Alappuzha (Ker), Nov 11: A farmer ended his life in the Kuttanad region in this southern district on Saturday allegedly due to financial problems as he did not get payment for paddy procurement. A suicide note, purportedly written by the farmer K G Prasad, accusing the Left government and some banks of being responsible for him taking the extreme step, triggered a political row in the state.
Governor Arif Muhammed Khan, who visited a hospital in nearby Thiruvalla where the deceased man’s mortal remains were kept, said farmers have been facing a huge crisis in the state and his “heart goes out to Prasad’s family”.
Expressing deep grief over the death, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, V D Satheesan alleged that the government failed in paddy procurement and payments for farmers were due for months. The 55-year-old Prasad, a paddy farmer hailing from Ambedkar Colony in Thakazhi here, had consumed poison on Friday night, police said.
Though he was admitted to a hospital in Thiruvalla, he died in the wee hours of today, they added.
Though police are yet to confirm if he took the extreme step due to the financial crisis, Prasad’s friends and other farmers alleged that he ended his life as he failed to get money from the government for the paddy he procured.
In a purported suicide note written by the deceased farmer, he alleged that the state government and some banks were responsible for his death. The letter was shown by some television channels in the morning.
The visual of a video call, which the deceased man allegedly made just before taking the extreme step, was also telecast by the channels. In the telephonic conversation, an emotional Prasad could be heard saying that he was a failed man in life and the banks were denying him loan over low CIBIL score.
He also alleged that he received the paddy procurement price for the last season as post-harvest credit under the Paddy Receipt Sheet (PRS) scheme and the government’s failure in repaying it was the reason for the banks to deny him loan this time.
A farmer here told reporters that though Prasad had procured paddy, the government didn’t give him payment for that and instead of that he received the amount as loan.
“The state government should have paid this loan amount to the bank but they failed to do it. Naturally it lowered the CIBIL score of Prasad. When he recently approached banks for a loan, the bank authorities denied him the amount citing his low CIBIL score,” the farmer, close to him, said. (PTI)
