Bachchan becomes farmers’ star after clearing loans
Gratitude leans across to the desire of removing some of the burdens that farmers continue to suffer ... and the inner peace it generates when the desired is completed. Amitabh Bachchan, actor
MUMBAI: Bollywood veteran Amitabh Bachchan was hailed as a star of India's farmers after clearing loans worth more than 40 million rupees (US$560,000) as an agricultural crisis forces many rural workers into extreme poverty.
India's farmers have been hit hard by a drop in commodity prices, stagnant wages, record fuel prices and high fertilizer costs, sparking rallies across the country this year calling for better prices for produce and loan waivers.
Farmers and other agriculture workers together make up about half India's 1.3 billion people.
“It is a very big problem that has left farmers across the country in dire straits,” Rakesh Tikait, spokesperson of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Indian Farmers' Union) told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a phone interview.
“The government policies are flawed and need an overhaul. We are fighting for that change but are thankful for any help that comes along the way.”
Tikait said Bachchan's gesture might have been symbolic but it meant a lot for farmers who were struggling to survive.
More than 12,600 farmers and agricultural workers committed suicide in 2015 alone, accounting for about 10 per cent of all suicides in India, with almost 60 per cent of suicides caused by bankruptcy and indebtedness, according to official data.
Bachchan, one of Indian cinema's most revered actors, wrote in his blog this week that he had helped 1,398 farmers from the northern state of Uttar Pradesh and felt a “sense of accomplishment”.
“Gratitude leans across to the desire of removing some of the burdens that farmers continue to suffer ... and the inner peace it generates when the desired is completed,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, Bachchan has also donated a suction machine for sewage cleaning to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's K West ward in Andheri on Saturday. Bachchan had made a promise to donate Rs 50 lakh towards buying mechanical equipment after he learned about the plight of manual scavengers during a television programme Swachh Bharat.
Bachchan had come to know the difficulty of manual cleaning of sewage and to prevent people from going down the manholes and sewer drain, he committed to providing mechanical equipment.
On Saturday, he handed over the suction machine to Prashant Gaikwad, assistant commissioner of the K West ward. Gaikwad said, “The mechanical machine can suck sewage water and it can be used within the jurisdiction of the BMC.” He added that the BMC has already such kinds of advanced machine available for sewage cleaning. However, another one will certainly help. The machine donated by Bachchan can be operated by an individual.
Apart from BMC, Bachchan also donated equipment to two scavengers to Aurangabad. He will give 26 more such machines to Aurangabad scavengers.
Amitabh, who is a supporter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, has always been part of cleanliness and he had also joined Versova resident and environmentalist Afroz Shah in cleaning Versova Beach.