Killing fields
The suicide of Jamuna Ramdas Ade, a farmer of the Banjari community, is eloquent testimony to the plight of cotton farmers in Vidarbha. Banjaris have always had the reputation of being resilient however bad the situation seemed, but Jamuna finally succumbed on January 10, 2006, committing suicide by consuming monocrotophos, an insecticide, in Salod Krushanpur, a remote village in Yavatmal district, 178 km from Nagpur.
"She took this extreme step because the local moneylender used to harass her, says Sankar, Jamuna's son. Further questions about the moneylender yielded no answers. Sangeeta, Jamuna's married daughter, was more forthcoming. "We are afraid the moneylender may harass our family, she says. Chanda Masola, a friend of Jamuna, was more explicit: The local primary school teacher-cum- sahukar (moneylender) was asking Jamuna for sexual favours in return for the Rs 5,000 loan she took six years ago to grow cotton. He was demanding Rs 50,000 as the total amount owed. Jamuna was humiliated time and again by the moneylender and his goons in public. This ultimately led to her suicide.'
Jamuna took to farming seven years ago, when Ramdas, her husband, was paralysed. Increasing input costs and decreasing yields on her 2.8-hectares (ha) farm compelled Jamuna to approach a cooperative bank, but she was denied assistance because Ramdas had taken a Rs 10,000 loan which he had not returned. The total sum owed had increased to Rs 24,000. This led Jamuna to approach the local moneylender, Shyamji, who is one of the increasing tribe of government employees who are turning to moneylending. Jamuna had cultivated cotton on 1.2 ha, investing Rs 22,500. She got 600 kg. At Rs 1,700 per 100 kg this could hardly cover input costs.
When a Down To Earth correspondent visited Jamuna's house, the naib tehsildar of Salod, S K Thamke was there. He didn't hold out hope: Nothing can be done. The land was not in her name, so this cannot be classed a farmer suicide, which means no compensation.' he said.
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