Sources from New Delhi have stated that the government's job is to prevent farmers from committing suicide and not distribute compensation after they have died, the Supreme Court told Tamilnadu in strong words today, asking it to ensure that no coercive action is taken against farmers who default on loans by installing a process by which they can report misbehavior by bank officials trying to make them pay up.
Accordingly the court was hearing a petition by a non government organization for relief to debt-ridden farmers, many of who, it said, have committed suicide because of their inability to pay back bank loans. Tamilnadu told the court that there are a lot of schemes and that the cost of crop insurance which is shared by centre and state.
Meanwhile the judges accepted the Tamilnadu
government's argument that the scheme must provide relief only to small and
marginal farmers. The court will continue hearing that case after four
weeks. Tamilnadu has witnessed its worst drought in 140 years. 17 farmers
were reported to have committed suicide between November 2016 and January this
year in the state.
