75% pleas for farm suicide relief rejected in Bathinda, Mansa
The majority of the claims rejected do not have institutional loan; these are not eligible for compensation.
B SRINIVASAN, Bathinda DC
BATHINDA: Over the past three years, Bathinda and Mansa administrations have rejected 75% of applications filed with them seeking compensation for suicides of debt-ridden farmers that the kin had filed.
Of 530 applications in the two districts, 392 were rejected, with 138 being approved for compensation.
The compensation given is ₹3 lakh after a committee that the deputy commissioner heads clears the application. The committee has representation from police and agriculture departments.
In Bathinda, the rejection rate is 85% with 276 of 321 claims being rejected; only 45 were cleared and compensation has been paid in the majority of these cases. In Mansa, 56% of the applications have been rejected.
Bathinda deputy commissioner B Srinivasan said, “Farmers who had taken non-institutional loans, including from arhtiyas (commission agents), are not eligible for compensation. The majority of the claims rejected do not have institutional loan.”
The DC added that the suicide should also be registered with the police in the form of a Firstinformation Report (FIR) or a Daily Diary Report (DDR).
Lakhwinder Singh Gill, coordinator, Centre for Development Economics and Innovation Studies, Punjabi University, Patiala, said, “Till 2013, the state government had given a mandate to state universities to identify farm suicides due to indebtedness. Varsities considered both institutional and non-institutional debts. Later, the Dc-headed panels were given the work. These panels do not consider non-institutional debt as a ground for compensation.”