Boudh/Jajpur/Balasore: Incidents of farmer suicides continue to grip Odisha with fresh cases reported from Boudh and Jajpur district on Thursday.
In Boudh district, a farmer identified as Ballav Dharei of Jallepalli village in Kantamal block died today while under treatment at Sonepur District Headquarters Hospital. Ballav had attempted suicide consuming poison late last night allegedly over crop loss and failure to repay loans.
Another such incident has been reported from Jajpur district where a person identified as Kalinga Ghadei of Raghunathpur area has allegedly attempted suicide by drinking poison. Kalinga has been admitted to district headquarters hospital where his condition is stated to be critical. Sources said Kalinga is indebted with Rs 2 lakh worth of crop loan from bank.
Earlier on Wednesday, a farmer identified as Sudam Khatua of Balasore Sadar had died after committing suicide. Khatua had taken Rs 1.45 lakh of loan at 10 per cent interest rate last year from a local but he was unable to repay the amount due to crop loss. After failing to clear the debt, the payer had scolded Khatua. Aggrieved over the incident Khatua had allegedly drunk poison on Tuesday night. He was firstly admitted to Balasore hospital and later shifted to Cuttack SCB where he died on Wednesday.
The administration has already begun probe into the case with SP and Collector likely to visit Khatua's house today to find causes of his death. Yesterday, Tehsildar and officials of district agriculture department had visited Khatua's house.
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Earlier on March 4, Hadu Bagarti of Bargarh district committed suicide which spiraled the issue as farmer death cases due to crop loss, inability to repay loans caught everyone’s attention leading to a chain reaction which has been going on for past some weeks.
Even as the government is hapless to do anything about the issue, the State Assembly continues to witness uproarious scenes.
Agriculture Minister Pradeep Maharathy on Wednesday in a briefing to the Assembly said the suicide cases over the last decade in Odisha are lower as compared to states like Maharastra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. Cases of 1895 farmer deaths have so far been reported in Odisha between 2005 and 2014, he had said.