Mumbai : The Maharashtra Congress on Monday challenged the statement by Piyush Goyal, national treasurer of the BJP, that there was not a single case of farmers committing suicide in Gujarat.
MPCC spokesperson Sachin Sawant said the Modi government had been concealing these figures.
Reading out the reply of the Gujarat government on farmers’ suicide in the assembly, he said: “As per the Gujarat State Assembly, starred question 358 (5-7-2013), in the year 2008-’09, there were 26 suicides: nil people died of loan recovery, two due to crop destruction and 24 due to other reasons.
“In the year 2009-2010, there were 10 suicides: one farmer committed suicide due to loan recovery, three due to crop destruction and six for other reasons.
“In 2011-2012, there were 21 suicides; one suicide due to loan recovery, one due to crop destruction and 19 for other reasons.
“In 2012-2013, there were 58 suicides; five due to loan recovery, 20 due to crop destruction and 33 for other reasons.
“It is now being exposed that Modi is a pathological liar. He has even hidden this fact of farmers committing suicide from the Central Government,’’ said Sawant. “I request the home ministry to investigate this matter. Our Gujarat Congress party leaders have said that the Gujarat government doesn’t want to show on record that they have farmers’ suicides, they also do not take care of their farmers the way our government in Maharashtra does,” he added,
Political observers in Maharashtra say that it has a proper state policy of giving compensation to families of farmers who commit suicide and hence our police register the death as suicide. In no other state in India does this happen. It is also evident, observers said, that Modi is showcasing his government as the role model so their police are not asked to register the suicides authentically. It also means the families of Gujarat farmers who commit suicides are not getting any compensation.
Meanwhile, the MPCC circulated various important data on Gujarat government that exposes their falsehoods. As the United Nation’s Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index, in 2013, 41 percent of people in Gujarat are poor, 18.5 percent live in ‘severe poverty’ and every fifth person in Gujarat lives in abject poverty. (As per Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative, 2013).
The same agency says 17 per cent are vulnerable to poverty in Gujarat. As per planning commission figures, Gujarat is ranked 12th in less developed state category. As per the Indian state hunger index, Gujarat ranks even below Odisha. Odisha has 23.74 percent are hungry, while Gujarat has 24.69 percent live in hunger. Finally, as per the Human Development Index, Gujarat is ranked 11 after Tamil Nadu and Jammu and Kashmir.
“Gujarat government needs to change its attitude towards its own poor and people before criticising our state. We care for our poor and the farmers, Modi’s government covers up truth and depriving the poor of their rights,” said Sawant.
