This Article is From Apr 13, 2009

In suicide country, polls mean nothing

Mumbai:

Shantabai's son committed suicide and there are many like her in the country's suicide zone. Politicians gave them nothing but promise.

"Politicians ask for votes, then go away. We never see them again," says Shantabai of Khadki village in Vidarbha.

Likewise, cotton farmer Sudam Mukundrao Balki says: "There is not much interest in the elections this time."

Balki is under Rs 1 lakh debt.

Every day in western Vidarbha two farmers kill themselves to escape a vicious cycle of poor rains crop failure and debt. Suicides hit the Congress hard in the 2004 elections as it lost 10 of the 11 Lok Sabha seats.

The UPA response was a mammoth Rs 71,000 crore loan waiver for famers across the country and some Rs 14,000 crore was set aside for Vidarbha.

But a one-time waiver has not been a long-term solution.

Late Amol Jothe got a Rs 20,000 waiver but cotton prices remained low.

So, for the next crop, he had to take another loan. As the debts piled up, he drank pesticide.

Says his brother: "He was worried about paying off the loans."

In villages like Dehgaon, which has seen 10 farmer suicides over the last 2 years, the mood is one of anger towards local politicians. Nearly 10 villages in this part of Yavatmal plan to boycott the elections.

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