Odish rights panel seeks report on farmers' suicides

The Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) on Tuesday asked the state government to submit within four weeks a report over the alleged farmer suicides in the state.

Hearing a petition over suicides of farmers due to crop loss in the state, OHRC's working chairman Justice B.K. Mishra directed the government to inquire into the claims and submit a report, said an OHRC official here.

The secretaries of agriculture and revenue and disaster management departments have been asked to submit the report to the commission after conducting an inquiry into the alleged suicide cases of farmers due to debt burden and crop loss, said the official.

Coinciding with the commission's order, two farmers allegedly committed suicide on Tuesday from Nuapada and Bargarh districts, taking the toll to six in the last five days. They all committed suicides due to debt burden and crop loss in the wake of deficient rainfall this monsoon.

Dharamudhara Ada, a cotton farmer of Khiramala village in Nuapada district, took his life by consuming pesticides on Tuesday.

Family sources said that Ada was under tremendous mental pressure and consumed poison after his cotton crops, for which he had taken loans to the tune of Rs.40,000, were damaged.

Besides, Magasira Majhi, a farmer of Tukula village in Bargarh district, committed suicide after his paddy crops were ruined.