Denying the reasoning of alcoholism behind farmers' suicide, independent MLA from Maharashtra Bacchu Kadu said even Hema Malini drinks everyday but she does not commit suicide.
In an exclusive interview with rediff.com's Onkar Singh on Wednesday, Chaturvedi spoke at length about the allegations. Excerpts:
The prime minister said there is a lack of institutional support for farmers.
Nagpur Guardian Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said social media was used to vitiate the atmosphere, and appealed to the opposition not to politicise the matter.
Eight farmers have committed suicide in Saurashtra this month due to crop failure following deficient rains, police said on Tuesday.
Even as the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party coalition government in Maharashtra is drawing flak over the rising cases of farmers' suicides, United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday promised crop loans at three per cent interest rate to overcome the agrarian crisis.Addressing her first election rally in the Vidarbha region, which has been rattled by a series of suicides by debt-ridden farmers, the Congress president tried to woo the farmers.
Three of the farmers who committed suicide were from Buldana district, while two were from Chandrapur and one each from Yavatmal, Akola, Washim and Amravati, the NGO, Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti said in a release in Nagpur.
What is up for the dicussion in the Lok Sabha today?
'Slogans like 'Ek hai toh safe hai' and 'Batenge toh katenge' resonated with voters.'
The Kerala Biodiversity Board has mooted the idea of paying salaries to farmers to make agriculture a viable option to attract a new generation of farmers. This was necessary not only to ensure food security for the country, but to strengthen farming. The government should earmark a fund and farmers should be paid salaries like government employees. The Kerala govt is trying to turn at least 20 per cent of cultivable land every year to the organic method.
'They just showed riots created by some political party. They never mentioned the name of the place or the political party.' 'I don't know why these people are agitated.'
46 farmers have ended their lives so far in this month.
Police said Haradhan Bag (62) was found dead by his family members at his house in the Beraberi Purbapara area of Singur.
Eight more debt-ridden farmers in Vidarbha region have committed suicide during the last two days, an NGO working for the cause of farmers claimed in Nagpur on Monday.
It has been an incredible journey for Rajendra Hari Patil and Hemchandra Dagaji Patil who traveled from Jalgaon to the Harvard Business School to talk about their success.
The Supreme Court on Saturday gave the Punjab government time till December 31 to persuade farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who has been fasting for over a month, to shift to hospital.
It is turning out to be a clear case of playing dirty politics over the dead in Andhra Pradesh in general and Telangana in particular.
Altogether 41,663 farmers in 383 villages in Washim, Yavatmal, Amravati and Buldhana districts of Vidarbha region were covered in the sample survey. Those reporting land holding in range of two to six hectares were 40 per cent and around six per cent reported land holding of more than six hectares, CAG said. Only eight per cent farmers confirmed visit of any government official in 2006, the report said.
"The figure is very alarming... in the last one-and-half months, 124 farmers have killed themselves. We would like to know from the government what steps are being taken to stop this," said Justice Naresh Patil heading a division bench.
Jagjit Singh Dallewal, a farmer leader, is on an indefinite hunger strike that has entered its 34th day. The Supreme Court has criticized the Punjab government for not shifting Dallewal to a hospital, while farmer leaders have said they are following Gandhian principles and it is up to the government to decide whether to use force to evict him. The farmers are protesting for several demands, including a legal guarantee for a minimum support price (MSP) for crops. The protests have reached a decisive stage, with the SKM (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha calling for a Punjab bandh on Monday.
About 42 farmers have committed suicide this month and the total number of suicides is now 975.
Haryana Agriculture Minister O P Dhankar has triggered a row by terming farmers who commit suicide as criminals and cowards.
In a noble move, a group of IT professionals has come together to raise funds for repaying loans of over 100 debt-ridden farmers in drought-hit Vidarbha region, notorious for farmer suicides.
72 farmers have committed suicide in the past 15 days in Vidharbha.
Following the public suicide of farmer Gajendra Singh in the national capital, Dausa district Tehsildar Satish Kumar Jain on Thursday stated that the former was 'financially sound'.
Most people don't know that India is an agricultural power in world markets, says T N Ninan.
A debt-stressed farmer, who recently met Rahul Gandhi and told him about agrarian problems, on Wednesday allegedly committed suicide by consuming poisonous substance.
The Republic Day tractor parade by agitating farmers will feature a number of tableaux from across states depicting village life, the protest against the Centre's contentious farm laws, and hailing their courage, according to organisers.
A 45-year-old farmer from Punjab, who was a part of the protest against the Centre's farm laws, allegedly hanged himself from a tree near the Singhu border, the police said on Wednesday.
A 35-year-old farmer from the Washim district in Vidarbha allegedly committed suicide after writing a suicide note addressed to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis drawing his attention to the agrarian crisis and plight of cultivators in the region.
Farmers protesting at various sites on the border of Delhi on Monday unequivocally said they are only concerned about their common goal of having the three farm laws repealed, and what has been offered to the agriculture sector in the Union budget did not matter.
The manifesto said that loans of poor farmers and farm labourers will be waived off and loans of SCs and BCs will also be waived off.
There is also nothing in this Union Budget to stop farmers from dying. It is just rural infrastructure and not agriculture that the Budget is looking at, says Kishor Tiwari of the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti.
'I am buried under a mountain of debt. Wheat at Rs 2 and rice at Rs 3 is killing farmers.' 'We are tired of telling the government to help. Now what you want me to do? Commit suicide?'
A farmer from Tandia village in Varanasi has a solution to India's burgeoning food crisis.
With Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis having turned down the demand to write-off farm loan, Shiv Sena on Wednesday said the curse of farmers, with whose blessings the government came to power, could ruin everything.
Farmers from across the states arrived at Delhi's Jantar Mantar on Monday early morning protesting over unemployment.
Vidarbha, the land of farmers' suicides, may soon witness changes in cultivation methods.
From Saif Ali Khan's sabse bada beta's streaming debut to how to make potstickers with Prince Charles' chhoti bahu, it's all there on OTT this week.
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