Telangana records 223 farmer suicides in less than a year, says Rythu Swarajya Vedika-Telangana Today

Shockingly, according to the list released by Vedika, Siddipet had the highest number of suicides in the last 12 months as 22 farmers ended their lives in the district.

Siddipet: Rythu Swarjya Vedika (RSV), an independent organization working on farmers’ affairs in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh claims that 223 farmers have been killed since the Telangana war Congress came to power. Shockingly, according to the list released by Vedika, Siddipet had the highest number of suicides in the last 12 months as 22 farmers ended their lives in the district.

Adilabad and Bhupallly districts reported 21 and 19 suicides respectively during this period. One suicide was reported in Jogulamba-Gadwal and Nagarkurnool districts. While the fully urbanized districts of Hyderabad and Medchel-Malkajigir have not recorded any farmer suicides, RSV is working to collect data on farmer suicides from Mancherial, Mahabubagar, Narayanpet, Wanaparthy and Suryapet districts.

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Talking to Telangana Today, RSV’s B. Kondal Reddy said that the number of suicides may slightly increase in all districts as they may have missed a few. However, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) will release accurate suicide figures every year, he said, adding that the Congress, which came to power with lots of promises to improve the situation in the agriculture sector, has failed to keep its promises.

The government did not provide tenants with ID cards, apart from denying them crop insurance. Nearly 36 percent of all suicides reported in the state over the past year involved sharecroppers. The RSV reacted sharply to the government for not disbursing the Rythu Bharosa incentive even though the government had collected the views of farmers’ organizations through meetings in all districts about four months ago. The government has also failed to implement loan waiver for 100 percent farmers, apart from denying many other benefits, he said.

Farmer suicides in district (above 10) in Telangana

Siddipet – 22

Adilabad – 21

Bhupalapally – 19

Mahabubabad – 14

Medak – 13

Jangaon – 13

Warangal – 12

Nalgonda – 11

Hanmakonda – 11

Khammam – 11

Nirmala – 10

Bhadradri-Kothagudem – 10