In my seven-minute speech, I told the prime minister that a farmer in Wardha is living because he is not dead yet. Those who are still breathing are not in any better shape than those who have committed suicide.
Chairman of the National Commission on Farmers and renowned agricultural scientist Dr M S Swaminathan visited this area, and made a number of recommendations to the government. They have not been implemented.
Keeping in view the subsidies that American farmers get, Dr Swaminathan recommended a bonus of Rs 550 per quintal to cotton farmers. We want you (Prime Minister Singh) to implement it.
Farmer suicides have increased after 1994 because we have linked our economy with high cost economies of the world. Devaluation of the rupee and the escalating price of fuel has made living costly. By announcing the implementation of the Fifth Pay Commission, the urban Indian working class has been protected against the rise in cost of living.
But farmers and farm labourers are forced to continue to live in a low-cost economy.
After 1994, besides cost of living, farm expenditure has increased and in the markets we are getting lesser price for our products.
These are the main reasons behind the increase in a farmer's debt. This is what is pushing him to suicide.
We want everybody to understand that the first decade of the World Trade Organisation is unsuccessful. The farmers of India have been looted more than before.
We presented the same facts before WTO Director General Pascal Lamy, when he visited India recently.
Image: Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh with the suicide-affected families of farmers in Waifed Village..
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