa and Fatehgarh Sahib MLA Kuljit Singh Nagra, arrived in Dadoomajra village for the farmer’s last rites.

“It is extremely unfortunate that the farmer who expressed his grief in front of Rahul Gandhi was forced to end his life. It was the UPA government that waived off farmer loans worth Rs 70,000 crore,” said Bajwa. “Modi is coming to Punjab on June 19. The Congress demands that he should either announce waiver of farmer loans or should return the title of Sardar-E-Azam, given to him by Parkash Singh Badal,” he said.

“These farmers did not get any compensation. Surjit Singh is just one example… farmer suicides are taking place in Punjab. Badal’s fake promise of giving compensation to farmers has been exposed today,” said Nagra.

Meanwhile, Bajwa announced Rs 2 lakh compensation for the farmer’s family on behalf of the Congress.